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II. Executive Summary

Spending by Department


Proposed funding by Executive Department for FY 1999 to FY 2003 is displayed in Table 1. Over the five-year planning period, the additional resources provided for supply-reduction programs in the Departments of Justice, Treasury, Transportation, State, and Defense would support security along the southwest border; additional efforts in the Andean region, Mexico and the Caribbean; and enforcement operations targeting domestic sources of illegal drugs. Also through FY 2003, demand-reduction efforts by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education would support programs to increase public drug treatment, provide basic research on drug abuse and addiction, and initiate new prevention efforts aimed at school children. The following increases in drug-control funding are included in the President's FY 1999 budget:

  • Defense: The FY 1999 budget for the Department of Defense (DoD) would increase by a net of $35.1 million from the FY 1998 enacted level. The total FY 1999 DoD drug budget includes an increase of $75.4 million to support counterdrug activities in the Andean region ($60.8 million), operations in the Caribbean ($8.5 million), training of Mexican counterdrug forces ($4.0 million), and a transfer of funds for reconnaissance missions ($2.1 million). The request also includes an additional $15 million for the National Guard.

  • Education: School Drug-Prevention Coordinators ($50 million) -- This initiative will fund about 1,300 paid drug-prevention coordinators. Each coordinator will develop and direct drug-prevention programs in five middle schools. In total, this initiative will provide prevention services for 6,500 middle schools.

  • Health and Human Services:

    • SAMHSA -- A top priority in this budget is the federal government's efforts to mobilize resources to increase substance abuse treatment services nationwide. SAMHSA's $200 million ($143 million drug-related) increase in budget authority for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Performance Partnership Grant will support efforts to close the treatment gap.

    • FDA & CDC -- Youth Tobacco Initiative ($146 million) -- In FY 1999, this initiative provides an additional $100 million for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and an additional $46 million to the Centers for Disease Control. This program will target cigarette smoking by underage youth, which has been identified as a gateway behavior for drug use. As part of this effort, FDA will expand its enforcement activities and CDC will conduct further research on the health risks of nicotine, additives, and other potentially toxic compounds in tobacco.

    • NIH -- Drug and Underage Alcohol Research ($51 million) -- This initiative will allow NIH (NIDA and NIAAA) to expand research on drug and underage alcohol use. Research on underage alcohol and drug addiction among children and adolescents, as well as chronic drug users, and increased dissemination of research findings, will enhance prevention and treatment program effectiveness.

  • Justice:

    • DEA -- Methamphetamine Initiative ($24.5 million) -- This initiative provides DEA with 223 positions, including 100 special agents, to address the growth of methamphetamine trafficking, production, and abuse across the United States. New funding for DEA in FY 1999 also includes a Heroin Initiative ($14.9 million). This program combats heroin trafficking, production, and distribution networks operating in the United States and increases U.S. investigative and intelligence presence in countries involved in the trafficking of drugs and other controlled substances from Southeast and Southwest Asia. This enhancement includes 155 positions, including 100 special agents.

    • Office of Justice Programs (OJP) -- Drug Intervention Program ($85 million) -- This new program seeks to break the cycle of drug abuse and violence by assisting state and local governments, state and local courts, and Indian tribal governments to develop and implement drug testing, treatment, and graduated sanctions for drug offenders. Because considerable drug use has been documented among people within the criminal justice system, this program will provide guidance and resources to help eligible jurisdictions institute policies that support treatment for drug offenders.

    • Border Patrol ($163.2 million, $24.5 million drug-related) -- This enhancement includes 1,000 new border patrol agents, primarily for the southwest border. These new resources will continue expansion of the Border Patrol's strategy of "prevention through deterrence" along the Southwest Border. Also included is funding to continue deployment of the Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System and Remote Video Surveillance (ISIS/RVS) equipment. ISIS/RVS will enable the Border Patrol to allocate agents more efficiently based on current information regarding illegal alien traffic. In addition to this technology, funding is included to erect and maintain border barriers and expand other infrastructure that will improve enforcement between ports-of-entry.

    • ONDCP: Special Forfeiture Fund ($34 million) -- This net increase for FY 1999 includes $10 million for a Chronic User Study, which will develop national estimates of the size and composition of this population. A pilot project for this research, conducted in FY 1997 in Cook County, Illinois, concluded that chronic users are significantly under-counted in current surveys. FY 1999 funding for the Special Forfeiture Fund includes $20 million for grants that continue implementation of the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997. This is an increase of $10 million over FY 1998.

    • State: International Country Support ($45 million) -- Included in this increase are funds to build on FY 1998 support for Andean nations involved in interdiction and counterdrug law enforcement operations. This effort will expand crop eradication and alternative development programs to reduce illicit coca cultivation.

    • Transportation: U.S. Coast Guard ($35.7 million) -- Most of the drug-related increase ($32.8 million) requested in FY 1999 will provide for capital improvements to enhance the Coast Guard's interdiction capabilities, particularly in the Caribbean. The FY 1999 request includes funding for improved sensors on C-130 aircraft, additional coastal patrol craft, and expansion of the Coast Guard's deep water assets.

    • Treasury: U.S. Customs Service ($66.4 million) -- Customs FY 1999 request includes a total increase of $66.4 million for counterdrug operations. Of this total, $54.0 million is requested for non-intrusive inspection technologies. The request supports two seaport X-ray systems as well as $41 million for non-intrusive technology, such as mobile and fixed-site X-ray systems for land border ports-of-entry along the southwest border.