Bush signs DHS spending bill

Bush signs DHS spending bill    President Bush Tuesday signed the Department of Homeland Security’s 2006 spending bill, which appropriates $30.8 billion in discretionary spending.
   Congress provided $1.8 billion, or 4.7 percent, more than it did last year. Including mandatory earmarks, DHS’s total budget is $40.6 billion.
   The bill provides almost $6 billion to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, although much of the agency’s budget increase is directed towards the Border Patrol and immigration enforcement efforts.
   The Transportation Security Administration will receive $5.9 billion, including $443 million for explosives detection technology primarily intended to check passenger baggage at airports.
   The Science and Technology Directorate received $1.5 billion, including $110 million to continue research into shoulder-fired missile counter-measures for commercial aircraft.
   The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, a new organization created to coordinate technology and policies designed to thwart smuggling of nuclear material into the country, is funded at $318 million.
   The Coast Guard received $6.8 million, including $933 million for its Deepwater program to invest in new aircraft and vessels.
   The appropriations bill enacts several elements of Secretary Michael Chertoff’s second-stage review of DHS performance, including the creation of an Office of Intelligence and Analysis and an Office of Policy.