An open letter to President Barack Obama:
This missive is prompted by two singular bookend events: one, the recent attempted acts of terrorism in New York City, in particular the Times Square car bomb attempt May 1, and the subsequent bomb scare that took place a few short days thereafter and two, it has been brought to my attention that New York has been shortchanged in the current round of anti-terror funding it receives from Washington — to the tune of $53 million.
Such a decision cannot go unchallenged.
I have been obliged by my constituent base and by my own principles, personally and as a political leader in New York state, to address the growing concerns associated with this issue. It is imperative Washington invest more monies into the future security of New York residents, and all the residents of the world that call it home, as we are becoming the primary target of terrorist acts meant to destroy the United States’ financial capital, which in effect will further devastate the economic stature of our nation.
It is evident we cannot sustain the funding cuts to public security imposed by your administration because it has only given those who attempt these monstrosities greater ammunition and confidence to endeavor in such acts.
To that end, I implore you to act immediately in assuring that New York gets the monetary resources it deserves to appropriately defend itself against future attempts of destruction and certainly before another catastrophic event like 9/11 invokes terrible tragedy among the people of our state and the nation’s financial capital.
Malcolm Smith
State Senate President Pro Tempore
St. Albans
