Border and Transportation Security: Budget for FY2003 and FY2004 (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Jan. 15, 2004 |
| Report Number |
RL32061 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Dennis Snook and Jennifer Lake, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
A well-managed border is central to maintaining and improving the security of the homeland
against
terrorist threats. Although the Department of Defense (DOD) will continue to provide an umbrella
of protection against potential foreign threats to national security from other nations, the new
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been given primary responsibility for securing the
nation's borders and for increasing the security of transportation, among other responsibilities.
On September 24, 2003, both the House and Senate passed H.R. 2555 the first
ever appropriation for DHS. P.L. 108-90 was signed into law October 1, 2003, and provides $17.8
billion for border and transportation security functions for FY2004. The Administration requested
$17.3 billion for these functions, while the House provided $17.6 billion and the Senate $18.1
billion.
The Omnibus Appropriations Resolution for FY2003 ( P.L. 108-7 ) funded activities transferred
to DHS to secure the borders and increase transportation security, but the Administration's request
for FY2004 was the first attempt to submit an explicit, integrated estimate of the funds needed by
DHS for those activities. The total amount provided for DHS for FY2003 was $29.7 billion, of
which 64% was for the operations of border and transportation security, as identified in this report.
Of the amounts appropriated for FY2003 and requested for FY2004 for these activities,
Administration documents suggest that 27% of the funding for the accounts would be used for
functions other than security. For instance, the U.S. Coast Guard has responsibilities for boat safety
programs, including expenses for rescuing passengers of distressed watercraft. Customs administers
trade laws, many of which are concerned with import and export operations unrelated to security
issues.
Major issues in border and transportation security include determination of the optimum
number of Air Marshals and airport screeners, port security measures, cargo security initiatives,
implementation of the Visitor & Immigrant Status Indicator project (US VISIT) alien tracking
system, border security efforts at the Northern border with Canada, extension of Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) security efforts to other forms of transportation (trains, buses, trucks,
and pipelines), and funding for the Coast Guard's Deepwater effort to replace its aging ships and
planes. Of special concern to House and Senate Appropriations conferees were differences of $50
million for the US VISIT program; the Coast Guard's Deepwater program ($172 million); and the
TSA ($224 million), where both houses provide additional funding for the procurement and
installation of explosive detection systems (EDS). P.L. 108-90 provides $330 million for US VISIT;
$668 million for the Coast Guard's Deepwater program; and $475 million for the installation of
EDS. This report draws its data from the reports of the Committees on Appropriations ( H.Rept.
108-169 ; S.Rept. 108-86 ); and the conference report H.Rept. 108-280 . The report will be updated
as further information on border and transportation security funding becomes available.
