Homeland Security Appropriations Act

The Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2004 was a United States Act of Congress that gave the authority for the President to fund the operations of the Department of Homeland Security for each fiscal year.

[edit] History

June 2003 The first Act was passed in June 2003 and authorized US$29.4 billion for Homeland Security.

October 2003

The Act 2004 (PL 108-90) consisted of US $31 billion to be spent on:

$5.6 billion for Project BioShield - to be used by the Department of Health and Human Services to finds ways to protect Americans (i.e., vaccines and treatments) from biological, or chemical, or radiological threats

$4 billion of grants to create "first responders" as the first line of defence against threats to the United States; $40 million towards Citizen Corps Councils and other funds to the United States Coast Guard towards the Container Security Initiative

President George W. Bush signed the Act on October 1, 2003.

October 2004

In the 2005 Act, President Bush gave:

$28.9 billion in net discretionary spending for the Department of Homeland Security
$419.2 million in new funding to enhance border and port security activities
$2.5 billion for Project BioShield
$894 million for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection
$5.1 billion for the Transportation Security Administration
$475 million to continue deploying more efficient baggage screening at airports
$115 million for air cargo security
$663 million for Federal Air Marshals (FAMS) program
$61 million is appropriated to the DHS Science and Technology directorate
$4 billion for state and local assistance programs or First Responders
179 million for improvements in immigration enforcement
160 million in total resources towards immigration application processing
$3.1 billion for the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate
15 million for the National Incident Management System (NIMS)

President George W. Bush signed the Act on October 18, 2004.