Budget to Add 3,000
Border Agents High On Bush's Agenda

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

President Bush proposed increasing the Department of Homeland Security's discretionary spending budget by $2.7 billion in last week's Fiscal Year 2008 budget presentation to Congress.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Infusion for 'Homeland.'

Approximately $746 million of the increase was earmarked for Customs and Border Protection. The White House said it hoped to add 3,000 Border Patrol Agents, bringing the ranks to 18,300, double the number there were in 2001.

Union: Not Nearly Enough

But the president of the union representing thousands of front-line homeland security workers said the budget "failed" to meet critical staffing needs at ports of entry.

"The relative handful of additional positions for CBP Officers contained in this budget proposal pales in comparison to the pressing need for more staffing," said Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union.

The budget called for 3,000 patrol agents, but only 300 officers to guard ports of entry.

The President also proposed sending $306 million to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help pay for 950 new beds for detained illegal immigrants awaiting deportation.

COLLEEN M. KELLEY: 'Doesn't meet need.'

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Feb. 5 that 1,329 airport screeners would be added to the Transportation Security Administration. Along with checking documents and boarding passes, screeners will look for suspicious behavior using techniques learned from European and Israeli security forces.

Secretary Chertoff said another $58 million will go toward 300 Inspectors, canine teams and new technology to better search cargo on passenger planes.

Grant Funds Cut

But cuts to several grant programs that awarded first-responder funds to states angered some lawmakers.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, released a statement Feb. 5 criticizing the 2008 budget for halving the grants available for state first-responders.

The cuts would hurt first-responders' ability to train to respond to emergencies, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, upgrade equipment and formulate response plans and risk assessments, she said.

The DHS was also criticized for only budgeting $210 million for port security grants (the SAFE Port Act, co-authored by Senator Collins, asked for $400 million), and, in the first year that it's had authority to regulate chemical facilities, setting aside a meager $25 million to cover the program's costs.

In a departure from traditional procedure, the Federal Emergency Management Agency transferred about $1 billion to the Commerce Department. The two agencies are going to work together to administer the money as interoperable communications grants for states and localities, according to FEMA Chief Financial Officer Margaret Young.

Secretary Chertoff added that FEMA was getting $100 million in new funding to hire 241 new employees, invest in new technology and equipment, and improve its disaster readiness.