to support full funding for High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

SA 253. Mr. BAUCUS (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Bingaman, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Talent, Mr. Smith, and Mr. DeWine) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 18, setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2006 and including the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2005 and 2007 through 2010; as follows:

On page 65, after line 25, insert the following:

SEC. __. SENSE OF THE SENATE SUPPORTING FUNDING FOR HIDTAS.

(a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:

(1) The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program encompasses 28 strategic regions, 355 task forces, 53 intelligence centers, 4,428 Federal personnel, and 8,459 State and local personnel.

(2) The purposes of the HIDTA program are to reduce drug trafficking and drug production in designated areas in the United States by--

(A) facilitating cooperation among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to share information and implement coordinated enforcement activities;

(B) enhancing intelligence sharing among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies;

(C) providing reliable intelligence to law enforcement agencies needed to design effective enforcement strategies and operations; and

(D) supporting coordinated law enforcement strategies which maximize use of available resources to reduce the supply of drugs in HIDTA designated areas.

(3) In 2004, HIDTA efforts resulted in disrupting or dismantling over 509 international, 711 multi-State, and 1,110 local drug trafficking organizations.

(4) In 2004, HIDTA instructors trained 21,893 students in cutting-edge practices to limit drug trafficking and manufacturing within their areas.

(5) The HIDTAs are the only drug enforcement coalitions that include equal partnership between Federal, State, and local law enforcement leaders executing a regional approach to achieving regional goals while pursuing a national mission.

(6) The proposed budget of $100,000,000 for the HIDTA program is inadequate to effectively maintain all of the operations currently being supported.

(7) The proposed budget of $100,000,000 for the HIDTA program would undermine the viability of this program and the efforts of law enforcement around the country to combat illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine.

(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that--

(1) the spending level of budget function 750 (Administration of Justice) is assumed to include $227,000,000 for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas; and

(2) unless new legislation is enacted, it is assumed that the HIDTA program will remain with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, where Congress last authorized it to reside.