2360 includes $21.3 billionfor Border and Transportation Security (BTS) agencies as identified in this report. Border security entails regulating the flow of goods and peopleacross the nation's borders so that dangerous and unwanted goods or people are detected and deniedentry. Transportation security entails screening and protecting people and goods as they movebetween different locations within the country. Determining which goods and people are permitted and which are denied entry into theUnited States involves a system of sophisticated border management. This system must balance theneed for securing the nation's borders with facilitating the essential commerce and legitimate freeflow of citizens and authorized visitors. The system must be capable of a detailed examination ofthe goods and people seeking entry, but must still fit within budgetary constraints and beadministratively feasible. Improving transportation security has meant an expanded federal role in screening passengersand baggage traveling through airports and also increasing the presence of federal officers aboarddomestic and international flights. Plans exist to expand the presence of federal officers in othermodes of transportation. Finally, these management systems must accomplish their functions witha minimum of disruption of legitimate activities, and without unnecessary intrusion into the civilliberties of persons affected by them. The BTS Directorate, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, is responsible for the first line ofdefense against terrorism and for securing and managing the nation's borders. The activities for which BTS has assumed responsibility are organized into three bureaus: the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP); the Bureau of Immigration and CustomsEnforcement (ICE); and the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). Our analysis in this report attempts to identify a functional classificationfor "border and transportation security." (6) The Administration's FY2006request groups the requests for the Undersecretary for Border and Transportation; US-VISIT; CBP;ICE; the TSA; the U.S. Coast Guard; and the U.S. Secret Service in Title II Security, Enforcement,and Investigations . a. Both the House-passed and Senate-reported versions of H.R. Issues for Congress. Therequest includes the following program increases (which are discussed later in this report):
$125 million for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) detectiontechnology;
$37 million for Border Patrol staff;
$31.7 million for long range radar for Air and MarineOperations;
$20 million for Border Patrol aircraft replacement;
$19.8 million for the America Shield Initiative;
$8.2 million for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism(C-TPAT);
$5.4 million for the Container Security Initiative (CSI);
$5.4 million for enhancements to the Automated Targeting System(ATS);
$3.2 million for the Homeland Security Data Network;
$3 million for Border Patrol's Automated Biometric Identification System(IDENT) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Integrated Automated Fingerprint IdentificationSystem (IAFIS);
$2 million for the Immigration Advisory Program (IAP);and
$1 million for the Arizona Border Control Initiative(ABCI). Increase in Border Patrol Agents. State and Local Law Enforcement. 2360 and House-passed H.R. a.
A well-managed border is central to maintaining and improving the security of the UnitedStates against terrorist threats. Border security entails regulating the flow of goods and people acrossthe nation's borders so that dangerous and unwanted goods or people are denied entry. Transportation security entails screening and protecting people and goods as they move betweendifferent locations within the country. The overall appropriations over the past three years for Borderand Transportation Security, as defined in this report, are as follows: in FY2004, Congressappropriated $18,106 million; in FY2005, Congress appropriated $20,313 million; in FY2006, thePresident requested $19,586 million; House-passed H.R. 2360 provides $21,015million; and Senate-passed H.R. 2360 provides $21,283 million.
Determining which goods and people are permitted and which are denied entry into theUnited States involves a system of sophisticated border management. This system must balance theneed for securing the nation's borders while facilitating the essential commerce and legitimate freeflow of citizens and authorized visitors. The system must be capable of a detailed examination ofthe goods and people seeking entry, but must still fit within budgetary constraints and beadministratively feasible. Improving transportation security has meant an expanded federal role inscreening passengers and baggage traveling through airports and also increasing the presence offederal officers aboard domestic and international flights. Plans exist to expand the presence offederal officers in other modes of transportation. Finally, these management systems mustaccomplish their functions with a minimum of disruption of legitimate activities, and withoutunnecessary intrusion into the civil liberties of persons affected by them.
Within the federal government, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been givenprimary responsibility for securing the nation's borders and for increasing the security oftransportation, among other responsibilities. The locus of border and transportation security activitywithin DHS is in the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security, which houses the Bureauof Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE), and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The U.S. Coast Guard is a stand-aloneagency within DHS but plays an important role in border and transportation security, as does theFederal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). This report includes appropriations for thefunctions and agencies of BTS, the U.S. Coast Guard and FLETC. Major issues include the numberof available detention beds and investigators at ICE; the number of Border Patrol agents in CBP; theappropriate level of funding for the Deepwater program within the Coast Guard; and non-aviationsecurity spending within TSA.
This report will be updated to reflect the Conference Agreement between the House and theSenate and final passage.
Key Policy Staff: Border and Transportation Security