The House Homeland Security vote: What it means

Jul 1, 2003 12:00 PM

The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed a $29.4 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The funds would be available for the beginning of fiscal year 2004, starting October 1.

The bill would provide more funding -- beyond even what President Bush was asking -- for airports, technology and especially first responders. But several steps remain before the security industry will have a chance to get a piece of the windfall, and much of the funding has been earmarked for use outside the technology sector.

Most importantly, the funding approval process is not finished. Now that the House has passed the bill -- by a 425-2 vote -- it moves to the Senate, where it is sure to undergo debate. After the Senate eventually passes its version of the funding bill, the President still must sign it into law.

From a technology standpoint, neither the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), nor the DHS has directly indicated how the money will be spent, however, there are recent indicators of where the funding may go. Both agencies have budding pilot programs -- the TSA's Airport Access Control Program (

securitysolutions.com/ar/security_airport_access_control/index.htm

) and DHS' border reorganization plan (

securitysolutions.com/ar/security_closer_look_border/index.htm

) -- which outline the use of sophisticated, and even experimental technology to achieve higher security.

One area that less predictable is state spending. With each state getting a certain share of funding (mostly earmarked for first responders), some states may invest in technology; however, the lion's share of state security budgets are dedicated to police, fire and emergency medical services.

In general, the DHS welcomes companies to submit procurement requests. Follow this link

securitysolutions.com/ar/security_homealnd_security_procurement/index.htm

for a guide to Homeland Security procurement.

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