Last October 28, President Obama signed into law the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010, giving the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a 44 billion dollar budget for the fiscal year 2010. The Act also allotted $338.4M to the Office of the Chief Information Officer, 24% more than the $272.2M the office received in 2009. Although funds for salaries and expenses stayed roughly the same, the budget for data center development and the National Center for Critical Information Processing and Storage nearly went twice. It also made appropriations for the Offices of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Undersecretary for Management, the Chief Financial Officer, the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding, and the Inspector General. Furthermore, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 also allotted funds and resources for agencies under the DHS, including automation and modernization, security, infrastructure, technology, training and development, research and evaluation, construction, improvements, and related expenses. It also granted the Federal and Emergency Management (FEMA) the resources for firefighter assistance, grants for state and local programs, and emergency management performance. FEMA will also receive allotted budget for disaster relief, disaster assistance direct loan program account, and emergency food and shelter. The Act also made appropriations for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify and remove aliens convicted of a crime after being judged deportable. It also gave funds to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) for the E-verify program to help US employers keep a legal labor force. However, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 prohibits the amendment of the oath of allegiance, as mandated under the Immigration and Nationality Act. It also excludes the preparation, testing, piloting, acquisition or improvement of a national identification card. Under the Act, The Loran-C signal is not permitted to operate after January 4, 2010, unless the Commandant of the Coast Guard declares that its termination will not have any negative impacts on the safety and security of maritime navigation. The Commandant of the Coast Guard should also confirm that the Loran-C system infrastructure is not essential as a support to the Global Positioning System (GPS) or any other federal navigation requirement. Specifically, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 requires the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security to operate with air carriers and airports to ensure the incremental quarterly increase of cargo screening transported on passenger aircrafts. The FEMA Administrator is also required to submit to Congress, and post on the FEMA website, a summary report of information on damage assessment used in declaring that a major disaster exists, with a limitation for national security. Lastly, The Act requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to discuss with the Secretaries of Defense and Transportation. They will develop a model for operating automated aerial systems for the national airspace system for security operations of border and maritime systems.
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