Coast Guard, INS, Customs to get boosts in Bush budget

The Bush administration will propose substantial fiscal 2003 budget increases for homeland security functions at the Coast Guard, Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs Service, President Bush said Friday. The President said he would propose a total of $10.7 billion for border security next year, a $2.1 billion increase over this year. Speaking before an enthusiastic crowd of Coast Guard personnel at the Southern Maine Technical College near Portland, Bush said his budget would raise the Coast Guard's maritime security budget by $282 million and propose the biggest one-year spending increase in the history of the agency. Bush also pledged support for the Coast Guard's drug interdiction and search and rescue missions and said the service must upgrade its equipment. "We must make sure that our Coast Guard has got a modern fleet of vessels," the President said. "We must make sure there's additional operating money available for the extended missions of the Coast Guard." Earlier Friday, Bush toured the 270-foot Coast Guard cutter Tahoma, which coordinated the defense of New York harbor for 40 days after Sept. 11. Bush said his budget would hike the INS' enforcement budget by $1.2 billion, more than doubling the number of border patrol agents and inspectors and providing funds for a new system to track the arrival of noncitizens into the United States. The White House will also propose $619 million in new funds for the Customs Service to beef up its inspection function. Customs will be able to hire 800 new inspectors and agents with these funds, Bush said. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. James Loy joined Bush in Portland. Bush commended the Coast Guard and said members of the service deserved more appreciation from the public. "This is a fine group of people, who don't get nearly as much appreciation from the American people as they should," he said.