Justice Department budget centers on fighting terrorism

Funding for the Justice Department under the Bush administration budget released on Monday would grow to $19.7 billion in fiscal 2005, from $19.4 billion in fiscal 2004, a 2 percent increase.

Justice officials emphasized the proposal's 19 percent increase in funding directed at preventing terrorist attacks, an 11.4 percent increase for the FBI and 4.5 percent for federal law enforcement programs. The total budget request is for $22.1 billion, including mandatory spending.

The initiatives devoted to fighting terrorism include $36 million for the Terrorism Threat Integration Center (TTIC) and $29 million for the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). TTIC is an intelligence-analysis initiative of the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security Department based at the CIA. The screening center aims to help the federal government merge terrorist watch lists.

Other new programs at the FBI would include: an Office of Intelligence, a $13 million project with 151 positions, including many consolidated from other divisions; $14 million for a counter-terrorism headquarters support program; and $64 million for various national security initiatives.

The administration also proposed $25 million in new FBI funding -- including 159 positions, with 61 agents, to "assist the aggressive pursuit of computer-intrusion crime," according to the department. It also proposes $31 million and 29 positions for advanced computer support.

In addition to funds directed at fighting terrorism, Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a statement that the budget "provides the tools for the department to continue vigorously enforcing federal laws -- particularly drug, gun and civil rights violations -- and to combat corporate fraud and obscenity."

Cutting $2.36 billion from a range of programs, together with the additional $325 million sought, would yield $2 billion for new administration priorities. The budget also proposed $692 million for programs that must by law be boosted.

Of the $2 billion in new funding priorities, $14 million would go to combating "Internet crime against children" and "protecting children against pornography and exploitation," said Paul Corts, assistant attorney general in the Justice Management Division. The department also proposes the creation of eight full-time positions devoted to prosecuting adult obscenity, he said.

The bulk of the $2 billion in new funding would go to counter terrorism ($371 million), incarceration ($166 million), gun crimes ($96 million) and drug enforcement ($74 million). Corporate fraud prosecutions would receive $1.5 million in new funding.

Funding for the antitrust division would rise to $136 million, from $114 million in fiscal 2004.