Homeland official says more funds needed for future growth

A Homeland Security official on Thursday said President Bush's fiscal 2005 budget proposal for science and technology is sufficient, but pressure for innovation in several areas could impact programs in the future.

"We've got a billion dollar budget, but $5 billion worth of requirements," said Vayl Oxford, Homeland's special assistant for science and technology policy, referring to the myriad of mandates from the White House, Congress and existing federal regulations to meet technology needs for infrastructure protection, cyber security, transportation security and biological, chemical and radiological countermeasures.

Oxford said it brings into question the future of current programs. For example, he said, S&T's work on developing devices to protect commercial aircraft from shoulder-fired missiles. The department in February awarded three companies contracts to research and develop prototypes by 2005. If the program continues into the second phase - production, which is scheduled for 2006, the department is going to need more money, he said.

"We may have to go to the [Office of Management and Budget]" for the program's fiscal 2006 funding level, said Oxford.

He also said during his speech at a forum sponsored by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies that the department's five-year national strategy released last month predicts the future of programs.

"The strategic plan is a way to rationalize future programs," he said.

For this year, Oxford said the White House would issue its priorities on protecting the country from a chemical attack by late summer. Bush proposed $35 million in fiscal 2005 for chemical countermeasures.

The department also has a "long-list of standards" to address technology across the board for homeland security "in the pipeline."

To protect the nation's critical infrastructure, the department is "working on a research and development plan" to match priorities outlined in the national strategy.

One participant in Friday's forum said obtaining proprietary and other business sensitive information from companies poses a "challenge" to protecting key assets and infrastructure because the private sector is estimated to own 85 percent of the nation's infrastructure.

When asked if the department needs mandates to require companies to provide data to assess vulnerabilities and prioritize resources, Oxford said the department has sent "compliance language" to Congress. A department official later clarified the language focuses on chemical facilities and the information analysis and infrastructure protection division is "taking the lead" on the language.

Some members of Congress who have repeatedly expressed doubt that companies would volunteer sensitive information would presumably welcome the language. West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd earlier this month said he has "little confidence" the private sector would voluntarily make security a high priority.

Byrd has not ruled out offering a bill mandating data from the private sector, but his office said last month the senator would wait until a congressional investigation into security investments by companies is completed.