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Security burden falls to states
By Joe Burns/ jburns@cnc.com
Thursday, September 7, 2006

The federal government has dropped the ball, and it's landed in the laps of state governments. That's the opinion of some Cape legislators who spoke of the legacy of Sept. 11.

"The federal government has failed to resolve many of the issues that were brought to light after 9/11, "said state Rep. Jeffrey Perry, R-Sandwich. "Because they haven't come up with single plan to make sure that our borders are secure, and people who want to harm us aren't getting in to the United States, some of those issues have filtered down to the state level and states across the country are doing the best they can to deal with that."

State Rep. Matt Patrick, D-Falmouth, said he's concerned that the decision by the Bush administration to invade Iraq has made our shores less safe.

"It's very discouraging to see us spending $300 billion on the Iraq war. We could have used some of that money to have better inspections of baggage at the airports. We could have had the equipment to inspect the containers when they come into the ports," Patrick said. "We can't even stop drugs from coming into the country; how are we going to stop weapons from coming into the country or bombs for that matter. That's a real concern to me."

Rep. Cleon Turner, D-Dennis, noted that the issue of illegal immigration is one that has been a point of contention since the terrorist attacks. Turner said that while it's debatable whether that increased concern is the result of Sept. 11 or simply a rise in the number of illegal immigrants leading to a growing level of intolerance, the federal government's lack of decisiveness and its obstructionist behavior toward states trying to seek solutions are a problem.

"I'm with the group of people that say that if the federal government isn't going to take actions that will alleviate the impact of illegal immigrants, then they ought to let us do it," Turner said.

State Rep. Shirley Gomes, R-Harwich, said that for her the attacks meant a shift in thinking and priorities on the state legislative level.

"It awakened in me a sense that as an elected official I had to be making decisions and determinations that were very different than had ever been a part of my thought pattern; a new sense of urgency [concerning safety] that I had not considered before," Gomes said.

Pilgrim is a concern

Patrick said his immediate concern was the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, potentially a prime terrorist target.

"That's when I pushed for the amendment for the distribution of potassium iodide pills," Patrick said.

The amendment, which passed, called for the distribution of the pills to all Cape towns as a means of protecting thyroids from radiation. Five years after the terrorist attacks they have yet to be distributed. Patrick said that 1.5 million pills may finally be distributed among all the Cape towns next month.

Shifting the financial burden to the state has taken its toll. The decline in tax revenue as a result of a decrease in commerce following Sept. 11 left Massachusetts with less finances at a time when there was an increased need for security throughout the state. One casualty of this increased security need was education. Cuts made to education following Sept. 11 continue to plague local school districts, and continue to plague Gov. Mitt Romney, who made those cuts shortly after taking office. Perry said the criticism is unfair.

"He had no choice, "Perry said. "The first responsibility of government is to keep people safe. And after 9/11 a lot or resources were dedicated to make sure that our buildings were safe, our highways were safe, our airports were safe. Constitutionally [the governor is] limited as to what he can cut. He had to make those cuts because of declining revenue, because of 9/11 and because of the increase in security."

Gomes said that legislators looked to be creative in funding for security in order to avoid making cuts.

"We saw to it that more money was available in ways that hadn't been considered before," Gomes said.

Turner said that security remains a legislative priority.

"It's not uncommon that when a public safety issue comes up, the first response is to see how it fits within homeland security. So there's more of a homogenous approach to public safety. It was a hit-or-miss kind of thing before. And now there's a focus on how it affects homeland security in general," Turner said.

Another affect of Sept. 11 has been a greater appreciation of public safety agencies.

"Police and fire departments have really gotten it together on the Cape to do some planning," Patrick said.

Perry said that he too was impressed with the cooperation that has taken place among agencies.

"We're in a much better position now than we were on Sept. 11 because of our increased coordination between the different entities as well as the ability to communicate," Perry said, adding that he regrets not seeing that same level of cooperation and communication on the political end.

"I had a very optimistic view after 9/11 that our political scene would be less partisan and more of cooperative effort," Perry said. "A lot has changed but not to the degree that I think is necessary. The level of cooperation and the level of focus on the issues doesn't seem to be what I had hoped for."