Agency Also Gets Bump In Budget 

U.S Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told a group of reporters that no additional airline flight cancellations are expected within the near future unless new intelligence provides the need to do so.

"There are times and circumstances under which, given everything that is being discussed among the parties, we reserve, always reserve the right, in spite of all of the precautionary measures that are taken, the ultimate protection of public safety is to cancel the flight," Ridge said.  "And no matter how many additional things we do and how much more money we spend on aviation security, I believe that should always been an option.  And in this instance, it was an option that we chose to exercise."

British Airways, Air France and Continental Airlines announced cancellations of 10 international flights over the weekend due to intelligence concerns. Two of the cancellations affected travel into the United States on Monday -- British Airways Flight 223 from London to Washington's Dulles Airport and Air France Flight 026 from Paris to Dulles. Continental also canceled a domestic flight Sunday between Washington and Houston.

Homeland Security officials said that the intelligence was very specific about the dates, the flight numbers and the airlines that were potential targets. Officials said the information did not specify the methods of a potential attack, so intelligence officials looked into the possibility that airplanes could be used as suicide bombs, to disperse chemical or biological weapons, or other tactics that al Qaeda has shown interest in.

Aside from the issue of flight cancellations, Ridge advised that the U.S.-VISIT program implemented at 115 airports and 14 seaports across the country "has been very successful", processing more than 900,000 legitimate passengers since the beginning of the year and matching 89 potential entrants against criminal watch lists.

Ridge also mentioned the Bush Administration has given DHS a bump in its budget.

"One of the areas of greatest concern since September 11th, of course, has been aviation.  And thus it continues to be an area of high priority for our budget, with an increase of 20 percent this year for aviation security," he said
 
The Transportation Security Administration will receive an additional $890 million to continue to improve the quality and the efficiency of the screening process.
 
Also, considerable funds will be available to continue the research and deployment of air cargo screening technology as well as accelerate the development of technologies that counter the threat of portable anti-aircraft missiles.

FMI:  www.dhs.gov