Senate Passes Homeland Security Appropriations Bill

On Sept. 14, 2004, the United States Senate passed its version of the homeland security appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05), which included $750 million for the FIRE Act (the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program) and $100 million for SAFER (the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Firefighters Act of 2003).

These funding amounts are higher than the Senate Committee on Appropriations had originally included in the bill. The original bill had included $700 million for the FIRE Act, which is $50 million below the amount appropriated for FY04. The bill had included no money for SAFER. Two amendments increased these amounts. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) introduced the successful amendment to increase the FIRE Act amount. Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced the successful amendment to fund SAFER.