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Homeland Overhaul May Spur Budget Troubles
by Greta Wodele
The homeland security secretary plans to consolidate and dissolve several agencies within the fledgling Homeland Security Department. It is the department's first reorganization since Congress and President Bush created it more than two years ago.
While department chief Michael Chertoff received praise from lawmakers on Capitol Hill for his restructuring ideas, the plan could pose difficulties for House and Senate appropriators as they head into conference negotiations over the department's fiscal 2006 budget.
Chertoff announced last week the results of his 90-day top-to-bottom review. The secretary said six imperatives would drive his near-term agenda: increased preparedness, with a focus on catastrophic events; strengthened border security; hardened transportation security; enhanced information sharing across the government and with state and local officials; improved management and a realigned organization to maximize its missions.
On Capitol Hill, the House and Senate separately have approved a spending measure for the department, allocating $30.8 billion in discretionary funding for next year. The House approved its bill in May and the Senate late last week. Both sides must now negotiate a compromise proposal before President Bush can sign the legislation into law.
Conference negotiations may get bogged down as lawmakers try to determine line-item spending for agencies and programs that will no longer exist after Chertoff rearranges the department.
Chertoff Advocates 'Risk-Based' Approach
Chertoff said he would like to dissolve the emergency preparedness and response directorate to have the agencies within the division and its programs focus solely on preparedness.
"Federal money should be distributed using the risk-based approach that we will apply to all preparedness activities," said Chertoff, who said the department would focus its resources on addressing threats that pose catastrophic consequences. The secretary specifically called on Congress to give him the "discretion to award infrastructure protection grants in a more flexible manner."
Appropriators have rejected that proposal -- originally requested by the department in its FY06 budget earlier this year. The department wanted $600 million placed in one pot to divide as officials saw fit to protect the most vulnerable ports, bridges, chemical plants, mass transit systems and other infrastructure. Instead, House and Senate appropriators directed the department to spend specific amounts on each critical infrastructure and provided $365 million.
Nuclear Office Needed
Chertoff in a speech Wednesday said "of all the catastrophic threats we face, a nuclear attack on our soil would be uniquely threatening to our society." He said Congress must establish and fund the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office requested by the president. The office would focus on developing advanced detection devices.
The secretary said he has taken steps to set up the office, and the new office would report directly to him under the new structure. While the appropriators funded the initiative, they reduced the requested amount by $100 million, because they believe the secretary must provide more details about the office's activities. The department wanted $227 million.
Under the emergency preparedness and response directorate, the Senate appropriators allocated $2.9 billion and the House appropriators approved $3 billion. Currently, within the preparedness and response division is housed in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Chertoff plans to take FEMA out of that division and make it a stand-alone agency reporting directly to him. He also would remove its "preparedness responsibilities." Instead, the office of state and local preparedness -- which is now located in the secretary's office -- would move to the new preparedness wing. The state and local office gives funding to states to prepare first responders to respond to terrorist attacks.
No Current Funds For Top Medical Officer
Another potential stumbling block is the secretary's new chief medical officer -- an appointment he made last week. The appropriators have not reviewed the new position or its responsibilities for next year's budget and so there is no specific funding for it.
Chertoff also plans to dissolve the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) division, which received $66 million more in the House bill and $37 million more in the Senate bill over last year's enacted level.
Appropriators now must decide whether to shift some of the funding for IAIP to its displaced entities. The House bill included $198 million and the Senate bill allocated $169 million for the directorate. Chertoff said he would make the current assistant secretary for information analysis position the chief intelligence officer for the department and promote the director of the National Cybersecurity Division to an assistant secretary position in the coming months.
Secretary Seeks Border Funds
The lawmakers also must decide whether to fund the secretary's new department-wide policy office. They could support Chertoff's plan to dissolve the Border and Transportation Security (BTS) undersecretary office and give the $10 million in their spending measures to the new policy office. Chertoff said last week the department-wide policy office would absorb BTS' policy staff.
Under the BTS directorate is an initiative to track foreign visitors entering and exiting the country by taking a traveler's digital photograph by scanning their fingerprints and iris. Homeland Security officials currently scan two of an individual's fingers, but run the prints through the FBI's 10-fingerprint system. Chertoff said the department would in the future require 10 prints, but funding for next year reflects the current two-print system.
Appropriators in both chambers significantly reduced funding for the so-called US-VISIT system below the department's request. The House bill included $411 million and the Senate allocated $340 million. The department requested $705 million.
Chertoff highlighted other areas as important to the new reorganization, including a program to check airline passenger names against law enforcement databases. The secretary said they would begin requesting dates of birth from passengers to reduce the number of false positive hits on the criminal databases. The department is working on bolstering the system to quickly clear low-risk travelers.
Appropriators Unsure About Secure Flight
However, the appropriators refused to match the department's funding request for the initiative known as Secure Flight, because it has been plagued with problems. The House allocated $66 million, while the Senate appropriated $57 million. The department requested $81 million.
Chertoff also mentioned expanding the Registered Traveler initiative, which allows frequent travelers to voluntarily submit personal data for a security background check. In exchange, the travelers are expedited through screening procedures at the nation's airports. Both the House and Senate bills matched the department's request for $20 million.
The secretary said Wednesday that federal funds are "not the only resources available" to protect key infrastructures, announcing the department would take advantage of a 2002 law giving companies limited liability coverage if their products or services fail to protect against a terrorist attack. Lawmakers have criticized the department for moving too slowly to certify companies under the law.
House appropriators gave the department $10 million -- $4 million above Chertoff's request -- to "enhance the program's slow progress to date." The Senate bill matched the department's budget proposal.
To strengthen the country's land borders, Chertoff said the department would employ new technologies and upgrade border infrastructure.
Appropriators said they would like the department's science and technology division to pursue technologies that could detect ground tunnels along the borders for smuggling narcotics, humans and other threats. They also allocated $125 million to put radiation detection monitors along ports of entry; $51 million to place sensors, cameras, communication and analytic technology along the borders and unmanned aerial vehicles along the Arizona border.
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