Bush Seeks $11 Billion to Secure Borders
— -- President Bush is seeking $11 million to beef up security at America's borders. Friends and family mourn a female Marine whose plane crashed in Pakistan. The father of a Sept. 11 victim offers thanks to the Marine.
Bush Wants $11 Billion for Secure Borders
P O R T L A N D, Maine, Jan. 25 — President Bush said today he will askCongress to spend roughly $11 billion next year on securing thenation's borders to keep out terrorists who would try to attack theUnited States by air, land or sea.
He promised that U.S. officials will be on special lookout forforeign nationals who have overstayed student visas, "to make surethey're not part of some al Qaeda network that wants to hit theUnited States."
"We're looking, we're listening, we're following every singlelead," he said.
The president visited Portland today to announce plans toseek $10.7 billion in next year's budget for border security, anincrease of $2.1 billion over this year.
Bush toured the Coast Guard cutter Tahoma, which raced fromRhode Island to New York Harbor to conduct ship inspections andcontrol sea traffic after the Sept. 11 attacks.
He said the Coast Guard will get its largest budget increase inyears, praising its personnel as "a fine group of people who don'tget nearly as much appreciation from the American people as theyshould."
The Tahoma arrived just before midnight on Sept. 11 and remainedthere through Oct. 22, its crew often on 24-hour alert.
Today, it was docked proudly in the International MarineTerminal here and, as Bush stepped aboard, the ship's bell rangthree times and a booming voice announced: "United Statesarriving!" It was much the same when Transportation SecretaryNorman Mineta entered just behind Bush: "Transportationarriving!"
The president donned a blue USCGC Tahoma cap, and listened asCommander Gary M. Smialek described how the Tahoma "sped flankspeed to New York City" to patrol the closed harbor and securebridges near the Statue of Liberty and the Ground Zero perimeter."We didn't know what the threat was," Smialek said.
In the ship's mess hall, Bush thanked Coast Guard personnel forserving their country. He said of the military mission inAfghanistan, "We're winning but we got a lot to do."
After leaving Portland, Bush was heading to Camp David for theweekend. Twenty House and Senate Republicans were to join him therefor an overnight legislative strategy session — and to watchBlack Hawk Down, a new film about the U.S. military mission inSomalia that went awry, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
The border security funds are part of a $38 billion homelandsecurity package that Bush announced Thursday. The money will beused to create "a seamless air, land and sea border" that weedsout terrorist threats without clogging the free flow of goods andpeople between countries, the White House said.
Bush also will seek a $1.2 billion increase for the Immigrationand Naturalization Service, so more agents and inspectors can behired to focus on the border with Canada. Work on tightening thatborder already is under way; Bush's homeland security director TomRidge reached an agreement in December with Canadian ForeignAffairs Minister John Manley.
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