Support Builds For DHS Tech Budget
CongressDaily's Chris Strohm writes in TechCentral's latest Issue Of The Week that House appropriators have approved most of what the Obama administration requested for Homeland Security technology programs and even gave it credit for "some hard decisions" not to seek money for certain efforts. By the time they voted Friday to send to the House an FY10 Homeland Security spending bill with $42.6 billion in discretionary spending, it was clear the Democratic-led Appropriations Committee is far more closely aligned with the Obama administration than it was with the Bush administration in the previous Congress. Floor action on the bill is expected this week.
In a report accompanying the bill, the committee commended the department for such budget decisions as not seeking funding for advanced cargo scanning technology and an electronic system to verify when foreigners leave the country. But no budget request goes through Congress unscathed. When appropriators disagreed with administration decisions, they didn't hesitate to say so. "The committee understands the demanding nature of the department's mission, as well as resources and technology limitations that make it difficult to consistently satisfy the wide range of expectations from Congress, state and local governments, industries, citizens, other federal departments and foreign governments," appropriators wrote.
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