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Chambliss Says Homeland Security Bill Provides Essential Funding
posted July 15, 2005

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_69521.asp

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., praised the Senate’s passage of the fiscal year 2006 funding bill for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which he said provides essential funding to improve the security of our borders, ports, airports and mass transit systems. The bill was approved 96-1 Thursday evening.

“While we’ve made enormous progress to make America safer and more secure than we were before Sept. 11, 2001, there is still much more to do,” said Chambliss. “This bill provides much-needed resources to improve the security of our nation’s borders and help stem the tide of the massive flow of illegal aliens crossing our borders undetected and undocumented every single day. This bill also allocates critical funding to beef up security for America’s ports, mass transit systems and airports. For example, the bill includes funds for additional airport screeners and explosive detection devices which will improve security and make air travel safer for passengers at our nation’s airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson.”

The bill also includes $277.3 million for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Ga. This is an increase of over $50 million from the level funded in fiscal year 2005. “FLETC plays a key role in the war against terrorism,” said Chambliss. “The hard working men and women at FLETC are playing critical roles in keeping our country safe, and they should be commended for their hard work ensuring our federal law enforcement personnel are well prepared and trained. The funding in this bill shows that the folks in Washington know how essential their work is and what an outstanding job they all do.”

Chambliss said highlights of the bill include:

$5.9 billion for Customs and Border Protection and $3.8 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement;

1,000 new border control agents, in addition to the 500 provided in the supplemental;

300 new immigration/customs investigators;

460 new enforcement agents, in addition to the 168 provided in the supplemental;

Funds over 40,800 positions dedicated to protecting our borders and enforcing immigration laws: 12,500 border patrol agents, 18,200 customs and border protection officers, nearly 6,100 criminal investigators for customs and immigration; 1,300 deportation officers and nearly 2,700 immigration enforcement agents and detention officers;

$10.6 million to train new border and immigration enforcement personnel;

$340 million to support deployment of US VISIT;

More than doubles the number of ports, since 2003, operating the Container Security Initiative to 41 ports;

$3.4 billion for first responders, including grants to state and local communities, firefighters, and emergency management;

$40 million for grants to States for implementing the REAL ID Act of 2005

$5.05 billion for securing transportation, including: $2.3 billion for passenger and baggage screeners; $172 million for checkpoint support; $180 million for the procurement of explosive detection and trace systems; $50 million for the procurement and deployment of next generation in-line explosive detection systems; $1 billion for airport security direction and enforcement; $50 million for air cargo security; and $678 million for the Federal Air Marshals.