Nearly five years after Sept. 11, 2001, America is not well-protected against future attacks, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner said in a Wednesday news conference in Las Vegas.

Warner is the first potential Democratic presidential hopeful to visit Nevada since the state was chosen to hold an early Democratic presidential caucus in 2008. Many more are expected to make Nevada a regular stomping ground in the next year and a half. The caucus is scheduled for Jan. 19, 2008.

Warner gave a news conference Wednesday with the Nevada Democrats' gubernatorial nominee, Dina Titus. The two discussed homeland security as the fifth anniversary of the East Coast terrorism attacks approaches.

"We have rooted out the Taliban from Afghanistan, and some of al-Qaida's assets have been compromised," Warner said. "But five years later, we also have to recognize that there is a dramatic increase of radical Islam all around the world. We've seen terrorist bombings not just in the Middle East but places like Madrid, Casablanca, London, and obviously we see them in Baghdad."

Warner noted that Osama bin Laden remains at large.

"We are safer, but Americans are not safe enough five years after 9/11, and I believe we need to make some immediate changes in the operation," Warner said. "We need to renew focus on homeland security. This administration, with its unilateral focus on Iraq, has taken its eye off the ball."

Warner pointed to recommendations by the bipartisan 9/11 Commission that have yet to be implemented. He said that federal homeland security funding needs to be distributed better based on which areas are truly most vulnerable and that law enforcement agencies must integrate communications systems.

Warner said the federal government should spend about $20 billion more on homeland security, and he said Americans should be proud to make sacrifices for national security.

Titus, the minority leader of the state Senate, pointed to bills related to homeland security that she has sponsored or voted for in the Legislature. They included creation of the state's Homeland Security Commission and increasing penalties for crimes connected to terrorism.

As governor, Titus said, she would streamline the homeland security bureaucracy and make it more accountable and appoint quality people to the Homeland Security Commission, which distributes money to local governments.

She also related security to education and economic development, saying the Nevada Test Site should be used for scientific research that also would create jobs.

Titus criticized her opponent, Republican Congressman Jim Gibbons, for his work on homeland security. "We see that ... Congressman Gibbons voted against funding homeland security, and he made very little noise, hardly a peep, when it came to the loss of our homeland security funding," she said.

Titus said that in four instances Gibbons voted against bills that included increased funding for security. All were Democratic proposals that included other provisions, such as one that would have reduced tax cuts.

Gibbons considers homeland security his signature issue as a representative. He serves on the House Homeland Security Committee and helped author the bill that created the federal Homeland Security Department.

"I think Dina Titus is talking out of both sides of her mouth," Gibbons said Wednesday. "Yesterday she was criticizing me for spending too much. Now I'm not spending enough."

Gibbons said he missed a vote on a recent House appropriations bill because he was attending his son's high school graduation, but said he would have voted for the measure, which proposed increased homeland security spending by $1.8 billion, to $32 billion.

Gibbons defended the security work of the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. "Following 9/11, America has not been attacked," Gibbons said. "Are we perfect yet? Of course not. But are we getting there? I think we are."

Warner's official line is that he has not decided whether to seek the nomination in 2008.

He is expected to be the first of many Democrats eyeing a presidential run who make Nevada a regular stop because of the new caucus. The other early caucus or primary states, Iowa and New Hampshire, have been accustomed to a steady stream of glad-handing pols every four years.

Two more Democrats, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Sen. John Edwards, are slated to visit Nevada next week.

Titus said she has received calls from Democratic contenders including Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Evan Bayh and Sen. Russ Feingold.

Warner held two fundraisers for Titus on Wednesday night and was expected to write Titus a check himself.