- JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- The National
Drug Intelligence Center is slated to close under President Bush's proposed
fiscal 2006 budget, but a veteran congressman who helped bring the center
to the city in 1993 said he will fight to keep it open.
-
- "I can assure employees that the NDIC won't be closed,"
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said in a statement, calling the proposal
"outrageous."
-
- The NDIC has about 300 employees, most of whom work at
the center in Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh. Their job is
to coordinate drug intelligence gathered by various federal agencies, so
the Justice Department can more effectively target drug traffickers. The
information is also used in anti-terrorism efforts.
-
- But the $17 million allocation for the center in Bush's
budget is far less than the center's $40 million budget for this year,
and would be just enough money for officials there to scale back the operations
and shut it down. The president's budget proposes transferring its operations
to other agencies within the Justice Department.
-
- It wasn't immediately clear if the president's proposal
stems from problems the center has had in recent months.
-
- Director Michael Horn was fired in July after employees
raised allegations of gender bias, wasteful spending and excessive travel
by supervisors, and generally low morale. Horn's replacement, acting director
Martin Pracht, has refused to take the job permanently, citing personal
reasons.
-
- NDIC officials referred comment to the Justice Department,
which issued only a general statement on the budget announcement.
-
- "The department will be working in close coordination
with the NDIC leadership to explore the implications and ramifications
of this proposal," spokesman Bryan Sierra said.
-
- Murtha also was angered that top NDIC officials apparently
learned of the budget proposal via fax.
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- NDIC is "one of the most important agencies we have
working against drugs and terrorism," Murtha said. "It's outrageous
that an agency with that kind of impact would be notified by fax that there
was a proposal in the budget to close it down."
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- http://www.tkb.org/NewsStory.jsp?storyID=55093
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