Bush Administration Proposes National Security Budget Hikes

The Bush administration formally introduced its fiscal 2005 budget proposal yesterday, asking for substantial increases in funds for national security while reducing many other domestic programs, the New York Times reported today. Cabinet officials held press conferences around Washington to introduce their portions of the 2.4 trillion budget request (Richard Stevenson, New York Times, Feb. 3).

The Pentagon is seeking a 7 percent increase over current funding levels, asking for $401.7 billion, but officials said they expected to request supplemental funding late this year to pay for military activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.  That additional request would probably be for $50 billion.

The defense request includes $9.2 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, an increase of $1.5 billion from current levels (see related GSN story, today). The plan calls for acquiring 20 land-based missile interceptors and up to 10 sea-based interceptors by end of 2005 (Drew Brown, Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 3).

The $9.2 billion, however, does not include non-MDA missile defense activities, such as the Army’s Patriot missile interceptors or the Air Force’s missile detection satellite program, according to an analysis by the Council for a Livable World (see GSN, Nov. 26, 2003). The total request for all missile defense activities is $10.7 billion, according to the Council (Council for a Livable World release, Feb. 3).

In addition, the Pentagon requested $68.9 billion for weapons research and development, including $408 million for the space-based radar, $239 million for accelerating cruise missile defense research and $658 million for converting four U.S. ballistic missile submarines into cruise missile launchers (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2003; Defense Department releases I and II, Feb. 2).

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced yesterday that his department was seeking $40.2 billion for fiscal 2005, a 10 percent increase from existing levels.

The budget request includes:

*         $126 million for the Container Security Initiative, a program to screen shipping containers before they arrive in U.S. ports (see GSN, Dec. 3, 2003);

*         $32.9 million for implementing safety and security measures at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (see GSN, Oct. 21, 2003);

*         $50 million for purchasing radiation detectors to be deployed at U.S. borders;

*         $3.6 billion for distributing grants to state and local emergency response teams;

*         $2.5 billion for Project Bioshield, a 186 percent increase, a program for encouraging private industry to develop and manufacture vaccines and medicines to protect against possible bioterrorism (see GSN, Jan. 26); and

*         $129 million to improve biological agent detection capabilities, including a recently announced “biosurveillance” system (see GSN, Jan. 30; Homeland Security Department releases I and II, Feb. 2).

The Energy Department disclosed yesterday that it would seek $24.3 billion for fiscal 2005, a 4.5 percent increase from current levels. The request includes $9 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, a 4.4 percent increase, of which $6.6 billion is slated for nuclear weapons programs (Energy Department release I, Feb. 2).

The department’s request includes $1.35 billion for nonproliferation programs, the bulk of which would be directed toward department activities in Russia, including:

*         $238 million for improving security over nuclear weapon materials at Russian facilities (see GSN, Jan. 14);

*         $50 million to support Russia’s closure of plutonium production reactors; and

*         $649 million to disposing of surplus U.S. and Russian plutonium (see GSN, Dec. 11. 2003; Energy Department release II, Feb. 2).

Other budget items include:

*         $27.6 million for research into the robust nuclear earth penetrator warhead, a $20 million increase over fiscal 2004 funding levels (see GSN, Nov. 24, 2003);

*         $9 million for research on other advanced nuclear warhead designs, a $3 million increase;

*         $907 million for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal site, a $303 million increase that reflects the administration’s intention to speed the site’s licensing and completion, according to Energy Daily (see GSN, Jan. 15; Jeff Beattie, Energy Daily, Feb. 3); and

*         $99 million for funding first-responder teams of Energy specialists who can rapidly deploy to suspected nuclear emergencies (Energy Department release I).

Requesting $580 billion for his department, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson yesterday outlined the department’s efforts to prepare U.S. public health officials to respond to possible terrorist actions.

Thompson’s budget request includes $4.1 billion, a 1,400 percent increase over fiscal 2001 levels, for homeland security measures, including $1.7 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $1.1 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and $181 million for food security initiatives (Health and Human Services release I, Feb. 2).

The requested food safety budget, implemented by the Food and Drug Administration, is $65 million greater than current levels. The increase includes:

*         $35 million for the administration’s Food Emergency Response Network, a network of laboratories for testing suspect food (see GSN, Oct. 10, 2003);

*         $15 million for research on prevention technologies and studies of potentially infectious agents;

*         $7 million for increasing the number of food inspections; and

*         $3 million for speeding the administration’s crisis response (Food and Drug Administration release, Feb. 2).

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