Under omnibus budget proposal submitted in Senate (SA- 1), FCC wo...

Under omnibus budget proposal submitted in Senate (SA- 1), FCC would receive $275 million, which is $19 million more than proposed in House Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) appropriations measure (HR-247) introduced by Rep. Wolf (R- Va.), CJS Subcommittee chmn. (CD Jan 10 p7). FTC would receive $175 million under the budget proposal, which includes authorization for that agency to assess fees on telemarketers to fund its proposed do-not-call list. Senate bill would give NTIA $14.3 million for salaries and expenses. It also funds public telecom facilities, planning and construction at $43 million. NTIA would be able to award $15.5 million in grants for information infrastructure. Justice Dept. (DoJ) would receive $149 million to help fund conversion to narrowband radio systems. Also, DoJ Interoperable Communications Technology Service, division of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), would receive $100 million to help fund interoperable communications systems. State Dept.’s Bcstg. Board of Governors would receive $431 million, including nearly $25 million for broadcasts to Cuba. National Institute of Standards & Technology would receive $7.8 million for salaries and additional $363 million for research. Commerce Dept.’s Bureau of Industry & Security would receive $100 million and Technology Administration would get $7.8 million in Senate plan. FBI would get $3.9 billion, of which $155 million would be devoted to cyberinvestigations. Bill said up to $65 million could be used for automated data processing and telecom and technical investigation equipment. House bill earmarks $161 million for FBI information technology improvements. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office would receive $1 billion, $250 million less than proposed in House bill.