For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today unveiled the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request of $39.5 billion in net discretionary funding. An additional $5.5 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is provided separately, pursuant to the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). Recognizing the current fiscal environment, the Department’s net discretionary amount is 0.5 percent below the FY 2012 enacted level.
“Ten years after the September 11th attacks, America is stronger and more secure today, thanks to the strong support of Congress; the tremendous work of the men and women of DHS and our local, state and federal partners across the homeland security enterprise,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The Department’s FY 2013 budget request preserves core frontline priorities by cutting costs, sharing resources across components, and streamlining operations wherever possible.”
The FY 2013 budget request redirects over $850 million in base resources from administrative and mission support areas, including contracts, personnel (through attrition), information technology, travel, personnel moves, overtime, directed purchasing, professional services, and vehicle management to frontline operations. Through the Department-wide Efficiency Review, which began in 2009, as well as other cost-saving initiatives, DHS has identified over $3 billion in cost avoidances and reductions, and redeployed those funds to mission-critical initiatives across the Department.
The FY 2013 budget request prioritizes the mission areas outlined in the Department’s 2010 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review and the 2010 Bottom-Up Review, the first complete effort undertaken by the Department to align its resources with a comprehensive strategy to meet the nation’s homeland security needs.
The budget builds on the progress the Department has made in each of its mission areas while providing essential support to national and economic security.
FY 2013 Budget Priorities:
Preventing Terrorism and Enhancing Security - Guarding against terrorism was the founding mission of DHS and remains the Department’s top priority. The FY 2013 budget safeguards the nation’s transportation systems through a layered detection system focusing on risk-based screening, enhanced targeting and information sharing efforts to interdict threats and dangerous people at the earliest point possible. The budget supports the administration’s Global Supply Chain Security Strategy across air, land, and sea modes of transportation by strengthening efforts to prescreen and evaluate high-risk containers before they are shipped to the U.S. and annualizing positions that provide the capacity to address security vulnerabilities overseas. Funding is included for Securing the Cities to protect our highest risk cities from radiological or nuclear attack and national bio preparedness and response efforts. The budget also continues strong support for State and local partners through a new consolidated grant program, training, fusion centers, and intelligence analysis and information sharing on a wide range of critical homeland security issues.
Securing and Managing Our Borders - Protecting the nation’s borders – land, air, and sea – from the illegal entry of people, weapons, drugs, and contraband is vital to homeland security, as well as economic prosperity. Over the past several years, DHS has deployed unprecedented levels of personnel, technology, and resources to the Southwest Border. At the same time, DHS has made critical security improvements along the Northern Border while strengthening efforts to increase the security of the nation’s maritime borders. The FY 2013 budget continues the Administration’s unprecedented focus on border security, travel and trade by supporting 21,370 Border Patrol agents and 21,186 CBP Officers at our ports of entry as well the continued deployment of proven, effective surveillance technology along the highest trafficked areas of the Southwest Border. To secure the nation’s maritime borders, the budget invests in recapitalization of Coast Guard assets including the sixth National Security Cutter, Fast Response Cutters as well as the renovation and restoration of shore facilities. The budget also includes resources to ensure that the Coast Guard’s aviation fleet is mission-ready and provides operational funding for new assets coming on line.
Enforcing and Administering Our Immigration Laws - DHS is focused on smart and effective enforcement of U.S. immigration laws while streamlining and facilitating the legal immigration process. Supporting the establishment of clear enforcement priorities, recent policy directives and additional training for the field, the budget continues the Department’s efforts to prioritize the identification and removal of criminal aliens and repeat immigration law violators, recent border entrants and immigration fugitives. Nationwide implementation of Secure Communities and other enforcement initiatives, coupled with continued collaboration with DOJ to focus resources on the detained docket and priority cases on the non-detained docket, is expected to continue to increase the number of criminal aliens and other priority individuals who are identified and removed. The budget provides the resources needed to address this changing population, while continuing to support Alternatives to Detention, detention reform, and immigrant integration efforts. The budget also focuses on monitoring and compliance, promoting adherence to worksite-related laws through criminal prosecutions of egregious employers, Form I-9 inspections, and expansion of E-Verify.
Safeguarding and Securing Cyberspace - DHS leads the federal government’s efforts to secure civilian government computer systems and works with industry and state, local, tribal and territorial governments to secure critical infrastructure and information systems. The FY 2013 budget makes significant investments in cybersecurity to expedite the deployment of EINSTEIN 3 to prevent and detect intrusions on government computer systems; increases federal network security of large and small agencies; and continues to develop a robust cybersecurity workforce to protect against and respond to national cybersecurity threats and hazards. The budget also focuses on combating cyber crimes, targeting large-scale producers and distributors of child pornography and preventing attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure through Financial Crimes Task Forces.
Ensuring Resilience to Disasters - The Department’s efforts to build a ready and resilient nation focus on a whole community approach to emergency management by engaging partners at all levels to ensure that we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency DHS provides the coordinated, comprehensive federal response while working with federal, state, local, and private sector partners to ensure a swift and effective recovery effort. To ensure that FEMA is able to support these efforts, the DRF, which provides a significant portion of the total federal response to victims in presidentially declared disasters or emergencies, is funded largely through authority provided under the BCA. To support the objectives of the National Preparedness Goal, the administration proposes a new homeland security grants program in FY 2013 to create a robust national response capacity based on cross-jurisdictional and readily deployable state and local assets. The FY 2013 budget also funds FEMA’s continued development of catastrophic plans, which include regional plans for response to biological events and earthquakes.
Providing Essential Support to National and Economic Security - DHS provides essential support to many areas of national and economic security. In addition to supporting Coast Guard’s current operations in the Polar Regions, the budget initiates acquisition of a new polar icebreaker to address Coast Guard emerging missions in the Arctic. The budget also continues to support ICE’s and CBP’s enforcement and investigative efforts to protect U.S. intellectual property rights and collect customs revenue.
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