Budget
Border, Visitor-Tracking Tools Win Bush's Backing
     The Bush administration this week unveiled a fiscal 2008 budget request that is chock-full of technology-related initiatives. The Homeland Security Department's request supports several high-profile technology initiatives, such as increasing surveillance along the border, expanding the nation's biometric visitor-tracking system and installing radiological detectors around New York City. The Justice Department's budget would direct $3.8 billion toward counter-terrorism and intelligence programs at the FBI. It also includes money for analyzing security breaches, assisting in digital evidence collection and analysis, and securing the interception of data from public and private networks. The health information superhighway, meanwhile, could be injected with a 93 percent funding boost, as the budget includes $118 million to develop a nationwide health technology network. President Bush did revive his longstanding requests to cut funding for some tech programs, however. The targets include the Advanced Technology Program, Manufacturing Extension Partnership and community learning centers.

Budget
Key Democrat Calls Security Aid 'Simply Inadequate'
     A top House Democratic appropriator called the Homeland Security Department's proposed fiscal 2008 budget "simply inadequate" to address the nation's needs, especially when it comes to funding for emergency responders. "I am not saying that the department's troubles can be solved simply by throwing more money at them," House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Price, D-N.C., told department Secretary Michael Chertoff during a hearing. "As things currently stand, however, there are a number of areas of your proposed budget that are simply inadequate." Price said he is "not at all confident" that the budget would address several issues, such as modernizing Coast Guard ships. Price said he is "particularly concerned" that the budget would cut existing grant programs for "first responders" by $1.2 billion. Chertoff said he believes the budget request is "sound" and "ample."

Taxes
Bush Pushes Tax Break In Visit To Microchip Facility
     A day after submitting his $2.9 trillion budget proposal to Congress, President Bush sought to build support for it while visiting a Micron Technology chip-making facility in Manassas, Va. Bush said Congress should support his plan to extend his tax breaks and to cut domestic spending programs like Medicare. He argued that his tax breaks helped the economy and are important for companies like Micron to grow. Bush also noted that lower taxes help companies compete abroad. Micron CEO Steve Appleton said 60 percent of his company's sales are outside the United States. "We need to continue to have an environment that incentivizes investment," Appleton said. While many chip-making companies are moving their manufacturing operations to other countries, Micron has expanded in the United States. Appleton said that will continue as long as he has access to highly skilled workers.

Telecom
House Judiciary Backs Bill Against Telephone Fraud
     The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would make it a federal crime to use someone else's telephone number to defraud people or businesses. The committee approved the "caller-ID spoofing" bill, H. R. 740, by voice vote, with no audible dissent. It is aimed at helping combat a new tool used in the growing problem of identity theft. The Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee approved the measure earlier in the week. At issue is a new technology available through the Internet or other places that allows people to use the phone numbers of others to make calls. The people who answer get a false number on their caller-identification devices. The true caller numbers are disguised, and those receiving the calls could be fooled into thinking a business, bank or another person is calling.

E-Government
Senate Vows Quick Action On E-Voting Paper Trails
     Democratic senators indicated that they will move quickly to offer legislation that would require e-voting machines to produce auditable paper trails. At a Rules and Administration Committee hearing, Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein of California said she is close to introducing a measure similar to a House bill filed this week. The legislation would mandate machines that produce durable, voter-verified paper trails and require election officials to conduct random audits of those machines. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., also told the panel he plans to craft a measure addressing the security and reliability of e-voting systems. The issue has been on the front burner because of the ongoing controversy over a House race in Sarasota County, Fla., last year. "One only has to look at what happened in Sarasota to see how dangerous it might be to wait" until after 2008, Feinstein said.

Environment
House Group Aims For E-Recycling Legislation
     Members of the Congressional E-Waste Working Group hope to produce legislation in the near future on the recycling of electronic devices. "Our goal is to have an e-waste law this year," according to John Santore, a spokesman for Rep. Louise Slaughter, the Democratic co-chairwoman of the group. The panel was formed in May 2005 with the goal of exploring national solutions to the e-waste problem and educating congressmen on the issue. Some states and cities have attempted to address the problem of e-waste through laws and e-recycling programs, but Congress has yet to enact a national statute. Another member of the working group, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., remains committed to addressing e-waste, according to spokeswoman Anne Warden. "We hope to introduce legislation in the coming months," she said.

Intellectual Property
At Industry Event, Lawmakers Vow Piracy Fight
     House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel had harsh words for China for not doing more to prevent intellectual property piracy. "You don't push my country around," the New York Democrat said at a movie industry symposium. "We're the backbone of their total economy." American trade representatives are not making a maximum impact in complaining to Chinese officials about piracy, he said. Also at the symposium, California Democrat Dianne Feinstein said the intellectual property industry's impact on the economy cannot be ignored because it creates more than 1.3 million American jobs and generates $30 billion in revenue nationally. She said IP enforcement "greatly needs to be stepped up." Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, hinted at forthcoming legislation that would establish civil enforcement authority for IP matters at the Justice Department, as well as strengthen state, local and international law enforcement.

Spectrum
Safety Network Seen As Threat To Digital TV Transition
     Telecommunications and technology companies warned the Senate Commerce Committee that the nation's switch to digital television could be jeopardized if Cyren Call Communications gets its way. Cyren Call has the support of public-safety organizations to create a wireless, high-speed Internet network to be shared by emergency responders and commercial carriers. Nextel co-founder Morgan O'Brian runs the venture. But the High Tech DTV Coalition fears that the Feb. 17, 2009, changeover to digital television signals that is now codified into law would unravel if the plan moves forward. "This proposal should alarm lawmakers," the coalition said in a letter to committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and ranking Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska. At a Commerce Committee hearing later in the week, Stevens criticized Cyren Call's proposal.