Oregon Public Broadcasting

Northwest lawmakers are finding things they like and dislike in the three trillion dollar federal budget that President Bush sent to Capitol Hill Monday.  Correspondent Tom Banse has a sampling.

Bush budget boosts border bulwarks.  Lawmakers like.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is part of the sales team.  He touts more money to hire agents to chase smugglers on the rural borderlands.

Dirk Kempthorne: “As urban borders become more secure, illegal activity is shifting to remote areas.”

The border patrol would get more than 2000 additional agents under the Bush plan. 

Northwest lawmakers of both parties support that.  But on a bipartisan basis, they’re critical of plans to shave funding for the Forest Service and for clean-up of the Hanford nuclear site. 

At Hanford, construction of a huge plant to turn highly radioactive waste into glass logs is fully funded.  But other clean-up projects will be slowed and possibly require layoffs. 

Congressional leaders promise major revisions to next year’s budget before it becomes law.