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Funding requests for Homeland Security R&D



>From another listing I belong to.  It is always useful

to see how your money is being allocated:



------------------

FYI

The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science

Policy News

Number 126: September 29, 2003



Final FY 2004 Homeland Security Funding Bill Approved



The House and Senate have both approved a final

version of the FY 2004 appropriations bill for the

Department of Homeland Security (H.R. 2555).  As

recommended by House and Senate appropriators, the

amount provided within the Science and Technology

Directorate for Research, Development, Acquisition,

and Operations would be increased by more than 50

percent over the FY 2003 appropriation.



The bill would provide $874.0 million for Research,

Development, Acquisition, and Operations.  This is

$322.1 million (58.4%) greater than the FY 2003

funding level of $551.9 million, and $70.6 million

(8.8%) more than President Bush requested for fiscal

year 2004.  Accompanying the bill is a conference

report (H. Rept. 108-280) which provides additional

details of the conference committee's recommendations.

 The report language pertaining to Research,

Development, Acquisition, and Operations is provided

below.  Some paragraphs have been combined in the

interest of space.



"RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, ACQUISITION, AND OPERATIONS:

The conferees agree to provide $874,000,000 for

research, development, acquisition, and operations

instead of $900,360,000 as proposed by the House and

$866,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. The

recommendation includes the use of $68,000,000 of

prior year unobligated funds that will remain

available for use in fiscal year 2004. All funding for

federal salaries and expenses has been moved from the

individual programs, as proposed by the House, and is

provided in the management and administration account.

Funds in this account are available until expended, as

proposed by the Senate.



"The conferees are concerned that research and

development is being conducted independently by each

of the Department's legacy components leading to

duplicative research activities, wasted funds, and

lack of appropriate management oversight. The

Department is directed to consolidate all Departmental

research and development funding within the science

and technology programs in the fiscal year 2005 budget

request.



"BIOLOGICAL COUNTERMEASURES:  The conference agreement

includes $198,500,000 and the use of $68,000,000 of

prior year unobligated funds that will remain

available for use in fiscal year 2004. This funding

level supports the budget request for the individual

programs within biological countermeasures with the

following exceptions: $18,500,000 is transferred to

management and administration for federal salaries and

expenses; an additional $15,000,000 is provided for

the urban monitoring program; signatures and bioassays

is reduced by $5,000,000; and $88,000,000 for

construction of the National Biodefense Analysis and

Countermeasures Center is funded as a separate

program.



"NUCLEAR AND RADIOLOGICAL COUNTERMEASURES:  The

conference agreement includes $127,000,000. This

supports the budget request with the following

exceptions: $7,000,000 is transferred to management

and administration for federal salaries and expenses,

and sensor research and development is reduced by

$3,000,000. 



"CHEMICAL AND HIGH EXPLOSIVES COUNTERMEASURES:  The

conference agreement includes $52,000,000 for chemical

countermeasures and $9,500,000 for high explosives

countermeasures, as proposed by the House.



"THREAT AND VULNERABILITY, TESTING AND ASSESSMENT: 

The conference agreement includes $93,500,000. This

supports the budget request with the following

exceptions: $4,500,000 is transferred to management

and administration for federal salaries and expenses;

cybersecurity is increased by $11,000,000; and the

remaining programs are reduced by a total of

$3,000,000.



"CONVENTIONAL MISSIONS IN SUPPORT OF DHS:  The

conference agreement includes $34,000,000, allocated

as follows: $25,000,000 for border and transportation

security; $2,000,000 for the Secret Service; and

$10,000,000 for emergency preparedness and response.

Funding of $3,000,000 is transferred to management and

administration for federal salaries and expenses. 



"RAPID PROTOTYPING PROGRAM/TECHNICAL SUPPORT WORKING

GROUP:  The conference agreement includes $75,000,000,

an increase of $45,000,000 over the budget request of

$30,000,000. The conferees encourage Science and

Technology to evaluate information sharing proposals

between the law enforcement and intelligence

communities.



"STANDARDS/STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAM:  The conference

agreement includes $39,000,000, as proposed by the

House, which transfers $15,000,000 for development of

standards from the Office for Domestic Preparedness

(ODP). The conferees expect all standards development

in the Department to be done by Science and

Technology. Working with the public and private

sectors, Science and Technology will develop a network

of security certification laboratories to provide a

consistent level of assurance in the effectiveness of

homeland security technologies, systems, and

equipment, and allow state and local governments to

make better informed decisions on equipment needs. The

conferees direct Science and Technology to continue

the standards program established by ODP in

coordination with the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST), consistent with the fiscal year

2003 budget directive and the 5-year plan for

development with NIST.  The conferees support House

language regarding search and rescue robotics

certification and expect the Department to develop

standards and criteria for search and robotics

certification.  In preparing the report requested by

the House on narrowbanding, Science and Technology is

directed to consult with the Department of Commerce,

the National Telecommunications and Information

Administration, the Department of Justice, the

Department of Treasury, and major organizations that

support state and local public safety agencies.  The

conferees support incorporation by SAFECOM of Project

25 technical standards where applicable, and encourage

continued involvement of the user community in

development and implementation of standards such as

those being developed by Project 25 which allow for

backward compatibility with existing digital and

analog systems and provide for interoperability in

future systems.



"EMERGING THREATS:  The conferees agree to provide

$21,000,000 as proposed by the House.



"CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION:  The conferees

agree to provide $66,500,000, of which $60,000,000 is

provided for research, development, testing, and

evaluation of an anti-missile device for commercial

aircraft. Funding of $500,000 is transferred to

management and administration for federal salaries and

expenses.



"UNIVERSITY PROGRAM/HOMELAND SECURITY FELLOWSHIP

PROGRAMS:  The conferees agree to provide $70,000,000,

an increase of $60,000,000 over the budget request of

$10,000,000, to establish a university-based system to

enhance the nation's homeland security efforts. The

conferees encourage the Department to consider all

colleges and universities that meet the requirements

of 6 U.S.C. 188 in the selection of university-based

centers, including historically black colleges and

universities, tribal colleges, Hispanic-serving

institutions, and Alaskan Native-serving institutions.



"NATIONAL BIODEFENSE ANALYSIS AND COUNTERMEASURES

CENTER:  The conferees agree to provide $88,000,000 to

initiate construction of a National Biodefense

Analysis and Countermeasures Center that is to be the

principal Department of Homeland Security component of

the Fort Detrick Interagency Biodefense Campus in

Maryland." 



###############

Audrey T. Leath

Media and Government Relations Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi@aip.org  www.aip.org/gov

(301) 209-3094

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=====

"Self-criticism is the secret weapon of democracy, and candor and confession are good for the public soul."

Adlai Stevenson



-- John

John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

e-mail:  crispy_bird@yahoo.com



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