GovernmentExecutive.com

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Tuesday proposed a $8.4 billion increase above President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget for the Homeland Security Department.

In a letter to Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-M.H., and ranking member Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Lieberman suggested $4.2 billion for emergency responders. The president requested $3.6 billion.

Last year, Congress gave state and local communities $4 billion in "first responder" grants. Lieberman proposed $1.1 billion for transit, port, rail and general critical infrastructure grants. Bush proposed $600 million.

Lieberman also proposed increasing funding for other anti-terror activities, including $1 billion to help the public health community prepare and respond to a bio-terror attack; $900 million to more quickly modernize the Coast Guard's helicopter and cutter fleet; $800 million to improve explosive detection equipment, cargo security and access security and $360 million for border security initiatives.

Lieberman argued certain increases were to fund provisions included in the recently enacted intelligence legislation Bush did not fund in his budget.

COMMENTS

• Lieberman is not going to get this funding. Nice posturing from a one-time mediocre VP candidate with no national following and virtually no legislative accomplishments to speak of. Everybody likes him, though, because he really doesn't stand for anything. GovExec.com reader Posted March 8, 2005 3:59 PM
• Agent, It would be nice to think they pay any attention, but the pols don't. Read the Commission's report - it was the CIA, the FBI, the DHS (oh wait, they didn't exist yet...), etc, etc, etc. They do give slight lip service to Congressional oversight but immediately deflect attention elsewhere. Sad; really. Skeptical Posted March 8, 2005 9:20 AM
• It is nice that Sen. Lieberman is proposing an increase in DHS funding, but, in your article, I didn't see that ICE (Investigations) figured into this matter in the least. This is precisely the problem: While ICE, the investigative arm of DHS languishes from lack of meaningful funding, there are proposals galore for everything from CG cutters and helicopters to "bio-terror" response funding - capital intensive endeavors that don't nearly return as much on the dollar as investigations that seized assets at a fraction of the cost. Interestingly, I don't see the same type of funding issues at other DHS and ICE entities: USSS, CG, FAMs, CBP all appear to have nice, new facilities, with state of the art equipment, along with money for travel, shipping, vehicles, etc. that ICE Investigations is struggling for. In fact, most of ICE Investigations' budget goes to DRO to pay for alien incarceration and removal costs (and it isn't even enough, anyway), while criminal investigations flounder because we're lucky if we have enough money for case folders. Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? One reason why this is happening, at least vis-a-vis CBP, is that legacy Customs OI, besides sharing in the Asset Forfeiture Fund (a TREASURY run entity), also utilzed user fees generated by the legacy Customs Office of Field Operations to supplement its budget. Now, what little we get at the beginning of an FY now has to last us the WHOLE year, no matter how much the dynamic changes in the course of that year (guess we'll just have to cut back on catching criminals, huh?). Of course, now, CBP won't want us to be merged back with them for that very reason-they get to keep everything they make and they don't have to share it with anyone. Sen. Leiberman and the rest of Congress: WAKE UP AND LISTEN TO THE ICE AGENTS IN THE FIELD! THE TIME IS RUNNING OUT, AND 9/11, ACT II MIGHT BE COMING SOONER THAN YOU THINK. If you fail to fund INVESTIGATIONS adequately and the unthinkable tragedy does happen, there will be no one to blame but yourselves-YOU'VE BEEN ADVISED. GovExec.com reader Posted March 2, 2005 6:57 PM