DHS needs bigger budget, senators suggest

DHS needs bigger budget, senators suggest    Several Senators criticized the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Michael Chertoff for sending up a budget that doesn’t increase resources to deal with continuing problems with border and port security, immigration, intelligence and information technology systems.
   The White House and Tom Ridge, Chertoff’s predecessor, were responsible for formulating the administration’s 2006 budget proposal before Chertoff took office, but Chertoff was admonished for not using the option of submitting a budget amendment to supplement funding in needed areas once he got up to speed on departmental matters.
   “I’m not sure the budget that has been sent up is reflective of the urgency of the problem that this department has relative to different functions that in my opinion are in distress,” said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman of the Senate Appropriations homeland security subcommittee, at a hearing Thursday.
   The Bush administration requested a DHS budget of $41.1 billion, of which $27.3 billion goes to homeland security efforts.
   Gregg, while acknowledging that money will not solve all of the department’s problems, said the administration’s proposal is about $1 billion less than the amount authorized by Congress last year.
   Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., questioned why the administration was not interested in obtaining more grant money to help ports harden their facilities from terrorist attack, as required by law.
   DHS is proposing doing away with dedicated port security grants and lumping them together in a general pot of money covering a wide range of infrastructure protection projects. Bills introduced in Congress last week would authorize DHS to establish a port security funding program that disburses $400 million per year between 2007 and 2012.
   Chertoff said money is available in various grant programs and that the private sector also has responsibility for paying to secure its own port assets.
   “I am just disappointed every time when the budget comes over with no money for that, because, as you and I both know, a disaster at one of our ports is going to dramatically hurt not only human life but the economy of this country, whether you’re in a port city or not,” Murray said.
   Lawmakers cited a laundry list of challenges still facing DHS and sympathized with Chertoff about the enormous task he faces integrating agencies and closing security loopholes.
   Gregg questioned whether the Transportation Security Agency has made any progress in improving aviation security since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and expressed concern about container security, the limited size of the Border Patrol and the large-scale turnover in senior management.
   “The number of people in an ‘acting’ position is unacceptable, and the number of positions which are unfilled at senior management levels is unacceptable,” he said.
   One of those positions, not mentioned during the hearing, is under secretary for border and transportation security, which is filled on an acting basis without any formal announcement from DHS by Randy Beardsworth after Asa Hutchinson resigned in March.
   “Container ships — we all know we’re not getting anywhere near the scrutiny we need on container ships,” Gregg added.
   Murray expressed frustration that DHS has not developed a coordinated port and cargo security strategy, noting that the department had missed a Feb. 8 deadline to submit a report on the matter.
   A DHS official recently said the Border and Transportation Security directorate has completed a national cargo security strategy in recent months, but that is on hold as Chertoff conducts a top-to-bottom review of DHS activities.