Obama Proposes 3.5% Increase in Justice Dept. Budget

Eric Holder
Eric Holder
By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON – The Obama adminstration is proposing a 3.5 percent budget increase in fiscal 2010 for the Justice Department to boost enforcement in such areas as civil rights, national security and intelligence, financial fraud  and border controls. The total budget comes to $26.5 billion.
“The President has promised that, from the day he took office, America will have a Justice Department that is truly dedicated to justice,” Atty. General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a prepared statement.

“This budget supports this vital task by investing in our critical law enforcement mission, including protecting Americans from terrorism, fighting financial and mortgage fraud, getting more cops on the beat, reinvigorating civil rights enforcement, and providing essential resources for our prisons.”

A Justice Department press release provides the following details of the funding:

Counters the Threat of Terrorism and Strengthens National Security – Provides $8 billion for the FBI, including $425 million in enhancements, and $88 million for the National Security Division to address the Attorney General’s highest priority – protecting Americans from terrorist acts. Funding supports the detection and disruption of terrorists, counterintelligence, cyber security, and other threats against our national security.

Eric Holder
Eric Holder

Combats Financial Fraud – Provides resources for additional FBI agents to investigate mortgage fraud and corporate crime and for additional federal prosecutors, civil litigators and bankruptcy attorneys to protect investors, the integrity of the market, and the federal government’s investment of resources in the nation’s financial recovery.

Begins to Put 50,000 More Cops on the Beat – Expands the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program by providing funds to begin hiring 50,000 additional police officers. Supports the hiring of police nationwide in order to help states and communities prevent the growth of crime.

Enhances Federal Civil Rights Enforcement – Includes $145 million for the Civil Rights Division to strengthen civil rights enforcement against racial, ethnic, sexual preference, religious and gender discrimination.

Strengthens Immigration Enforcement and Border Security – Includes resources for a comprehensive approach to enforcement along our borders that combines law enforcement and prosecutorial component efforts to investigate arrest, detain, and prosecute illegal immigrants and other criminals. The initiative also enhances the Department’s ability to track fugitives from justice and combat gunrunners and illegal drug traffickers.

Supports Federal Detention and Incarceration Programs – Provides $6 billion for the Bureau of Prisons and $1.4 billion for the Office of the Detention Trustee to ensure that sentenced criminals and detainees are housed in facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and secure.

Expands Prisoner Reentry Programs – Includes $109 million for prisoner reentry programs, including an additional $75 million for the Office of Justice Programs to expand grant programs authorized by the Second Chance Act that provide counseling, job training, drug treatment, and other transitional assistance to former prisoners.

Enhances Financial Accountability in the Department of Justice – Provides funds for continuing the phased implementation of the Unified Financial Management System. This initiative will unify and standardize the Department’s financial, accounting and procurement systems and processes to improve the efficiency and integrity of these functions.