mr. speaker , i am deeply disappointed that the conference report , among other things , today does not include an amendment that i offered with mr. sweeney xz4003930 to alter the first responder funding formula in the original patriot act . 
this provision would have allocated precious homeland security resources on the basis of risk . 
under the original patriot act , zero percent of formula grants are distributed on the basis of risk . 
under the house proposal , at least 84 percent and up to 100 percent of funding would be risk-based , ensuring that we spend our resources to address the greatest threats our nation faces . 
this long overdue change has been approved by the house on three separate occasions , including in a stand-alone bill that passed by a vote of 409 to 10 in may . 
while the senate has rejected this commonsense reform , the administration supports it , as does the 9/11 commission . 
in a recent the senate failed to exercise leadership . 
we have therefore missed a golden opportunity to improve our nation 's security . 
we can not back down from this fight , and we must demand that the senate accept our proposal in any future homeland security legislation . 
i hope my colleagues will join me . 
