Senate approves Trilogy funding

The Senate Appropriations Committee this month approved the Bush administration's $61.7 million budget request for the FBI's Trilogy modernization project.

The recommendation for fiscal 2004 included the total requested amount for operations and maintenance of the project. That includes $18.6 million for the Trilogy Technology Refreshment Program.

"The committee was impressed by the FBI's foresight to request additional funding for operations, maintenance and refreshment for its technology investments," the committee's report states.

Committee members also recommended $2 million for the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information Local Area Network and $10.5 million for the second phase of the initiative to upgrade the technology infrastructure at Legal Attache offices.

The House version of the bill, approved by that body's Appropriations Committee in July, recommends $80.3 million for Trilogy refreshment needs, operations and maintenance. It includes a requirement that the FBI submit quarterly status reports to the committee about Trilogy implementation.

The House bill also requires that the FBI submit an IT report detailing all projects and their stages of deployment, funding and maintenance requirement. The report is to be submitted by Dec. 15.

Trilogy's original cost was $458 million, but later grew by $138 million. The network's infrastructure was completed in March, linking 22,000 desktop workstations at 591 sites. The bureau expects to finish the final phase of the project, the virtual case file, which will modernize workflow processes for agents and increase information sharing, by December.