Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan on Tuesday said that his department needs more funding for a program that prevents targeted violence and terrorism.
"We need to invest more — no question," McAleenan said on "CBS This Morning."
"I've asked Congress for an out-of-cycle budget request to help bolster it and increase our reach and capability. But it doesn't cover the level and scope of effort across the Department of Homeland Security enterprise," he said.
McAleenan said the Secret Service contacts communities to provide instruction about what threat indicators to watch out for and active shooter training for various cities.
He added that optimally, he’d triple the number of staff that are available to combat the spike in attacks, as more than 250 mass shootings have taken place in the U.S. so far this year, and "coordinate the intelligence side of it at the headquarters level as well as investing in those grants and efforts that are going to help communities prepare for these kind of incidents."
McAleenan said he’s instructed the agency to aggressively fight mass shootings, and was told by President Donald Trump to find the root cause.
"I've also directed a surge of all of our training and preparedness assets on a risk basis to communities across the country based on what we know.”
He added, "I think we've got a responsibility to call out hate in all of its forms, and white supremacist extremism is a critical element that we're trying to address. I think the president was very clear on that yesterday."
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