Home

With no shortage of homeland security issues, New Jersey might now be in position for more federal homeland security dollars.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) was named the new chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security -- which sets the funding levels for the Department of Homeland Security's programs and sub-agencies -- following the June 28 death of 92-year-old U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), the previous chairman.

Lautenberg's appointment comes in the wake of several eyebrow-raising security incidents in New Jersey this month. This week, a Montclair couple were among the 11 people arrested for allegedly serving as secret agents of the Russian government with the goal of penetrating U.S. government policymaking circles. On June 5, 22-year-old Mohamed Mahmood Alessa of North Bergen and 24-year-old Carlos Eduardo Almonte of Elmwood Park were taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport before they could board separate flights to Egypt on their way to Somalia to allegedly join the al-Shabaab terrorist organization.

Additionally, in January, Rutgers University doctoral student Haison Jiang ducked under a security barrier at Newark Airport while an officer left the post unattended. Jiang walked the wrong way through security to go greet his girlfriend, and the breach caused the shutdown of Terminal C for hours and the re-screening of thousands of passengers.

In his fifth non-consecutive Senate term, the 86-year-old Lautenberg called it "an honor to follow the legendary Senator Robert Byrd in leading this subcommittee" and said that, "Providing for the safety and security of our families, communities, and the economy is my first priority and the most critical responsibility we have in Congress."

"This subcommittee is particularly important to New Jersey, which is home to the most at-risk two miles in America for a terrorist attack, and families in my state will never forget the horror of Sept. 11, 2001," Lautenberg said in a statement. "I look forward to leading this subcommittee and advancing America's homeland security infrastructure."

The homeland security subcommittee has jurisdiction over appropriations for DHS agencies and programs such as Customs and Border Protection, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, and the U.S. Secret Service. Subcommittee members besides Lautenberg include Senators Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

In the case of the Newark Airport security breach, Jiang recently completed his penalty of 100 hours of community service, and also paid a $658 fine. Though he ducked under the security rope for the innocuous purpose of kissing his girlfriend, it wasn't a matter that Lautenberg took lightly at the time.

"The message cannot go out to terrorists, people who would do damage to our citizens, that you could take a chance and get in," Lautenberg told reporters the night of the incident. "This has to be seen as the equivalent of a terrible crime."

"What he did was a terrible injustice to the 16,000 people who were inconvenienced terribly," he said. "This fellow was responsible for it. As such he has to pay whatever the maximum price is."