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Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in again, beginning his second term as governor of California on Friday, Jan. 5, 2007.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

¡¡LOS ANGELES, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday pledged to beef up California's terrorism prevention and emergency preparedness, as well as its response and recovery capabilities.

    His remarks followed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's(DHS)announcement that a number of California ports will receive an increase in federal homeland security funding in 2007.

    "Public safety has always been my No. 1 priority and increased funding for California's ports and other homeland security needs have always been at the top of the list when I meet with federal officials," the governor said in a statement e-mailed to Xinhua.

    "When it was announced last year that some of California's ports received no or little funding, I took immediate action and fought to have our state's funding restored," he said.

    "California will be safer because of these grants and because of the hard work of our state and local homeland security officials," he said.

    California's two major commercial port regions, Los Angeles/Long Beach and the Bay Area will see a significant increase in funding over last year.

    Bay Area ports (San Francisco, Oakland, Stockton and Richmond) will see a 10-million-dollar increase in funding - from 1 million combined to more than 11 million combined. The ports of LA and Long Beach will receive an increase of nearly 3 million - from 12 million to 14.7 million.

    San Diego, a tier 3 port which received only 139,000 dollars in2006, will be eligible to compete for a share of 30 million.

    In the fiscal year 2006, California saw its share of port funding sharply decline following a U.S. DHS decision to provide no money to the Port of Oakland, the nation's fourth busiest port.

    In September 2006, Schwarzenegger sent a letter to Congressional leadership asking for a more equitable grant process for port security and issued a statement asking for the use of a risk-based system.

    He also wrote a letter to the DHS in November 2006, asking that federal homeland security funds accurately and fairly reflect the risks faced by California's seaports.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in again, beginning his second term as governor of California on Friday, Jan. 5, 2007.((Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>