Is there meat (real money) on the bone (Bush Administration plans)? (Updated)
By Andrew Cochran
Two items in this week's news that are the subject of some discussion and recent concern on the Hill: DHS Secretary Ridge admitted that the 2,000 new border agents authorized in the intel reform act won't be fully funded, and the DOJ Office of Special Investigations, which was authorized to take on new responsibilities in the intel reform act, might not be quite ready for prime time, from what we hear from several sources. UPDATE: Administration plans to spend much more to crack down on undocumented workers and arrest and deport illegal immigrants, but increase Broder Patrol by 210 agents.
I really hope that the President's new budget goes a long way towards meeting the mandates in the new act. They can't fully fund everything, but there's a credibility test that the Administration will have to meet, which takes extensive discussions with the Hill now. Beyond those offices, I also wonder if they will adequately fund the relatively new Treasury Department Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (linked in the right sidebar), which is supposed to coordinate Treasury's anti-terrorist financing efforts, and its components, which are critical to enforcing the USA Patriot Act.
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