07 February 2005
Bush Budget Seeks More Funds to Meet Global Terrorist Threat
Increases sought in funding for defense, homeland security efforts
By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The Bush administration proposes to raise defense spending by 4.8 percent and homeland security funding by 8 percent in fiscal 2006 to protect the nation from the global terrorist threat.
Both spending proposals define broadly how the Bush administration sees itself dealing with the threat of international terrorism.
"Since 2001, the administration will have raised defense spending by more than 40 percent and more than tripled funding for homeland security," the administration said in introducing its proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2006, which begins October 1. "In the war on terror, the Bush administration's primary strategy is to take the fight to the enemy."
The administration formally sent its $2.6 trillion 2006 federal budget plan to Congress February 7.
The proposed budget provides $34.2 billion for the Department of Homeland Security that would: increase border and transportation security spending by 10 percent; and create a nuclear detection office to monitor and report attempts to import, assemble or transport unsanctioned nuclear materials. However, it would reduce funding for state and local government coordination efforts.
The $419 billion budget proposed for the Defense Department would buy fewer planes, ships and submarines than the Pentagon previously wanted, but it would put extra emphasis on training anti-terror commandos and expanding the Army and Marine Corps.
Broadly, the 2006 budget plan involves national security spending in three critical areas:
-- Financing and supporting current military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, largely through supplemental appropriations;
-- Financing a major transformation of the U.S. armed forces to meet emerging threats in the 21st century; and
-- Financing and supporting a variety of programs and security measures to protect the American homeland.
Working with a broad coalition of forces, American troops have liberated Afghanistan and Iraq from regimes that actively supported terrorism, the administration budget message said. With continued support from Congress, U.S. forces will help those nations develop the capability to defend their own democratically elected governments, it continued.
"Fighting terror requires a steady commitment to spreading liberty and democracy, because free nations are peaceful nations," the message said.
At the same time, the Defense Department plans to continue implementing plans to transform the U.S. armed forces for emerging threats.
"By taking advantage of 21st century military technologies, America's combat power can be rapidly deployed with greater precision, stealth, and success," the budget message said. "By building modular Army brigades, we will create a more flexible fighting force able to match the needs of the mission."
Part of the transformation process involves reorganization of U.S. military commands, which includes geographic regions and major force structures. The United States recently created the Northern Command specifically to defend the U.S. homeland and its region, the Joint Forces Command to direct the military transformation, and a new Strategic Command to be responsible for early warning and defense against a potential missile attack on the United States.
In addition, the administration said that it is negotiating new strategic partnerships with nations in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and other critical areas of the world.
On the domestic front, the budget would provide substantial resources to increase the U.S. ability to prevent terrorist attacks, the budget message said. Funding would be increased for the FBI's counterterrorism efforts and focusing resources on the most vulnerable domestic targets: airports and seaports, the food supply and water systems, major transportation systems, information networks and critical infrastructure.
According to the administration’s message, the United States and its allies will continue to disrupt the financing of terrorism by: identifying and blocking the sources of funding; freezing assets of terrorists and those supporting them; denying terrorists access to the international financial system; protecting legitimate charities from being abused by terrorists; and preventing the movement of assets through alternative financial networks.
Since September 2001, the United States and its allies have designated 397 groups as terrorist-related entities and frozen approximately $147 million in terrorist assets worldwide.
Included in the 2006 budget proposal is planning for the establishing of the director of national intelligence and expanding the National Counterterrorism Center. Among their major responsibilities is spearheading efforts to improve information sharing within the U.S. intelligence community.
The section of the 2006 U.S. budget dealing with national security can be found on the Internet at http://a255.g.akamaitech.net/7/255/2422/07feb20051415/www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy06/pdf/budget/protecting.pdf.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2005&m=February&x=20050207170229dmslahrellek0.7062494&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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