Panel ignores veto threat, rejects bid to cut DHS spending

The House Appropriations Committee voted unanimously late Tuesday to approve a $36.2 billion Homeland Security spending bill for fiscal 2008 after Democrats beat back Republican amendments, including one they said would arbitrarily reduce funding by more than $2 billion.

Republicans, led by House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said the spending bill was fiscally irresponsible because it increased funding above enacted fiscal 2007 levels by 13.6 percent.

Rogers said the increased spending is more than President Bush requested for next fiscal year, noting that the White House has threatened to veto any bill that goes above its request.

The amendment from Rogers would increase funding for the department by 7.2 percent over fiscal 2007 enacted levels, which is what Bush requested. "I think that's sufficient, even generous," Rogers said. "I think we're treading on some real waters here [for] a veto."

House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Price, D-N.C., led opposition to Rogers' amendment, saying it would reduce funding by more than $2 billion and "apply the cut indiscriminately."

Price said the reduction would deny additional funding for port security grants, rail and mass transit security grants, and other grants that help state and local first responders.

He argued that Democrats are actually only increasing funding for the department by 1.3 percent, when fiscal 2007 emergency supplemental funding for the department is taken into account.

Democrats defeated Rogers' amendment by a 38-27 vote.

Rogers offered another amendment that would maintain a cap on how many federal airport screeners the Transportation Security Administration can hire.

The spending bill, which Price presented to the full committee, would lift a cap that was put in place by Republicans and has remained in place since TSA was created.

Price led opposition to that amendment as well and it, too, was defeated, 38-27.

The bill eventually passed the committee by a unanimous voice vote.

Early in the markup, the committee unanimously adopted a manager's amendment from Price that made several technical changes to the bill.

Notably, however, the manager's amendment also would require the Homeland Security and State departments to have better coordination to meet an increased demand for passports.

Lawmakers said the increased demand was the result of implementing the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which requires all travelers to have passports in order to enter the United States through airports when traveling from any part of the western hemisphere.

Lawmakers said the new requirement, which went into effect in January, has led to increased demand for passports that one appropriator declared is "reaching crisis proportions," creating scenes outside of passport offices "reminiscent of a refugee crisis happening in a third world country."