Today, members of a House-Senate conference committee concluded their work on legislation to appropriate funds for homeland security programs for the 2010 fiscal year.

Among the aspects and amounts hammered out is an appropriation of $19 million for “Non-Profit Security Enhancement Grants” under the “Urban Area Security Initiative.”

This appropriation level is $4 million more than last year, $1 million more than the amount initially legislated by the House of Representatives and higher than the $15 million requested in the President’s budget.

The Orthodox Union worked intensively with United Jewish Communities and its other coalition partners to create this critical grants program and secure its funding each year.

This year, the Orthodox Union and its partners worked with our longstanding champions – including Senators Barbara Mikulski and Arlen Specter – and new partners such as Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to secure this increase in the pending appropriations bill.

The measure now awaits up or down votes by both the full House and Senate for final approval.

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