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Sen. Chuck Schumer says Janet Napolitano needs to reverse the Obama administration's removal of an anti-terrorist Coast Guard unit.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says Janet Napolitano needs to reverse the Obama administration's removal of an anti-terrorist Coast Guard unit.

New York senator calls out Napolitano over elimination of anti-terrorist Coast Guard unit

Say it ain't so, Janet! Sen. Chuck Schumer called out Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Sunday, protesting an Obama Administration plan to eliminate an anti-terrorist Coast Guard unit that keeps watch over the city's harbor.

Lore Croghan | New York Daily News | Published: 02/08/2010 15:39

"They are our eyes and ears," Schumer said of the elite, 90-member Coast Guard unit established after 9/11. The unit provides terror-related surveillance and security for waterfront events like the Fourth of July fireworks.

Obama's federal budget, released last week, calls for transferring the unit to Boston, where it would be combined with Beantown's Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team.

"If there was ever a plan that was penny wise and pound foolish, this is it," Schumer said.

He sent Napolitano a letter asking her to abandon the plan - and vowed to block it in Congress if she does not.

"The whole New York delegation will rally against this," he said.

The Coast Guard consolidation plan included in the new budget also would eliminate or transfer Maritime Safety and Security teams in four other locales: San Francisco; New Orleans; Anchorage, Alaska; and Kings Bay, Georgia. Teams in San Diego and Seattle would be spared.

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