ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center
SOURCE: HS Today
22February2011 12:50pmEST
GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The House Saturday passed a $1-trillion continuing resolution (HR 1) that would fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with $41.5 billion in discretionary funds for fiscal 2011.
The continuing resolution, passed by the Republican majority in the House, would provide DHS with $2.1 billion less than requested by the White House for fiscal 2011. The amount would be less than the DHS enacted budget of $42.9 billion for fiscal 2010.
Republicans argue the cuts are necessary but Democrats have expressed reservations about the cuts, particularly in the budget of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has responsibility for ensuring US border security. Last summer, the Senate and House participated in an intensive exchange of volleys, even coming out of recess, to pass a $600 million emergency appropriations bill to support border security operations. The cuts would undo that investment, critics say.
CBP would receive $8.2 million for salaries and expenses in fiscal 2011 with a mandate to maintain no fewer than 20,500 full-time Border Patrol agents. The border security supplemental aimed to add 1,000 Border Patrol agents to DHS ranks over time, boosting the agency to 21,370 full-time agents by fiscal 2012. (read full report)
