Access Control
& Security Systems

In an effort to further define what defending the homeland involves, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office started by reporting that the federal government will spend $22.2 billion on domestic security this year. That's a 29 percent jump from 2001.

According to The Associated Press report, Democrats and Republicans are beginning to realize that whoever defines this area of spending can use the designation to protect favored programs or expose others to cuts.

The CBO reports that one-third of the $22.2 billion will be spent to protect military installations, nuclear materials and other government facilities. Another 22 percent will be spent by the government to purchase vaccines and give grants to local law enforcement, and more than 21 percent is devoted to intelligence and federal law enforcement.

The CBO says its definition of domestic security is largely based on the categories in which the money will be spent. In a briefing last week, CBO director Dan Crippen said he believed the White House's definition of homeland security excludes some categories of spending that the CBO has included.

This month in Access Control

• Targeting The Customer
• Electronic Pedigrees
• One Hero Among Many
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• More from September's issue