Homeland Security: proposed budget boosts technology spending.

The proposed 2006 Department of Homeland Security budget has two persistent themes: consolidation and technology. By controlling the money flow, the Bush administration is attempting to change the way the federal government develops new security products and relates to first responders on the state and local levels.

The $41.1 billion spending package for the department represents an increase of 7 percent over 2005 funding, according to government calculations. The 2005 budget, however, excludes the effort to stand-up biological detection stations, called Project BioShield. (The $2.5 billion allocated for the bio-detection system in 2005 carries over until 2008.)

The 2006 budget is aimed at acquiring technological solutions to patch security voids. From information technology to threat detection equipment, emerging technology is at the foundation of DHS' mission.

The budget request increases IT spending by more than $1 billion, to nearly $6 billion. That represents more than 14 percent of the department's total budget and reflects the need for more cohesion among the department's many agencies and research programs.

For example, in an effort to better control costs and eliminate redundancies, various identification activities will converge under the new office of screening coordination and operations.

Formed within the border and transportation security directorate, the new office would take over programs that monitor data on immigrants and visitors, passenger screening and flight crew risk databases. It also will manage the transportation-worker identification credential, which will create universal identification cards for those employees. The office will also handle the U.S. Visit program, which relies on collecting biometric identification from visitors at land, sea and air entry points to the United States. That program's tally will rise $50 million in 2006, for a total budget of $390 million. The law requires that the program be implemented at all points of entry by December 31.

On top of controlling the flow of people into the United States, an effort to, likewise, monitor inbound cargo is receiving renewed funds. The DHS approach to imported threats appears as a mesh of developing technologies that screen every point of entry with advanced sensors and other gadgetry. That translates into a continuing boom in opportunities for sensor technology companies.

In one program, DHS is requesting $20 million to develop a single warning and identification system for chemical agents whose vapor pressure is too low to be detected by conventional measures. It is called a low volatility agent warning system. Radiation detection portals will be bought and future systems developed with an increase of $125 million. The America's Shield Initiative received a $20 million increase, to more than $51 million, to develop electronic surveillance along the northern and southern borders. Countering shoulder-fired missiles, DHS is devoting $110 million in the 2006 budget, an increase of $49 million, to pursue this technology for civil aircraft.

The Container Security Initiative, which focuses on pre-screening cargo before it enters the United States will receive an increase of $5.4 million over last year. Included in that price tag is a pilot program to set up screening in Egypt, Chile, India, Philippines, Venezuela, Bahamas and Honduras in 2006. The total amount in the budget for this program is $138.8 million.

Rounding out the tech-focused budget, DHS wants to devote $61.1 million to the homeland security operations center to harden its data systems, a $6 million increase for smart-card projects, a $5.2 million boost for geospatial programs and $2.5 million for an IT engineering center of excellence.

Overall, the budget sets aside $3.6 billion to train and equip first responders. Money dedicated specifically for surface transportation, however, would dip to $32 million in the 2006 budget--about $83 million less than in 2005. Much of the staff" training is handled within each office's budget, but some dedicated programs stick out. One focusing on firearm qualifications for flight deck officers and self-defense training for crewmembers has been increased by $11 million, to $36.3 million.

Other training needs are wrapped in technical advances. Specifically, the Transportation Security Administration would get $174 million for its high-speed operational-capability project that provides data connections to checkpoints at airports, including high-speed Internet and phone connections between terminals, said spokesperson Deirdre O'Sullivan.

The internet access allows screeners to train online, facilitates the creation of "quasi-training centers" at the airports and helps keep TSA employees up to date on new procedures. Also included in the budget is an effort to better connect communication systems between terminals, which are sometimes owned or operated by various airlines or built in different decades. "It seems tech-oriented, but in the end everything we're doing is to support the screeners," O'Sullivan said.

The apparent loser in the budget appears to be the state and local government preparedness office, which faces an 11 percent reduction, down $420 million from its current $4 billion operating budget.

"The formula previously used to allocate these funds does not account for the unique threats, vulnerabilities and unmet needs of each state," DHS budget documents said. "The budget proposes to award these grants on a discretionary basis, including evaluations of risk, and an application-based review of need and consistency with national priorities ... This improvement brings together multiple grant programs from several diverse disciplines in an efficient, cohesive environment."

Some of these adjustments address concerns brought up by the September 11 Commission and other critics who saw inequities and politics behind homeland security grants. The 2006 budget alters the formula for grant funding to state and local bodies by distributing money based on risks and vulnerabilities, rather than population levels.

"As the 9/11 Commission reported, the current grant-making process is in danger of becoming pork-barrel legislation," said a recent report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies that was released before the President's budget. "Within states, rural, less populated areas often receive a disproportionate amount of money as well. Some states distribute funds equally among counties, resulting in amounts that are so small that it is difficult to imagine how they could be used productively."

Targeted grants aimed at infrastructure protection will receive $600 million with the money going to hardening transportation, energy and vital commercial facilities. In other changes, state homeland security grants will have a minimum floor of $2.6 million, and 20 percent of the $1.02 billion will be dedicated to law-enforcement anti-terrorism training.

The quest for new equipment, too, will be brought under a single authority, the science and technology directorate. The cost of that consolidation is $127 million.

Technology and grant money are two sides of the same coin, said DHS officials. Controlling the flow of grants is one of the few ways the federal government can reach down to the local level and help foster technological interoperability, explained David Boyd, director of research and development operations for DHS' science and technology directorate. "We don't have the authority to make them do things," he told the audience at a recent homeland security conference.

Boyd sits at the nexus of these activities. He heads the SAFECOM program that is tasked with coordinating all levels of public safety communication policies, practices and technologies. He suggested that by better directing grant money and instituting standards for equipment, the federal government can help link local first responders and make their gear interoperable. "The local guys and girls ... have to be part of actually developing products."

Technology aimed at first responders must take into account their small budgets and immediate needs, Boyd added. He cited such requirements as communicating with staff of adjacent counties or precincts and voice-connections between local responders.

Federal agencies leaders must also keep in mind those elected officials who hold the purse strings when considering budget priorities. More to the point, those small agencies have definite leverage during the budget preparation process. "No federal agency has a congressman," Boyd said. "Every local police station or firehouse has two senators and a congressman."

Other notable budget items:

* Temporary worker worksite enforcement funding will more than double, including employer audits, investigations of possible violations and criminal case presentations. An increase of $18 million is proposed.

* A new White House perimeter security design is included in the budget at a cost of $2 million. These funds will be used to study enhancements.

* The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center budget increases by $2.7 million for simulator training technology to teach officers how to reduce the accidents during car chases.

* The Rescue 21 project is funded at $101 million in the continuing revamping the Coast Guard's coastal communications network. The 2006 money will complete system installations in 14 regions and begin development of designs for the remaining 11.

* Cyber security efforts will include a large increase, including the formation of a round the clock cyber-threat watch, warning and response capability. An increase of $5 million is proposed in the budget for this effort, which brings the program total to $73.3 million.

* Customs and Border Protection and the Pentagon will assume responsibility from the Federal Aviation Administration for operating and maintaining long-range radar technology, starting in 2006. CBP's share for this is $44.2 million in the budget.

* The Federal Emergency Management Agency is to be given $20 million to coordinate catastrophic disaster planning and drills.