The White House
President George W. Bush
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U.S. Department of Homeland Security
February 2, 2004

DHS Announces FY 2005 Budget

The Department of Homeland Security's budget exhibits the Administration's continuing commitment to secure the homeland by requesting total new resources for FY 2005 of $40.2 billion. This is an increase of 10 percent above the comparable FY 2004 resource level. The budget substantially increases funding for DHS from 2003 -- the year that the Department was created -- and continues the dramatic growth for agencies that are now a part of DHS. The President's budget as a whole clearly demonstrates the continuing priority placed on Homeland Security in requesting new government-wide discretionary resources for FY 2005 of $30 billion. This is an increase of 9.7 percent above the comparable FY 2004 resource level. The budget for the Department of Homeland Security builds upon the significant investments to date that improve our safeguards against terrorism, while also sustaining the many important departmental activities not directly related to our fight against terrorism. The DHS budget number includes sources of funding such as discretionary and mandatory appropriations, offsetting collections from user fees, and trust funds

The key themes of the budget are as follows:

Strengthening Border and Port Security

$411 million in new funding to maintain and enhance border security activities, including the expansion of pre-screening cargo containers in high-risk areas and the detection of individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States. Additional funding for the U.S. Coast Guard (8 percent increase) will upgrade port security efforts and implement the Maritime Transportation Security Act. Key enhancements in the FY 2005 budget include:

Enhancing Biodefense:

An additional $2.5 billion for Project BioShield will be available in FY 2005 for the development and pre-purchase of necessary medical countermeasures against weapons of mass destruction, and improved bio-surveillance by expanding air monitoring for biological agents in high-threat cities and high-value targets such as stadiums and transit systems. Specifically, the FY 2005 request includes the following initiatives:

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

$864.6 million for the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate (IAIP), a 3 percent increase, will ensure enhanced capabilities to receive intelligence and information from an expanded set of sources, to assess the vulnerabilities of the nation's assets and critical infrastructure, to assess consequences, and to add capabilities in remediation and protective actions. Key provisions in the FY 2005 budget include:

  • Improving Aviation Security

    $890 million is provided for aviation security, a nearly 20 percent increase, including funds to improve integration of explosive detection system (EDS) equipment into individual airports' baggage processing to increase security effectiveness and promote greater efficiency. In addition, the Federal Air Marshals will receive supplementary training and have opportunities to rotate into land-based agent assignments, further refining their law enforcement skills. Between FY 2003 and FY 2005, the FAMS budget will grow from $466 million, to $613 million, an increase of 32 percent. Because aviation continues to be an attractive terrorist target, we must continue to strengthen our aviation security system. The 2005 Budget provides:

    Support for state and local first responders

    The budget includes a total of $3.6 billion to support first-responder grants and allotting more of the funds to high-threat areas facing the greatest risk and vulnerability. Since March 1, 2003, DHS awarded or allotted over $8 billion to support state and local preparedness. Between FY 2001 and the FY 2005 budget request, over $14.5 billion in assistance will be made available for programs now under DHS.

    The 2005 Budget request provides $3.6 billion in the Office for Domestic Preparedness to continue these enhancements and achieve national preparedness goals - including a doubling of the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI). DHS will also continue grants for law enforcement terrorism prevention efforts, and direct grants to improve fire departments' response to terrorism and other major incidents.

    Enhancing Immigration Security and Enforcement

    A requested appropriated funding increase of $186 million would fund improvements in immigration enforcement both domestically and overseas, including a doubling of current worksite enforcement efforts and a $108 million increase for the detention and removal of illegal aliens. Overall, the ICE budget increases by almost 10% over FY 2004. To enhance immigration security and enforcement, the budget includes:

    Reducing the Immigration Backlog

    The budget includes $160 million in total resources to continue progress toward a six-month processing for all immigration applications, while maintaining security and continuing the President's multi-year $500 million initiative to reduce the backlog of applications. Over the last year, CIS has continued the focus on quality improvements and expanded national security checks, such as performing background name checks on all applications before approval.

    Investing in Human Resources

    $133.5 million to implement a new DHS human resources system that is mission-centered, fair, and flexible by rewarding top performers and ensuring that DHS can manage and deploy its resources to best address homeland security threats. There will be a phased rollout of the new system scheduled to begin later this year. The 2005 Budget specifically seeks:

    Increasing DHS Preparedness and Response Capacity

    Increases totaling $37 million are included for operations of the Homeland Security Operations Center and to support FEMA incident management capabilities.

    Building Departmental Infrastructure

    The budget requests $121.1 million for costs associated with the ongoing establishment of a DHS headquarters facility ($65.1 million) and a new resource management system ($56 million).

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