|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
White House Wants to Cut Pet Project of Late Rep. Murtha
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Candidate
|
| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Feb 01, 2011 02:54pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | News |
| Author | Devlin Barrett |
| News Date | Monday, January 31, 2011 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | "A year after the death of veteran Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, the White House wants to take the budget ax to one of his pet projects: the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown, Pa.
The NDIC, started in 1993, shows the oddities of government spending. Mr. Murtha, who chaired the defense panel of the House Appropriations Committee, used Defense Department spending bills to fund it, yet its work was overseen by the Justice Department. The Bush administration spent years trying to end it, but the Democratic congressman always protected it from such cuts.
Now, without its chief benefactor, NDIC’s fate is less than certain.
Conservatives have argued the center is a waste of taxpayer money, and critics argue it has never fulfilled its promise to provide high-quality analysis of drug networks.
An internal White House budget proposal aims to save nearly $17 million by downsizing NDIC, saying its functions are duplicated elsewhere in antidrug agencies of the government. It’s unclear if that means the Obama administration intends to shutter the Johnstown offices or scale it back. Earlier this month, Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) urged the NDIC be applied more directly to fighting drug-dealing networks in the state.
NDIC’s mission has been to “provide strategic drug-related intelligence, document and computer exploitation support, and training assistance to the drug control, public health, law enforcement, and intelligence communities of the United States in order to reduce the adverse effects of drug trafficking, drug abuse, and other drug-related criminal activity." |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
