From: darek milewski <darekm@cmeasures.com>
http://www.news.com/Investor/NewsItem/0,213,0~3~2~Computer%20Data%20Security~AXNT~BLO~357913402~~~~~,00.html
Clinton to Ask Congress for $2.85 Billion for Terrorism Prevention
Bloomberg News
January 22, 1999, 12:00 a.m. PT
Washington, Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President Bill Clinton will ask
Congress for $2.85 billion in fiscal year 2000 to increase the ability of
the U.S. military and civil defense officials to prevent attacks by
terrorists using computers as well as biological and chemical weapons,
White House officials said.
Clinton, in an address scheduled before an audience at the National
Academy of Sciences, wants to increase funding for vaccine research and a
national system that will enable public health officials to do a better
job in minimizing damage from possible biological and chemical weapons
attacks and in coordinating responses around the country.
He also wants money to help the National Domestic Preparedness Office
develop rapid-response programs for 120 U.S. cities and metropolitan
areas, and he wants to hire scores of information technology experts to
design new ways to protect the computer systems of government agencies
from vandals and hackers.
Companies such as Network Associates Inc., based in Santa Clara,
California and Rockville, Maryland-based Axent Technologies Inc. which
specialize in computer security software, could benefit from new
government business.
``This could only be a win for us,'' said Marvin Dickerson, senior product
marketing manager at Network Associates, a company that's been working on
federal government computer security projects for the last 15 years. ``The
folks we already do business with stand to get a lot more money to
spend.''
Defense Spending
Network Associates in December helped MCI WorldCom Inc. fight a computer
virus attack. Axent earlier this month bought closely held Internet Tools
Inc., a maker of software that can prevent Internet break-ins, for $25.3
million; officials there were not immediately available for comment on the
Clinton administration's new spending proposal.
President Clinton mentioned his plans to meet the challenges of terrorist
threats in the 21st Century during Tuesday's State of the Union speech.
``We must work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks,'' he
said to a joint session of Congress and a national television audience.
``We must work to prepare local communities for biological and chemical
emergencies, to support research into vaccines and treatments.''
Clinton, who is trying to isolate and topple Iraq's President Saddam
Hussein for his refusal to stop developing his arsenal of chemical and
biological weapons, will ask Congress for a total of $12 billion more for
the Defense Department next year. Pentagon officials want to begin buying
new weapons systems and give higher pay and pensions to U.S. military
personnel so they won't leave the armed forces. That request is part of an
total increase of $110 billion Clinton wants for the U.S. armed forces
during the next six years.
Clinton administration officials haven't said how they plan to pay for the
new defense spending. About $2.5 billion of the cost could be covered by
closing U.S. military bases considered obsolete, said Robert Bell, a
member of the National Security Council.
Base Closings Proposed
Office of Management and Budget documents indicate that base closings
proposed by the Clinton administration would cost the government $4.7
billion through 2006 while the savings would total about $6.5 billion
through 2011.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in Congress have opposed the Clinton
administration's efforts to cut defense costs through base closings and
are likely to do so again this year. U.S. military bases are the largest
employers in some congressional districts and even some states. Few
lawmakers want to be blamed for the unemployment caused by a base closing.
Since 1988, 95 bases have been closed under a special bipartisan procedure
set up by Congress. The last round of closings was in 1995. Congress in
June 1997 rejected the Pentagon's request for a new round starting in 1999
and 2001. The Pentagon tried again in November 1997, recommending more
base closures in 2001 and 2005. That request was also denied.
About 1.4 million Americans are on active duty, with about 250,000
overseas in the Persian Gulf, Korea, and Bosnia. Others are in Central
America, helping in the aftermath of natural disasters.
-o-
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Received on Thu Mar 11 17:05:56 1999