President Bush says he wants to double the amount of funding for homeland security to protect the United States from possible terrorist attacks.
In the northeastern U.S. state of Maine Friday, Mr. Bush said he will ask Congress for nearly $38 billion for the efforts. Speaking after visiting a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, he said he will request nearly $11 billion to strengthen the U.S. air, land and sea borders.
Mr. Bush said ensuring domestic security is his top priority, and that he will develop a plan with Canada and Mexico to protect the United States while encouraging North American free trade.
The U.S. president also is asking for more than $1 billion for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, to better monitor the entry and exit of foreign visitors. In addition, he said his budget will request $600 million for the U.S. Customs Service, to increase the number of immigration officials and customs agents. The budget also will call for an additional $3 billion for the Coast Guard.
In another development, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Friday that officials have identified the fifth person in a video believed to be members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network delivering martyrdom messages.
Mr. Ashcroft said the Tunisian-born Canadian man, identified as Al Rauf Bin Al Habib Bin Yousef Al-Jiddi, is the fifth person in the video recently found in Afghanistan.
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department released photographs and videotape excerpts of the five men believed to be delivering martyrdom messages. Officials initially identified four men and launched a worldwide appeal for help in their capture.