Approximately $20 million of the total funds would be used for the Iowa National Guard's Consolidated Interactive Virtual Information Center (CIVIC). The CIVIC network is used to deliver homeland defense training and information to military units and government and community agencies.
Grassley said one of the most valuable potential applications of the technology would be to provide a communications network that would allow military and government personnel, first responders, and public health and safety officials to receive similar training on homeland security measures no matter their location.
"As communities continue to step up their domestic preparedness efforts in response to September 11, a certain amount of training and resources are required," Grassley said. "This technology provides unparalleled opportunities for federal, state and local governments, including first responders, to support homeland security initiatives nationwide. "
Funds for the program would help the Iowa Guard provide digitized learning content and remote access capabilities, update existing classrooms to current industry standards for digitized training and simulation, and provide commercially secure video teleconferencing capability.
Grassley's letter was sent to Sens. Dan Inouye of Hawaii and Ted Stevens of Alaska, who as chairman and ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense are responsible for drafting a spending plan to supplement the defense department's funding this year.
In November, Grassley met with local leaders, government personnel and public health and safety officials in Iowa to assess the state's ability to prevent, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks. State and local leaders say that sharing information with their federal counterparts is going smoothly, but they are looking to Washington for additional resources.