Editorial: Terror fight needs more local funds

Tuesday, July 22, 2003 | 9 a.m.

Next month the U.S. military's Northern Command will direct a terrorism preparedness exercise in Southern Nevada. The scenario involves a terrorist-induced plague that breaks out in Clark County at the same time there are wildfires in Nevada, straining the response of local and state officials. And the military will be taxed, too, having to respond to attacks against ports and the nation's borders, with an air threat and hurricane thrown in also.

This is the kind of terrorism drill that aids the preparedness at all levels of government -- and underscores how critical first responders are. Despite the importance of local police, fire and public health departments in responding to terrorism, the federal government isn't helping them enough. Recently an independent panel, created by the Council on Foreign Relations, found that the United States is still unprepared and underfunded in the event of a major terrorist attack. The panel estimated that over the next five years the United States still will be $98 billion short in meeting the anti-terrorism needs of first responders.

Even when federal money gets to local governments, it doesn't always go where it should. In May the Homeland Security Department inexcusably excluded Las Vegas as one of 30 cities sharing $500 million in anti-terrorist funding. That oversight occurred even though five of the Sept. 11 terrorists had visited Las Vegas and the city was identified as a terrorist target by federal prosecutors in a recent terrorism trial in Detroit.

Possibly a dozen members of Congress will observe the terrorism exercise here. They surely will say local police and fire departments play an essential role in anti-terrorism, but we believe that acknowledgement should be backed up with more funding so that the first responders can carry out their jobs.