Lawmakers cut $800m from DHS spending

WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- U.S. lawmakers said Wednesday they will withhold nearly $800 million in homeland security funding because officials haven't told them how it is to be spent.

"It is a simple equation," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., "No information equals no money."

Lawmakers are angry with the Department of Homeland Security because they say department officials have repeatedly failed to provide reports and other information about how money is being spent.

"The department will find that the lack of information has cost them," Rogers said, opening a meeting of the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, which was considering the department's 2006 budget request.

The subcommittee agreed by voice vote to approve a spending bill for the department that nearly halves the budget for the Coast Guard's Deepwater modernization project, from $966 million to $500 million.

The bill also cuts $22 million from various elements of the department that reportedly have been unresponsive to Congressional requests for information. It delays $310 million until various reports requested by congress or required by legislation have been provided.

There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the department's press office.