President Signs Homeland Security Spending Bill
News from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
For Immediate - September 30, 2003 Contact: Erik Floden – 202-546-0795 ×110; mobile – 202-425-0475
Tomorrow President Bush will sign the first ever appropriations bill drafted specifically to provide resources to protect the American homeland from terrorist attack. The fiscal year 2004 spending bill provides $29.41 billion in discretionary spending for the newly created federal department: $1.6 billion above the President’s request, $1.9 billion above the funding recommended by the Senate, and $535.8 million above fiscal year 2003 enacted spending.
“The bill is historic,” noted Erik Floden, Director of the Center’s Terrorism Prevention Project, “but it is only the first step in a long journey to provide resources to the federal and local governments that will protect Americans from terrorism.”
The bill is largely consistent with the President’s request, with minor modifications in funding levels and policy spread over several areas. In broad terms, the Department receives $4.2 billion for the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP), firefighters, and emergency management; $9 billion for border protection and related activities; $5.2 billion for the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Air Marshal Program; $918 million for research, development and deployment of new technologies and $839 to protect critical infrastructure.
During the eight months Congress considered the President’s request, Democrats offered numerous proposals to increase spending in numerous areas including first responders, port security, and aviation security. Republicans beat back all attempts to add substantial funding to the President’s request.
“Congress was prudent to control spending this year as the Department sorts out the messy business of the largest government reorganization in the last 50 years,” Floden noted. “Enormous spending increases this year would have been politically attractive, but it is questionable they would have been used effectively by the Department.”
However, Floden cautioned that the Administration and Congress would need to be willing to increase spending on homeland security in the future. “The terrorist threat is not receding and the work done to date by the Administration, while notable, has not adequately remedied the United States’ numerous vulnerabilities to terrorism.”
He added, “America can not do homeland security on the cheap. Next year and beyond the President and Congress must be prepared to spend, and spend big, to protect the United States. The fiscal year 2004 budget is the baseline, increases are inevitable and necessary.”
The Center’s budget comparison for selected Department of Homeland Security agencies and programs is available at: http://64.177.207.201/static/terrorism/pdf/HR2555COMPARISON.pdf
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