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Summary

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the lead federal law enforcement agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws related to the manufacture, importation, and distribution of firearms and explosives. Congress transferred ATF's enforcement and regulatory functions for firearms and explosives from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Justice as part of the Homeland Security Act (P.L. 107-296). ATF is also responsible for investigating arson cases with a federal nexus, as well as criminal violations of federal laws governing the manufacture, importation, and distribution of alcohol and tobacco. From FY1999 to FY2008, Congress increased ATF appropriations from $541.6 million to nearly $1.008 billion, an increase of 86%. The FY2008 funding includes $984.1 million for salaries and expenses and $23.5 million for construction. For the same 10 years, with some fluctuation, ATF staffing increased from 3,969 to 4,880 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, a 23% increase. Despite increased funding, the acting ATF Director, Michael Sullivan, recently testified before Congress that ATF is currently operating under a $37 million shortfall, as funding for ATF salaries and expenses was not increased for FY2008. Meanwhile, there is an additional $4 million in the House- and Senate-passed FY2008 emergency supplemental appropriations for ATF operations in Iraq (H.R. 2642). The Senate-passed bill includes an additional $15 million for "Project Gunrunner," a Southwest border initiative to suppress cross-border gun trafficking from the United States to Mexico. For FY2009, the Administration has requested $1.028 billion and 4,942 FTE positions for ATF salaries and expenses, or $44 million and 62 FTE positions more than the amounts appropriated for FY2008 ($984 million). According to ATF, the FY2009 request would be allocated among ATF budget decision units in the following amounts: $740 million (72%) for firearms compliance and investigations, $267.2 million (26%) for arson and explosives investigations, and $20.6 million (2%) for alcohol and tobacco diversion. On the Southwest border with Mexico, firearms violence has spiked sharply in recent years as drug trafficking organizations have reportedly competed for control of key smuggling corridors into the United States. In March 2008, President Felipe Calder�n called on the United States to increase its efforts to suppress gun trafficking from the United States into Mexico. During FY2006 and FY2007, ATF dedicated approximately 100 special agents and 25 industry operations investigators to disrupt gun trafficking under Project Gunrunner. By the end of FY2008, ATF plans to have 148 special agents and 55 industry operations investigators deployed to the Southwest border region; the FY2009 request includes an additional $948 thousand and 6 FTE positions (12 permanent positions) for those purposes. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved a bill (H.R. 6028) that would authorize $73.5 million to be appropriated over three years to increase ATF resources committed to disrupting the flow of illegal guns into Mexico. Similar authorizations are included in S. 2867, H.R. 5863, and H.R. 5869. This report will be updated as needed.

Related Legislation:
• H.R.2642
• H.R.6028
• S.2867
• H.R.5863
• H.R.5869

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