Serious Bucks Being Spent... Again

President Bush has signed the first ever homeland security appropriations bill at the Department of Homeland Security, "continuing his commitment to protect the American people." Overall, the Department’s FY 2004 budget authority totals $37.6 billion: $30.4 billion provided by the Congress plus an additional $7.2 billion in fees.

This budget includes some intriguing Aviation Security expenditures... 

• Of nearly $4.6 billion in Transportation Security Administration (TSA) funding, specific programs include:
• • $150 million to purchase explosives detection systems.
  • $250 million to install these systems in airports.
•  Another $85 million is allocated to improve air cargo security, including: 
• • $30 million to enable TSA to improve its oversight of the known shipper program, using a risk-weighted freight screening system that will identify pieces of cargo that require closer scrutiny before being loaded on passenger aircraft. Funds will also enable TSA to hire an additional 100 staff to perform more in-depth audits of shipper compliance with the known shipper requirement.
  • $55 million to be used by TSA’s Research and Development to pursue a variety of technological solutions that would allow for the most efficient and targeted inspections of cargo carried on passenger aircraft.

Other Interesting Expenditures:

• $35.2 million for an air surveillance wing on the Northern Border, of which $12.8 million is for the purchase of aircraft.
• $668 million is allocated to the Integrated Deepwater System Project, the Coast Guard’s multi-year recapitalization that will replace or modernize the Coast Guard’s large ships, aircraft, sensors, command and control systems, and logistics system. Deepwater funding in FY-04 including $143 million for aircraft, which will include the purchase of a CASA 235 maritime patrol aircraft; $303 million to be used in part for construction of the first 420-foot National Security Cutter; $101 million for use in part for continued development of  a network-centric command and control system that will provide a common operating picture; $24.7 million for a common logistics information system; and continued development of the vertical unmanned aerial vehicle that will deploy from IDS cutters.

FMI: www.dhs.gov