Department of Justice FY 2007 Budget Request

The following press release was published by the US Department of Justice on Feb. 6, 2006. It is reproduced in full below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2006 WWW.USDOJ.GOV AG (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 President’s Request Supports Increase for Department’s Counterterrorism and Intelligence Efforts WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales today announced that the President’s FY 2007 budget proposal for the Department of Justice (DOJ) is $20.8 billion. The President’s overall FY 2007 budget requests $330.8 million in new enhancements for counterterrorism and intelligence, which reflects the Department of Justice’s top priority: the prevention of terrorist attacks.

“Protecting the American people from terrorist attacks and fighting the war on terrorism are the top priorities of the Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Gonzales. “The President’s budget provides $4 billion to prevent and prosecute terrorist activities against our Nation, including nearly $290 million to strengthen our counterterrorism investigative capabilities. By also providing the resources to secure our neighborhoods from violent crime and drug trafficking, fight child exploitation, and vigorously enforce the Nation’s gun laws, the President’s budget will enable the Department to continue protecting Americans and keep our communities safe.” The Department’s strategic plan contains four mission-focused goals that are the foundation of the President’s FY 2007 budget request: Strategic Goal 1: Prevent Terrorism and Promote the Nation’s Security, $4.0 billion; Strategic Goal 2: Enforce Federal Laws and Represent the Rights and Interests of the American People, $9.0 billion; Strategic Goal 3: Assist State, Local, and Tribal Efforts to Prevent or Reduce Crime and Violence, $2.9 billion; and Strategic Goal 4: Ensure the Fair and Efficient Operation of the Federal Justice System, $7.8 billion.

PROTECTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BY PREVENTING TERRORIST ACTS COUNTERTERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE: Protecting the American people by preventing, investigating, and prosecuting terrorist activities against U.S. citizens and interests continues to be the top priority of the Department of Justice. The budget includes funding for the Department’s new National Security Division, which responds to the President’s directive issued in June 2005, and reflects the Department’s continuing effort to put into place a structure that best supports the government’s core mission to protect national security. The budget includes funding to strengthen FBI’s Counterterrorism Program, including resources for FBI’s intelligence program, headquarters space and facility infrastructure, and funding to support FBI’s counterterrorism response capabilities. In addition, the FY 2007 budget provides funding for the Justice Information Sharing Technology enhancement and secure communications, enhances the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Teams (FAST), and increases resources for the United States Attorneys’ (USA) National Security and Terrorism Prosecutions initiative. The FY 2007 budget requests a total of $286.1 million in new enhancements to strengthen the nation’s counterterrorism investigative capabilities to identify, track, and prevent terrorist cells from operating in the U.S. and overseas, and enhances the Nation’s counterintelligence analysis capabilities. The budget also includes $44.6 million for Office of Justice Programs directed investments.

-National Security Division -National Security Investigations: $19.3 million to meet the increased workload of intelligence searches and surveillances, conduct vigorous oversight of the intelligence community, monitor the FBI’s foreign intelligence and counterintelligence investigations, and fund an Office of the Assistant Attorney General and an Executive Office to provide management direction and accountability. Funds will also be used to coordinate and strengthen cases involving trade in weapons of mass destruction, terrorist financing, victims of overseas terrorism, and domestic terrorism plots.

-Federal Bureau of Investigation -Intelligence Infrastructure Requirements: $15.1 million to provide essential infrastructure enhancements necessary for the FBI to carry out its Intelligence Program mission. -Intelligence Operations and Production: $16.0 million to support initiatives that comprise the Directorate of Intelligence's (DI) core intelligence processes and to ensure the effective operation of the FBI's growing Intelligence Program, which provides analytical support to priority counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cyber and criminal investigations.

-Intelligence Human Resources Requirements: $6.0 million to support important human resource requirements associated with the FBI’s growing Intelligence Program and Intelligence Career Service.

-Intelligence Resource and Authorities: $6.7 million to operate and maintain the Law Enforcement Online (LEO) primary and disaster recovery site, which provides a vehicle for federal, state and local communities to exchange information, conduct on-line education programs, and participate in professional special interest and topically-focused dialogue.

-Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIF’s): $33.2 million in order to create an integrated worldwide capability for intelligence collection, exploitation, analysis, and information sharing.

-Center for Intelligence Training: $6.3 million for the Architecture and Engineering Study to begin the first year of a four-year design and construction project to develop the Center for Intelligence Training at the FBI Academy complex.

-Interim Hostage Rescue Team Space: $11.9 million to construct, repair, and improve the current facilities of the Tactical Support Branch of the Critical Incident Response Group located at Quantico, Virginia.

-Headquarters Space and Facility Infrastructure: $13.8 million to fund the FBI Headquarters Annex and critical facility Information Technology (IT) initiatives.

-Counterterrorism Response Capabilities: $25.9 million to enhance existing technical teams and to stand up the National Asset Commander’s Staff and to provide a Radiological Evidence Examination Facility (REEF) at the Savannah River National Laboratory. These items will benefit the FBI’s response capabilities in counterterrorism investigations.

-SENTINEL: $100.0 million for the non-personnel funding for SENTINEL’s implementation. SENTINEL will serve as the primary information repository used for analysis and reporting for both investigative and administrative casework.

-Drug Enforcement Administration -Drug Flow Prevention – Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Teams: $4.0 million to establish permanent funding for the five existing FAST teams. These teams provide guidance to DEA's counterparts in Afghanistan and conduct bilateral investigations.

-Intelligence and National Security: $12 million to enhance DEA’s intelligence infrastructure and promote information sharing with the Intelligence Community and other law enforcement agencies.

-Justice Information Sharing Technology -Secure Communications: $8.3 million for secure communications including instituting a Public Key Infrastructure and DOJ-wide, seamless, information technology infrastructure for electronically sharing, processing, and storing classified information.

-United States Attorneys -National Security and Terrorism Prosecutions: $7.7 million for Anti-Terrorism Advisory Councils, litigation expenses for terrorism cases, information technology security, and anti-terrorism training.

-Office of Justice Programs (directed investments) -Regional Information Sharing System and USA Freedom Corps: $44.6 million in directed State and local resources for increasing intelligence and forensic services for State and local law enforcement, for the Neighborhood Watch Program, and the Volunteers in Police Service Program.

ENFORCING FEDERAL LAWS AND REPRESENTING THE RIGHT AND INTERESTS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS: Violent firearm crime and trafficking continue to be significant law enforcement problems throughout the Nation. Under the leadership of President Bush, the Justice Department has pledged that gun crime will mean hard time, and the Administration is taking gun criminals off the streets through the Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) initiative. PSN, announced by the President and the Attorney General in 2001, is a comprehensive strategy that brings together federal, state, and local agencies to reduce violent crime in our communities. Working with the Department of Justice, each community tailors the program to target local gun violence problems. With gang activity often leading to more gun crimes within a community, the Administration is seeking to implement the proven methods of PSN in more communities in order to fight gang violence. The Administration has also launched a companion initiative, the Violent Crime Impact Teams (VCIT’s). VCIT is currently active in 25 cities, expanding to 40 cities in the 2007 budget. The FY 2007 budget includes $22.1 million in new enhancements and $162.9 million in State and local directed investments for these and other PSN initiatives.

-Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: $16.0 million to establish Violent Crime Impact Teams in 15 locations.

-U.S. Attorneys (USAs): $6.1 million to support prosecution efforts for combating gang violence and the reduction of crime throughout the United States. The additional resources requested are needed to prosecute gang members and to create new and strengthened coordination efforts among local agencies that are addressing the gang problem.

-Office of Justice Programs: $162.9 million in directed investments for a variety of programs, including $58.5 million for the State and Local Gun Violence Reduction Program, which provides support for local prosecutors, investigators, supervision staff, analysts, and research partners working with designated PSN Task Forces in each of the 94 U.S. Attorney districts. Funds for the Weed and Seed program, Project ChildSafe, the National Criminal History Improvement Program, and the Gang Training and Technical Assistance Program are also included in these investments.

DRUG ENFORCEMENT AND BORDER SECURITY: The Department focuses its drug law enforcement efforts on reducing the availability of drugs by disrupting and dismantling the drug supply and related money laundering networks operating nationally and internationally, including those on the national list of priority drug trafficking targets, known as the Consolidated Priority Organization Target (CPOT) List. The CPOT list represents a unified list of international “command and control” drug traffickers and money launderers. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) brings together major agencies such as the DEA and FBI, the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, and U.S. Attorneys across America to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. DOJ is also supporting efforts to better secure the borders for the purposes of both immigration and drug enforcement. The FY 2007 President’s budget requests new enhancements of $234.7 million to address the scourge of illegal drugs and protect our borders. The FY 2007 budget request also includes an additional $3.4 million in new initiatives for DEA’s Diversion Control Fee Account and $159.7 million for Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS) directed investments.

-HIDTA Resources: $208 million to transfer of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to the Department of Justice with the goal of continued coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement.

-Drug Enforcement Administration: $8.8 million in drug flow prevention initiatives for the Nation’s sole law enforcement entity dedicated to drug enforcement.

-Executive Office for Immigration Review: $8.8 million in new investments to meet additional caseload requirements as a result of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration enforcement increases funded from 2003 to 2006.

-DOJ Civil Division – Office of Immigration Litigation: $9.6 million to handle the sharp rise in immigration cases.

-Office of Justice Programs (directed investments): $69.2 million for the Drug Courts to help communities plan, implement, and enhance drug courts; $29.8 million for Southwest Border Drug Prosecution funding for local prosecutor offices in four states (California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico) along the Southwest Border for the costs of processing, detaining, and prosecuting drug and other cases referred from federal arrests or federal investigations; $9.9 million for the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program help states to plan or implement a prescription drug monitoring; and $10.7 million for Cannabis Eradication.

-Community Oriented Policing Services (directed investment): $40.1 million for the methamphetamine lab cleanup program so that it can respond to more requests to clean up methamphetamine labs seized by state and local law enforcement.

Crimes Against Children and Obscenity: The Department is committed to fighting child pornography and obscenity, and to protecting children from trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The Department works with other law enforcement agencies to target, dismantle, and prosecute predatory child molesters and those who traffic in child pornography. In 2005, the Department charged 1,616 individuals and obtained 1,370 guilty pleas and convictions in criminal cases involving predation against children—a 51 percent increase above the 907 guilty pleas and convictions in 2004. The FY 2007 Budget includes an additional $2.7 million in new enhancements to combat crimes against children and obscenity and $23.9 million for Office of Justice Programs directed State and Local resources.

ENFORCING FEDERAL LAWS IN THE COURTS: The Department of Justice serves as the Nation’s chief litigator, representing the United States in court, enforcing federal civil and criminal statutes, including those protecting civil rights, safeguarding the environment, preserving a competitive market structure, defending the public against unwarranted claims, and preserving the integrity of the Nation’s bankruptcy system. The President’s FY 2007 budget request includes funding to fortify the U.S. Attorneys’ immigration and intellectual crime prosecutions; enhance the Criminal Division’s ability to investigate and prosecute intellectual property crimes; enable the Civil Division to address increased immigration litigation; and give the Tax Division sufficient resources to handle an increase in the number of tax cases referred to the Division by the Internal Revenue Service. The FY 2007 budget includes $20.2 million in new enhancements for the Department’s prosecution and litigation activities.

ASSISTING STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL EFFORTS TO PREVENT OR REDUCE CRIME AND VIOLENCE The Department’s portion of the FY 2007 Budget includes over $1.2 billion in grant assistance to States and localities, including $66.6 million to strengthen communities through programs providing services such as drug treatment; $44.6 million to fight terrorism; $409.2 million to assist crime victims, $88.2 million to combat crime, including enhancements to grant funding provided under Project Safe Neighborhoods; $214.8 million for law enforcement technology, including funding to continue and enhance President Bush’s DNA initiative; and $209.0 million to support drug enforcement, including funding to continue and expand the Southwest Border Drug Prosecution Program.

ENSURING THE FAIR AND EFFICIENT OPERATION OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL SYSTEM The Department is responsible for ensuring that the federal justice system operates in an effective, efficient, and secure manner by protecting judicial proceedings, ensuring the safe and secure environment of the federal courts, and apprehending fugitives from justice. During FY 2005, the Nation’s federal prison population rose 4 percent, by 7,499 inmates. Also, during FY 2005, the federal prisoner detention population rose 7.8 percent, increasing by approximately 4,558 detainees per day. The number of federal prisoners being detained is expected to increase 7.8 percent over FY 2006, resulting in an average daily population of 62,920 detainees. The request provides $146.3 million for the Bureau of Prisons and Office of the Detention Trustee to manage this growth, including funds for additional contract beds. The request also includes $8.5 million to bolster USMS judicial security efforts and enhance the Justice Detainee Information System, which tracks detainees and other case-related data. The FY 2007 budget requests $156.6 million in new enhancements to ensure the fair and efficient operation of the federal judicial system.

MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: The Department of Justice is committed to providing the management and information technology support necessary to ensure that our resources are used as efficiently and as effectively as possible. New investments in secure communication, Justice Consolidated Office Network (JCON), and Unified Financial Management System (UFMS) will all lead to better communication and management strategies. The FY 2007 Budget includes $133.9 million of new enhancements in management and information technology in order to support all Department of Justice strategic goals as well as the President’s Management Agenda. 06-062

Source: US Department of Justice