For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
Washington, D.C. - Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today marked the deadline for awarding American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding by highlighting the jobs, new infrastructure, and enhanced security created as a result of the approximately $2.6 billion in ARRA funding the Department has awarded to date.
"DHS Recovery Act projects are creating new jobs and injecting money into local economies while making America safer,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Our Recovery Act dollars are being used to hire hundreds of first responders; rebuild fire stations, ports of entry, and bridges; and deploy thousands of critical aviation and border security technologies across the country."
ARRA was signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 17, 2009. Below are some of DHS’s accomplishments:
- Distributed nearly $100 million through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to more than 10,450 Local Recipient Organizations across the country to immediate relief to communities impacted by unemployment.
- Awarded more than $205 million to over 100 recipients to build or modify existing fire stations to enhance response capabilities and protect communities from fire-related hazards. These grants will replace unsafe or uninhabitable structures and expand fire protection coverage in compliance with National Fire Protection Association standards.
- Awarded $72 million in Transportation Security Grants to support capital projects, including security enhancements to high-density tunnels, stations, and bridges.
- Awarded $78 million in Transportation Security Grants to fund approximately 240 new law enforcement officers at 15 transit systems across the country.
- Awarded $150 million in Port Security Grants to approximately 220 recipients to protect critical port infrastructure from terrorism, enhance maritime domain awareness and risk management capabilities, and support the implementation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)—a tamper-resistant biometric credential issued to workers who require unescorted access to secure areas of ports and vessels.
- Awarded nearly $1 billion for inline baggage handling systems at 25 airports, closed circuit television at 14 airports and various screening technologies for nationwide deployment, including:
- 200 Reduced-size Explosives Detection Systems.
- 600 Advanced Technology X-ray units.
- 452 Advanced Imaging Technology units.
- 500 Bottled Liquids Scanners.
- 150 Chemical Analysis Devices.
- 1645 Explosives Trace Detection units.
- Drove down costs of land port of entry modernization projects by an average of 25% per port from the original cost estimates in April 2009, enabling CBP to fund the design and construction of additional Land Ports of Entry projects.
- Awarded $142 million for bridge alteration construction projects in Iowa, Illinois, Texas and Alabama, helping to facilitate safe and efficient navigation along the Nation’s waterways.
- Awarded almost $90 million for tactical communications equipment and infrastructure to modernize the land mobile radio communication systems in the Houlton, ME Sector along the Northern border and the El Paso, and Rio Grande Sectors along the Southwest border.
- Awarded more than $18 million for Southwest border security technology, including 10 mobile vehicle inspection systems, 104 pursuit camera systems, 78 thermal imaging devices, and 3 aerial observation cameras.
To learn more about the DHS Recovery Act projects, visit www.dhs.gov/recovery.
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