Immigration reform tops lawmaker's priorities for next president

Top homeland security priorities for a new president should include getting comprehensive immigration reform legislation through Congress, strengthening the nation's ability to cope with all disasters -- not just terrorist attacks -- and making smart investments in technology, a key House appropriator said Monday.

Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Price, D-N.C., identified a handful of areas he believes the new administration should prioritize during a speech at the Center for American Progress.

Passing comprehensive immigration reform legislation topped his list, a feat that has divided lawmakers and proved too difficult for the Bush administration.

Price said such legislation would relieve the Homeland Security Department of having to direct so much of its resources and funding to stop the flow of illegal immigrants coming across the nation's borders.

In turn, the department would be able to put more resources toward tracking down and deporting criminal illegal immigrants in the United States. Price's subcommittee dedicated $800 million to identify and deport violent illegal immigrants in its version of the fiscal 2009 Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which is scheduled to be marked up Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee.

The incoming administration should focus on making the nation's disaster and emergency response capabilities effective and reliable, Price said. He said the nation must be prepared for all hazards. While the country faces the possibility of a terrorist attack in the next several years, he said, it is certain to have natural disasters.

The fiscal 2009 spending bill would require the administration to convene a commission to study how the government can best provide affordable housing to disaster victims, Price said. Accordingly, another priority for the next administration should be investing in preparedness capabilities at the state and local level, Price said. He said he is not convinced the Bush administration uses proper methodology to determine what risks are the greatest and how grant funds should be spent. The fiscal 2009 spending bill would require the National Academy of Sciences to study the administration's risk methodology and grants spending.

The new administration must make smart choices when it comes to investing in and buying new technologies for homeland security, Price said. The department's recent effort to build a virtual fence along the nation's Southwest border showed that such technology could be years away from being practical, he said. And the administration should accelerate efforts that improve the department's ability to act as "a more cohesive and functioning organization," Price added. He said the incoming administration should assemble a leadership team for the department before it takes office Jan. 20. "We can't afford to have our security posture slip," he said.