WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- A top DHS official has hit back at critics who say the department is failing to make good judgments in its U.S. risk assessments.
The Department of Homeland Security has come under heavy criticism recently -- and become the butt of jokes by late-night comedians -- due to its decision in May to cut urban anti-terror funding to major metropolitan areas and an inspector general's report last week that found a national database of vulnerable targets rife with locations that pose no security risk.
The IG cited more than 32,000 assets out of about 72,000 in the database that "are not nationally significant," including a Mule Day Parade in Columbia, Tenn.; an Old MacDonald's Petting Zoo in Woodville, Ala.; an Amish popcorn factory in Berne, Ind.; a bean festival in Mountain View, Ark.; and the Kangaroo Conservation Center in Dawsonville, Ga., CongressDaily reported Wednesday
However, Robert Stephan, DHS assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, told reporters that the inspector general "ignored" the facts and came to conclusions that are "fundamentally false," CongressDaily said. "This is just a ridiculous thing that happened," Stephan said.
Stephan was speaking at an event billed as a briefing on a recently released National Infrastructure Protection Plan. He defended the asset database the plan relied on, but acknowledged that the department now faces a serious public perception problem, the report said.
Senate Democrats scolded the DHS last week by including a provision in the fiscal 2007 Homeland Security appropriations bill that requires it to comply with the inspector general's recommendations for overhauling the database.
The amendment, offered by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would prohibit the DHS from spending preparedness funds on administrative and management employee travel until the recommendations are implemented or officials explain to Congress why they were not.
