Millions of dollars OK'd for crime-fighting IT
A House appropriations subcommittee approved funding to help fight drugs and violent crime, and for new tools to combat cybercrime and national security threats
A House appropriations subcommittee approved a $394 million increase for
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys to help
fight drugs and violent crime, and for new tools to combat cybercrime and
national security threats.
For example, the FBI would receive a $189 million increase over fiscal 2000,
for a total allocation of of $3.23 billion. That total includes $68 million
for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which
the president's budget proposes to fund through a controversial user fee.
The bill prohibits the FBI from charging a user fee for gun checks. NICS
is used to identify would-be gun buyers who are prohibited by law from buying
firearms.
Meanwhile, the House subcommittee voted not to give the Commerce Department
$60 million to fund critical infrastructure protection programs. This request
included $50 million to develop and house the Institute for Information
Infrastructure Protection (I3P), which would fund research at existing organizations
and groups. Commerce's National Institute for Standards and Technology was
to run the I3P program.
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