Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy will serve on a newly created subcommittee overseeing the Department of Homeland Security. The subcommittee will operate within the Senate Appropriations Committee. It will write the Senate’s version of the annual budget for the new department.
Leahy already serves on the Appropriations Committee and is the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, which historically has overseen several of the federal agencies that are now part of the new department. The Vermont senator says a top goal of his will be to win more federal funding for local and state emergency personnel, who would be the first responders in the event of a terrorist attack.