[Budget of the United States Government]
[IV. Preparing For the 21st Century]
[6. Enforcing the Law]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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                          6.  ENFORCING THE LAW

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   Crime has been dropping, now, for seven straight years. This is the longest continuous decline in the crime
rate ever recorded in our country. In part, that is because all of us, from the grassroots to Washington, D.C.,
have intensified our support for common-sense strategies to fight crime and to prevent crime . . . . [but] I
doubt if there is . . . . a person in our country who thinks the crime rate is low enough.

                                      President Clinton
                                      October 1999


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
   When President Clinton took office in 1993, the violent crime rate in 
America had more than tripled during the previous three decades. Today, 
with the rate of violent crime continuing to fall each and every year 
since 1993, the President's crime-fighting program has made our streets 
safer and our communities stronger (see Chart 6-1). The Nation's overall 
crime rate is now at a 25-year low, the murder rate is its lowest in 31 
years, and crime is down in every region of the Nation.
   The President has described to leaders from the law enforcement 
community his clear-cut and effective anti-crime philosophy--``We think 
there ought to be more police and fewer guns on the street.'' Combined 
with stepped-up efforts to fight drugs, combat youth violence, and 
control illegal immigration, this multi-front fight against crime has 
significantly improved the lives of all Americans. By extending and 
expanding such efforts, as proposed in this budget, these anti-crime 
strategies can continue to make Americans safer and more secure for 
years to come.
   The President's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) went into 
force at the start of his first term. An ambitious plan to add 100,000 
police officers to local beats, the COPS program has increased resources 
for State and local law enforcement, expanded community policing to 
thousands of police departments Nation-wide, and brought stability and 
security to many crime-ridden neighborhoods. COPS has encouraged 
citizens to work closely with their local community police officers and 
with other criminal justice authorities to fight and prevent crime. By 
1999, COPS achieved the goal of funding 100,000 additional officers for 
our streets--ahead of schedule and under budget--helping to make 
communities safer.


   Building on the success of the COPS program, the President proposed, 
fought for, and secured passage of the next step in his anti-crime 
strategy--the 21st Century Policing Initiative. This initiative, also 
known as COPS II, maintains the Administration's commitment to keep the 
number of officers on the beat at an all-time high by funding up to an 
additional 50,000 officers by 2005. It also builds on the COPS program 
in two key ways. First, it provides significant new funds to give law 
enforcement access to the latest crime-fighting and crime-solving 
technologies. Second, the initiative engages entire communities in the 
hard work of preventing and fighting crime by funding new community-
based prosecutors and partnerships among law enforcement and probation 
and parole officers, school officials, and faith-based organizations.
   In 1993, the Clinton Administration also began a sustained effort to 
reduce gun crime. The Administration proposed and secured passage of a 
series of new laws--the Brady Act, which created the National Instant 
Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to require background checks of 
all purchasers of firearms from federally-licensed dealers; reforms in 
the Federal firearms dealer licensing system to ensure that gun dealers 
comply with State and local laws and respond to crime gun trace 
requests; the assault weapons

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ban and the ban on large capacity ammunition feeding devices to reduce 
access to lethal weapons primarily designed for battle; and, the Youth 
Handgun Safety Act, prohibiting juveniles under 18 from possessing 
handguns. These laws have been instrumental in dramatically reducing 
violent gun violence, which has declined by more than 35 percent in the 
past seven years. In the same time frame, the number of juvenile gun 
homicide offenders has dropped by 57 percent.
   To strengthen enforcement of these laws and further expand the 
Administration's comprehensive efforts to combat gun violence in our 
society, the budget proposes the largest gun enforcement initiative in 
history: $70 million for upgrades to State and local criminal history 
records to improve the speed and accuracy of Brady background checks; 
$53 million for 500 new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) 
agents and inspectors, and Nation-wide expansion of crime gun tracing 
and ballistics imaging systems; $150 million for grants to hire 1,000 
State and local gun prosecutors; $10 million for smart gun technology 
research; $15 million for over 100 Department of Justice (DOJ) 
prosecutors and 20 enforcement coordination teams; $10 million for local 
media campaigns on gun safety and gun violence; and, $10 million to help 
law enforcement end the practice of re-selling used police firearms and 
seized guns on the civilian market. These additional resources will 
further the decline of gun crime by stepping up Federal, State, and 
local law enforcement efforts against armed criminals and those who 
traffic in firearms to criminals and juveniles.
   While expanding resources to combat gun crime, the Administration 
will continue to urge Congress to pass common sense gun legislation to 
require background checks of prospective purchasers at gun shows, 
require child safety locks for handguns, ban the importation of large 
capacity ammunition magazines, and provide tougher penalties against gun 
traffickers and gun dealers who target and do business with those who 
are ineligible, including juveniles.

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                                The Clinton Administration's Anti-Crime Strategy

  Expanded local policing and fewer guns on the street are the cornerstone of the Administration's three-part
strategy to make Americans safer and more secure for years to come:

 putting more police on the street and promoting community policing while taking measures to deter
 violent offenders and gun violence;

 controlling illegal immigration into the United States, including organized smuggling of aliens and
 other accompanying illegal activities, through reliance on stepped-up border enforcement and the use of
 technology; and,

 fighting drug abuse on all fronts, especially among children, by vigorously enforcing the Nation's drug
 laws and developing prevention programs which give children an alternative to crime and drugs and a chance for
 a positive future.


  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Fighting Crime

   The budget proposes $29.0 billion to control crime, $2.4 billion--or 
8.8 percent--more than enacted for 2000 (see Chart 6-2). While enhancing 
Federal anti-crime efforts, the budget seeks to empower States and 
communities, which play the central role in controlling crime, 
particularly violent crime.

  21st Century Policing Initiative: The budget includes $1.3 billion for 
this initiative, $422 million more than was provided in 2000. This 
initiative includes:
   More police on the streets: $650 million will be used to hire 
          and redeploy more law enforcement officers, with an effort to 
          target new police officers to crime ``hot spots.'' In addition 
          to the 100,000 police officers already funded by the COPS 
          program, this will place up to 50,000 officers on the street 
          by 2005. A portion of the funds will also be used to help 
          economically distressed communities retain new police hires, 
          and for other programs to recruit, train, and educate law 
          enforcement officers.
   Crime fighting technology:  $350 million will be used to help 
          State and local law enforcement agencies improve police 
          communication systems, crime mapping, forensic laboratories, 
          and other operations. In particular, this funding, together 
          with efforts at the Treasury and Justice Departments, will 
          ensure that the Nation's public safety workers can communicate 
          with each other securely, swiftly and effectively.
   Over 1,000 new Federal, State, and local gun prosecutors:  
          $200 million will be used for State and local prosecutors, 
          including $150 million for prosecutors, and $50 million for 
          community-based prosecutors dedicated to local crime problems 
          and quality of life issues. This will fund 1,000 new State and 
          local prosecutors to combat gun crime and violence, over 100 
          new Federal gun prosecutors, and new gun enforcement teams to 
          coordinate efforts with local law enforcement to put gun 
          criminals behind bars.
   Community crime prevention: $135 million will be used for 
          community-based crime prevention programs. These funds will be 
          used to form partnerships with probation and parole officers 
          in supervising released offenders, local school officials in 
          adopting community-wide crime prevention plans, and faith-
          based organizations to address youth crime problems. Funds 
          also will be used to promote police integrity and hate crimes 
          training and to establish citizens' academies that teach 
          neighborhood residents problem-solving skills.
          
          
   Firearms Enforcement: When the President took office seven years ago, 
he put into place a comprehensive strategy focused on keeping guns out 
of the wrong hands and deterring and incarcerating gun criminals. The 
Brady Act has prevented more than 472,000 felons, fugitives, and 
stalkers from purchasing firearms while prosecutions of gun criminals 
are up and gun crime has dropped by more than 35 percent. However, 
despite this progress, far too many Americans, especially

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children, lose their lives as a result of gunfire. The budget will build 
on the Administration's efforts to reduce gun violence with the largest 
national gun enforcement initiative in history.
   500 new ATF agents and inspectors: The budget funds the 
          largest increase ever in ATF agents and inspectors, including 
          300 new agents to support local enforcement efforts throughout 
          the country in making cases against armed criminals and 
          against illegal firearms traffickers at gun shows, gun stores, 
          and on the streets, and 200 new inspectors to target gun 
          manufacturers, distributors, and dealers who supply firearms 
          to criminals and juveniles.
   Comprehensive crime gun tracing: To move toward tracing every 
          crime gun in America, the budget proposes funds to provide 250 
          local law enforcement agencies with training and software to 
          facilitate comprehensive tracing, and to expand the 
          Administration's Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative from 
          38 to 50 cities across the country.
   New National Integrated Ballistics Information Network: The 
          Administration proposes to triple current funding for 
          ballistics testing programs to launch the first national 
          ballistics network. This initiative will support the 
          deployment of 150 new ballistics imaging units to law 
          enforcement to trace bullets and shell casings to the 
          criminals who fired them.
   Local anti-gun violence media campaigns: The budget provides 
          $10 million in matching grants from DOJ to support local media 
          campaigns highlighting penalties for breaking gun laws, proper 
          storage of firearms, and preventing child access to guns.
   Strengthened Brady background checks: The budget provides $70 
          million, double the current funding level, to improve State 
          criminal history records and improve the speed and accuracy of 
          Brady background checks. In addition, $5 million will fund a 
          National Instant Notification system to help police apprehend 
          criminals attempt

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          ing to illegally purchase firearms in those States not acting 
          as a point of contact for NICS.
  Smart gun technology: The budget proposes $10 million for 
          expansion, testing, and replication of ``smart'' gun 
          technologies. These state-of-the-art gun safety precautions 
          can limit a gun's use to its owner or other authorized users--
          preventing gun deaths and injuries.
  Keeping used police guns out of the hands of criminals: To end 
          the resale of used police guns and seized firearms, $10 
          million is provided for one-time grants to law enforcement 
          agencies on the condition that they halt such practices.

   Youth Violence: A total of $8.9 billion is included in the budget for 
Government-wide programs to address youth violence. One example of this 
cross-agency effort is the Safe Schools/Health Students program, which 
brings together the Justice, Education, and Labor Departments to create 
colloborative solutions to youth violence. Also included in this effort 
is $289 million for DOJ programs to fight juvenile crime, including 
support for local community prevention programs such as mentoring, 
truancy prevention, and gang intervention.
   Safe Streets Task Forces: The budget proposes $128 million to 
continue the Safe Streets program, which blends the efforts of the FBI 
and other Federal law enforcement agencies with those of State and local 
police departments to investigate street crime and violence. A 
complementary initiative, the Weed and Seed Program, provides $42 
million for multi-agency efforts to ``weed out'' crime from targeted 
neighborhoods, then ``seed'' the sites with a wide range of crime and 
drug prevention programs.
   Community Supervision of Released Offenders--Project Reentry: The 
budget proposes a new $60 million community supervision initiative to 
address community safety concerns, lower recidivism rates, and promote 
responsible fatherhood for the nearly 500,000 inmates who will leave 
prison or jail this year and reenter local communities. The need for 
greater supervision is significant: two-thirds of all prisoners are 
arrested for new offenses within three years of release. The initiative 
is comprised of reentry partnerships and reentry courts. Reentry 
partnerships will team up police and corrections agencies with local 
service providers and non-profit groups (including faith-based, victims, 
and fatherhood groups) to regularly monitor released offenders. Grants 
will fund partnerships to help hire additional corrections staff to 
supervise offenders and impose graduated sanctions, target resources 
such as drug testing and treatment and job training, and require 
responsibility for child support and other obligations. Reentry courts 
will employ the drug court model of judicial supervision to oversee 
offenders on conditional release--with regular court appearances, 
graduated sanctions to establish accountability, and targeted services 
such as drug testing and treatment. The initiative will be complemented 
by job training grants from the Department of Labor's Responsible 
Reintegration for Young Offenders initiative, and targeted substance 
abuse and mental health grants from HHS.
   Crime in Public Housing: The budget proposes $345 million to support 
anti-crime, anti-drug, gun safety, and violence reduction programs in 
public housing, including Operation Safe Home and a new $3.0 million 
Community Gun Safety and Violence Reduction initiative. The Department 
of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Public Housing and Office 
of the Inspector General jointly administer Operation Safe Home, which 
brings together residents, managers, and various Federal and local law 
enforcement agencies to rid public housing communities of crime. The 
Community Gun Safety and Violence Reduction initiative will support gun 
violence reduction programs to complement existing community safety 
programs and will fund state-of-the art computerized gun-violence 
tracking and gun-tracing efforts to assist communities and law 
enforcement agencies in planning gun-violence reduction efforts.
   Violence Against Women: Violence against women is a continuing 
problem. Nearly a third of all women murdered in the United States are 
killed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner. Studies show 
that child abuse occurs in 30 to 60 percent of domestic violence cases 
involving families with children. Studies also show that law enforcement 
inter

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vention often breaks the cycle of domestic violence, preventing 
subsequent incidents. The budget proposes a record high $516 million to 
maintain efforts to combat gender-based crime, $33 million more than 
2000. These funds are used to support grants to develop and strengthen 
the criminal justice system's response to violence against women and to 
support and enhance services for victims, to fund the National Domestic 
Violence hotline, to fund battered women's shelters, and to expand 
outreach to under-served rural, Indian, and minority populations.
  Hate Crimes: The President has urged Congress to pass the Hate Crimes 
Prevention Act, which would strengthen the existing Federal hate crimes 
law by expanding the situations in which DOJ can prosecute defendants 
for violent crimes based on race, color, religion, or national origin. 
Further, it would expand existing law to cover cases of hate crimes 
based on sexual orientation, gender, or disability. The budget includes 
$20 million for training for Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
to prevent and respond to hate crimes and police integrity.
  Law Enforcement on Indian Lands: Homicide and violent crime rates on 
Indian lands are rising, even as crime rates in the rest of the country 
fall. According to DOJ, American Indians are the victims of violent 
crimes at more than twice the rate of all U.S. residents. The 
Administration proposes $439 million for the third year of this joint 
Justice and Interior Departments initiative, an increase of $103 million 
over the 2000 level. The money is used to increase the number of fully 
trained and equipped police officers in Indian country, improve the 
quality of the criminal justice system, including courts and detention 
facilities, enhance substance abuse programs, and combat tribal youth 
crime.
   State Criminal Alien Assistance: The budget proposes $600 million to 
reimburse State and local governments for the cost of incarcerating 
criminal illegal aliens. This is a $15 million increase over the 2000 
level.
   Financial Crime: The budget provides a $15 million increase to the 
Treasury Department to develop and implement initiatives as part of the 
national strategy for combating money laundering and financial crime. 
This strategy relies on the efforts of a number of Treasury Department 
bureaus, including the U.S. Customs Service and the Internal Revenue 
Service, which identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations 
that launder the proceeds generated by smuggling, trade fraud, export 
violations, and a range of other illegal activities. In addition, the 
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network provides money laundering case 
support through its regulatory partnerships and technology enhancements 
that allow for strategic analysis of trends and patterns in money 
laundering and related financial crimes.
   Terrorism: Acts of domestic terrorism have resulted in deaths and 
injuries to American citizens, while terrorism overseas has taken an 
even heavier toll. While it is true that our Nation has had fewer 
incidents of domestic terrorism than many others, we must remain 
vigilant against terrorist threats on domestic soil and overseas.
   Over the past years, the Administration has consistently sought 
additional resources to enhance the safety of the public and the 
Government from these violent and devastating criminal acts. The budget 
provides over $11 billion to combat terrorism, weapons of mass 
destruction, and cyber crime, $1.3 billion more than provided in 2000. 
Of the total, $632 million would support law enforcement activities in 
the Departments of Justice and the Treasury and other domestic agencies. 
Chapter 9, ``Supporting the World's Strongest Military Force,'' 
describes the Federal Government's efforts to combat terrorism and 
protect our national security.

   Federal Crime Fighting Technology: The budget includes major 
increases for two technology programs that will significantly enhance 
the capabilities of Federal law enforcement. Court-authorized wiretaps 
are a major investigative tool of Federal law enforcement. However, as 
the telecommunications industry converts from an analog to digital 
environment, the ability of law enforcement to use this tool is 
diminished unless the digital equipment contains certain features. The 
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 authorizes the 
Federal Government to reimburse telecommunications manufacturers and 
carriers for the costs of ``retrofitting''

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equipment installed before January 1, 1995, in order that court-
authorized wiretaps can be conducted. Funding for this purpose would be 
increased from $15 million in 2000 to $240 million in 2001. 
Manufacturers and carriers are responsible for including the necessary 
features in telecommunications equipment installed after January 1, 
1995.
   In addition, the budget proposes increases to support upgrades in 
Federal wireless communications systems, including improved efficiency 
in the use of telecommunications spectrum assigned to law enforcement 
and promoting compatibility with communications equipment of public 
safety agencies at all levels of government. DOJ's budget for wireless 
systems would increase from $103 million to $205 million, which would 
support radio systems for the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration 
(DEA), the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the U.S. 
Marshals Service. DOJ's planning and infrastructure efforts also would 
support other agencies' wireless efforts. Treasury's budget includes $55 
million to establish an Integrated Treasury Network for wireless 
communications, which would primarily support Treasury's law enforcement 
bureaus, including the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Secret Service, 
and the ATF. Increased costs in Justice, Treasury, and other agencies 
would be offset by $200 million in proposed fees on commercial 
television broadcasters' use of the analog spectrum.

   Corrections: The number of inmates in the Federal Prison System has 
more than doubled since 1990 as a result of tougher sentencing 
guidelines, the abolition of parole, minimum mandatory sentences, and 
significant increases in Federal law enforcement spending. This growth 
rate is projected to continue into the 21st Century. The budget provides 
$4.4 billion for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, $736 million over the 
2000 level, to reduce the current level of overcrowding and to 
accommodate this future growth. The budget also supports an effort to 
increase inmate enrollment in literacy programs.

Meeting the Challenges of Immigration

   The United States is a Nation of immigrants. While we have always 
welcomed legal immigrants, the United States is also a Nation of laws 
and must act to combat illegal immigration. This Administration has done 
more to control illegal immigration than any before. Working through the 
INS, the Administration has reversed decades of neglect along the 
Southwest border and has added technology along the Northern border. 
Since 1993, this strategy has added over 5,400 new Border Patrol 
agents--over 130 percent higher than the 1993 level. And while the INS 
continues to recruit and train qualified new Border Patrol agents 
aggressively, it is also extending its enforcement efforts through the 
use of state-of-the-art technology, border barriers, and infrastructure 
to enhance the rule of law along the border. However, we must do more. 
The budget continues to fund this bipartisan effort to gain control and 
effectively manage our Nation's borders. (See Table 6-1 for INS funding 
by program.)
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

               Table 6-1.  Immigration  and  Naturalization  Service            Funding by Program
                                       (Budget authority, in millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                               Dollar    Dollar
                                                                  1993      2000      2001     Change:   Change:
                                                                 Actual   Estimate  Proposed   1993 to   2000 to
                                                                                                2001      2001
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appropriated Funds:
   Border Patrol..............................................       354     1,055     1,208      +854      +153
   Investigations and intelligence............................       142       308       328      +186       +20
   Land border inspections....................................        83       182       218      +135       +36
   Immigration support........................................  ........       124        35       +35       -89
   Detention and deportation..................................       161       728       828      +667      +100
   Program support and construction...........................       227       594       649      +422       +55
                                                               -------------------------------------------------
     Subtotal, Appropriated Funds.............................       967     2,991     3,266    +2,299      +275

Fee Collections and  Reimbursements:
   Citizenship and benefits...................................       308       754       807      +499       +53
   Detention and deportation..................................  ........        69       110      +110       +41
   Air/sea inspections and support............................       255       487       529      +274       +42
   Immigration support/enforcement............................  ........  ........        98       +98       +98
                                                               -------------------------------------------------
     Subtotal, Fee Collections and Reimbursements.............       563     1,310     1,544      +981      +234
                                                               =================================================
Total, Immigration and Naturalization Service.................     1,530     4,301     4,810    +3,280      +509
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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   While the Federal Government takes steps to curb illegal immigration, 
it must also be responsive to those who seek to immigrate to this 
country by legal means, and to those who have emigrated and now seek to 
become U.S. citizens.
   Over the past year, the Administration has made steady progress in 
reforming the naturalization process which, since 1995, has seen a 
dramatic upsurge in demand for naturalization and other immigration 
benefits. After two years of a growing application backlog and longer 
wait times, in 1999, the first year of a two-year naturalization program 
reform effort, INS reduced the pending application backlog by nearly 
500,000 applications. In total, INS completed over 1.2 million 
applications for new citizens and reduced the average application 
processing times from 27 months in 1998 to 12 months in 1999. INS 
intends to reduce average processing times further, to just six months, 
by the end of 2000. This will be accomplished while completing 1.3 
million applications for citizenship. The Administration is committed

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to a streamlined naturalization program that provides high quality and 
timely customer service for the most important and valuable benefit the 
Federal Government can bestow--citizenship. In addition, the INS has 
established completion goals and developed a multi-year plan to address 
application backlogs in other immigration services programs. The budget 
provides additional funds to reduce these backlogs and expand process 
reinvention to ensure that all immigration benefits and services are 
provided in an efficient and timely manner.

  Border Control and Enforcement: The budget proposes support for a 
combination of Border Patrol agents and technology to control specific 
border crossing areas. Previous investments have lead to successful 
efforts to control and manage the border near urban areas with a high 
level of illegal entry, such as San Diego, California, and El Paso, 
Texas. Continuing this border control strategy, the budget funds 430 new 
Border Patrol agents and $20 million in ``force-multiplying'' 
technology. The current focus is to gain control of the border around 
Douglas, Arizona. Once an acceptable level of control has been achieved 
here, the agents and technology proposed in the budget will be used to 
improve Border Patrol control over border areas in and around Laredo, 
McAllen, and Del Rio, Texas. With the new agents to be added by the end 
of 2001, it is estimated that over 9,800 Border Patrol agents will be 
deployed along the Nation's Northern and Southern borders--nearly 150 
percent more than the 3,965 agents in 1993. An additional $20 million 
will fund high resolution color and infrared cameras and state-of-the-
art command centers as force multipliers to supplement the new agents 
and provide continuous monitoring of the border from remote sites. In 
test locations in Arizona and New Mexico, this technology has had a 
dramatic effect on border control and management and is increasing the 
safety of officers who must respond to incursions. The proposed 
combination of surveillance technology and

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Border Patrol agents will permit INS to enforce the rule of law and 
enhance border management over larger portions of the border. The budget 
also supports the INS border safety initiative to dissuade migrants from 
illegal crossings, particularly in areas that could lead to their injury 
or death.
   The budget provides funds for compensation and overtime reform for 
Border Patrol agents and inspectors. It also provides funds to expand, 
renovate, and construct Border Patrol stations, border barriers and 
fencing, install permanent lighting, and construct support roads along 
the borders. These deterrents help control the border by increasing the 
abilities of Border Patrol agents to apprehend those trying to enter 
illegally. Since 1993, INS has added over 233 night scopes, 7,299 ground 
sensors, 82 miles of fencing, and 22 miles of border lighting. It has 
also added or improved over 1,500 miles of roads. The budget provides 
funds for another 18 miles of border lighting and fencing, and for 
maintaining border deterrents now in place.

   Detention and Removal of Illegal Aliens: The Administration is 
committed to removing those who have entered the country illegally and 
to detain criminal aliens. Since 1993, INS' detention budget has 
increased by over 407 percent and over 13,600 detention beds have been 
added. The budget expands on this commitment by adding another 1,000 
detention beds and 38 juvenile beds--bringing total INS detention 
capacity to nearly 20,000 beds. It also funds INS detention and 
deportation staff and increases resources to remove criminal and illegal 
aliens swiftly. With the resources provided over the past few years, INS 
has targeted its efforts primarily on removing deportable aliens held in 
Federal, State, and local facilities to ensure these criminal aliens are 
not allowed back on the street. In 1999, INS removed 178,168 aliens, 
including 62,838 criminal aliens. At the same time, the budget provides 
funding to implement detention standards to ensure those detained, 
particularly those who have pending asylum cases, are treated fairly.
   Border and Port-of-Entry Coordination: The Departments of Justice and 
Treasury have initiated a five-year Border Coordination Initiative with 
a goal of achieving a comprehensive, integrated border management 
strategy that provides for increased cooperative efforts to interdict 
illegal aliens, drugs, and other contraband. It will result in a 
seamless process of travel and trade facilitation and border enforcement 
at and between the land ports of entry, especially along the Southwest 
Border. During the past year, the Customs Service and INS have made 
strides in fostering a culture of cooperation that enables them to act 
in concert for improved results. These cooperative efforts include 
expansion of multi-agency intelligence units to coordinate intelligence 
gathering and dissemination among agencies and the establishment of a 
timetable to implement compatible and secure communications systems.
   Citizenship and Benefits: The Administration is committed to building 
and maintaining a naturalization and immigration service system that 
ensures integrity and provides service and benefits in a timely manner. 
The surge of citizenship applications, growing from approximately 
340,000 in 1993 to a peak of nearly 1.6 million in 1997, resulted in an 
unacceptable backlog and has required the INS to redesign its 
decentralized process which had been built for a far smaller application 
volume. The record number of applications, antiquated INS processes, and 
complex automation and redesign efforts contributed to an unacceptable 
citizenship application backlog that exceeded 1.8 million cases in 1999. 
As a result of a concerted and ongoing effort, this backlog has since 
been significantly reduced.
   Over the past two years, the Administration, working with Congress, 
has provided $300 million to supplement INS examinations fee revenue in 
a successful effort to reduce naturalization backlogs and to initiate 
reforms in the processing of immigration service programs. Ongoing 
initiatives include:
   centralization of immigrant records into a National Records 
          Center with automated query and retrieval capability to ensure 
          accurate and complete records and to speed service delivery;
   establishment of a National Customer Service Center for 
          telephone service, with access throughout the United States 
          and Puerto Rico in 2000;

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   centralization of application and medical waiver reviews from 
          INS field offices to Service Centers to maximize application 
          and file quality and integrity, thereby ensuring that INS 
          adjudicators receive cases that can be processed properly; 
          and,
   quality assurance audits and reviews of the benefits 
          processing system and benefits applications.
   The budget provides $35 million to address backlogs in other 
immigration benefit programs and establishes an Immigration Services 
Capital Investment Account to provide funding for ongoing backlog 
reduction efforts in all immigration benefit programs and for major 
capital acquisitions. This account will be further capitalized with an 
estimated $93 million from two new fees, including a premium processing 
fee of $1,000 for expedited adjudication of business-related services. 
Payment of this voluntary fee will ensure INS action on applications 
within 15 days through direct business-INS liaison, and permits INS to 
target additional resources at fraud prevention in business 
applications. The second proposal would re-authorize the 245(i) 
adjustment of status penalty provision. This provision, which expired in 
1998, permits certain migrants, upon payment of a $1,000 penalty, to 
adjust their immigration status while remaining in the United States.

  An INS Structure for the Future: Over the past few years, the 
Administration has worked in a close and bipartisan manner with Congress 
to improve INS' operations. In the same vein, the Administration remains 
committed to addressing systemic problems, particularly those related to 
INS' dual missions of service and enforcement. These systemic problems 
include: competing priorities; insufficient accountability between field 
offices and headquarters; overlapping organizational relationships, and, 
lack of consistent operations and policies.
   The Administration's principles for a successful restructuring are 
that immigration enforcement and service missions must have separate and 
clear lines of authority at all levels, from the field to headquarters, 
and that the immigration agency must be led by a single executive who 
can integrate immigration policy, standards, and management operations. 
This single executive, appointed by the President and confirmed by the 
Senate, is essential to maintain balance between enforcement and 
services, while ensuring a coherent and coordinated national immigration 
policy. To be effective, this official must have the statutory authority 
to direct operations and supervise key integrating and oversight 
functions, such as legal counsel, financial management, policy, and 
communications.
   The Administration will work with Congress to enact legislation that 
will fundamentally improve the way immigration operations are conducted, 
building on the progress already made to reform the INS. The 
Administration considers it critical to meet this challenge and enact 
responsible restructuring legislation this year.

Reducing Drug Use, Trafficking, Drug-Related Crime, and Its Consequences

   Drug use and its damaging consequences cost our society more than 
$110 billion a year and poison the schools and neighborhoods where our 
youth strive to reach their full potential. Illicit drug trafficking 
thrives on a culture of crime, violence, and corruption throughout the 
world. Drug use is a major contributing factor in the spread of AIDS and 
other deadly diseases. All Americans, regardless of economic, 
geographic, or other position in society, feel the effects of drug use 
and drug-related crime.
   The results of the most recent National Household Survey on Drug 
Abuse show that the rate of use in the past month of any illicit drug 
among 12 to 17 year olds declined from 11.4 percent in 1997 to 9.9 
percent in 1998, a 13-percent decrease. This change is complemented by 
the 1999 Monitoring the Future Study finding that over the past three 
years, youth viewed marijuana use with greater risk. Youth use of other 
drugs, including alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine, and heroin, either 
declined or remained stable over this period. These results suggest that 
America's youth are receptive to the Government's ``no use'' message.
   The budget proposes $19.2 billion for drug control programs, an $1.7 
billion increase over the 2000 enacted level. The budget

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 supports increases for key elements in the effort to reduce drug use 
and its consequences, such as drug treatment; prevention, especially for 
children and adolescents; domestic law enforcement; and, other supply 
reduction programs, including significant support for anti-drug efforts 
in Colombia. (For more information, see Chart 6-3, and Chapter 23, 
``Federal Drug Control Funding'' in Analytical Perspectives.) 


  Colombia: The budget proposes $1.6 billion, of which $1.3 billion is 
new 2000 and 2001 funding, for counternarcotics efforts in the Andean 
Region, primarily in Colombia. An estimated 80 percent of the cocaine 
that enters the United States originates in or passes through Colombia. 
Colombia also produces up to six metric tons of heroin annually, and is 
a major supplier of heroin to the United States. Cultivation of coca, 
the raw material for cocaine, has nearly tripled in Colombia since 1992. 
In addition, Colombian traffickers and coca farmers have recently 
adopted new cultivation and processing techniques, increasing the amount 
of drugs processed from each acre of crop. Colombia now cultivates more 
than half of the coca leaf grown in the world. If unchecked, the rapid 
expansion of coca crops and cocaine production in Colombia threatens to 
increase significantly the global supply of cocaine over the next 
several years.
  The Government of Colombia's efforts to attack the drug trade are 
hampered by the fact that guerrillas and paramilitary groups dominate 
key drug-producing regions. In addition to these illegal armed groups, 
organized drug mafias continue to control the international aspects of 
Colombia's drug trade. The money flowing to these outlaw groups from the 
drug trade generates violence and corruption and threatens Colombia's 
democratic institutions. The drug threat, violence, and insecurity are 
compounded by the worst economic recession in Colombia in almost 70 
years.
   The democratically elected government of Colombian President Andres 
Pastrana has devised a comprehensive, integrated strategy,

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Plan Colombia, to address Colombia's drug and interrelated social and 
economic troubles. The budget proposes $1.6 billion in assistance for 
Plan Colombia, including an increase of $1.3 billion over two years--a 
2000 supplemental appropriation of $954 million and $318 million in 
2001.
   Since there is no single solution to Colombia's difficulty, the 
program is an integrated combination of funds for Colombian counterdrug 
efforts and for other programs to help President Pastrana strengthen 
democracy and promote prosperity. The proposal would enhance alternative 
development, strengthen the justice system and other democratic 
institutions, and provide counterdrug equipment, training, and technical 
assistance to Colombian police and military forces. The Administration 
is also encouraging U.S. allies and international institutions to assist 
Colombia in implementing President Pastrana's Plan Colombia. The budget 
proposal would also provide additional funding to support counterdrug 
regional interdiction and alternative development programs to preserve 
and advance gains against drug production in Peru and Bolivia and 
prevent the traffickers from simply moving their operations to avoid law 
enforcement. It is in the national interest of the United States to stem 
the flow of illegal drugs into the United States and to promote 
stability and strengthen democracy in Colombia and the Andean Region.

   Stop Drugs--Stop Crime: In order to break the cycle of drug use and 
its consequences, drug-abusing offenders in local, State, and Federal 
correctional systems should be subject to vigorous drug testing and 
treatment. The budget includes $215 million, including $112 million in 
new funding, to help break this cycle. The initiative includes: $100 
million of new funding to help States and localities implement or expand 
tough systems of drug testing, treatment, and graduated sanctions for 
prisoners, parolees, probationers, and ex-offenders re-entering society; 
$50 million, a 25-percent increase over 2000, for drug courts that work 
to break non-violent offenders of their drug addiction; and, $65 
million, three percent above 2000, to provide intensive drug treatment 
to hardcore drug users before and after they are released from prison.
   Drug Treatment: The budget proposes $3.8 billion to treat drug abuse, 
$256 million more than in 2000, including $1.2 billion, two percent 
above 2000, for the Substance Abuse Block Grant and $163 million, a 43-
percent increase over 2000, for the Targeted Treatment Capacity 
Expansion Grants. The Administration realizes that an effective 
treatment system must confront drug abuse where the challenge is the 
greatest--in the streets of urban, suburban, and rural drug markets, and 
in the criminal justice system. It is a top priority to close the gap 
between the number of persons wanting treatment and the number receiving 
it. These chronic drug users consume a disproportionate amount of the 
illicit drugs used and inflict a disproportionate share of drug- related 
costs on society.
   National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign: The Office of National Drug 
Control Policy, in conjunction with other Federal, State, local, and 
private experts, is implementing a $2 billion, multi-year national media 
campaign, including paid advertisements. The campaign targets youth, 
their parents, and other influential adults on the consequences of 
illicit drug use. The anti-drug media campaign is fully integrated 
Nation-wide, including utilization of the Internet, radio, newspapers, 
and other media outlets. This campaign will continue in 2001 with $195 
million in Federal funds, matched by private sector contributions.
   Community-Based Prevention: The budget proposes $2.5 billion for drug 
prevention programs, an increase of $75 million over 2000. The budget 
also includes $35 million, a 17-percent increase over 2000, for 
activities of the Drug-Free Communities Support program that promotes 
citizen participation in efforts to reduce substance abuse among youth 
and help community anti-drug coalitions carry out their important 
missions.
   Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program: Students can 
reach their full potential only in safe, disciplined, and drug-free 
learning environments. The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities 
program helps 97 percent of all school districts implement anti-drug and 
anti-violence programs. The budget proposes $650 million for this 
program, including $40 million in new funding

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to expand the interagency Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative, 
which supports comprehensive, community-wide school safety and violence 
prevention plans. The budget also includes $50 million for the 
Coordinator Initiative, which will enable over 1,300 of the Nation's 
middle schools to have a knowledgeable director for drug and violence 
prevention programs to ensure that local programs are effective and that 
school-based prevention programs are linked to community-based efforts.
   Domestic Drug Law Enforcement: The budget proposes $9.8 billion for 
drug-related domestic law enforcement, $774 million more than in 2000, 
to bolster community-based law enforcement efforts, shield the Southwest 
border from illicit drugs, and enhance coordination among Federal, 
State, and local law enforcement agencies. The budget proposes an 
increase of $65 million for DEA, most of which is to increase staff 
productivity through an improved information, telecommunications, and 
technology infrastructure. The Federal Government will continue its 
focus on providing leadership and training; facilitating multi-agency 
cooperative efforts through the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas 
program, the Southwest border initiative, and other efforts; and, 
offering incentives to States and localities to use the most effective 
drug control methods.
   Southern Tier of the United States: The Administration remains 
committed to shielding the Nation's Southern tier from the drug threat. 
The budget supports the addition of inspectors and new technology at 
additional ports of entry along the Southwest border. The Customs 
Service will continue to deploy technology, such as the use of x-rays in 
the air passenger and outbound environments, to detect illicit 
contraband and currency. The budget further solidifies the INS 
interdiction effort by providing additional staff and force-multiplying 
technology. An increase of $46 million will expand Coast Guard 
interdiction operations nine percent above the 2000 level.
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