FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Department of the Treasury strongly supports President Bush’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2004. We believe it reflects the values and priorities that the President set forth in his State of the Union Address.  

The President’s budget recognizes the Treasury’s role as an economic policymaker, financial manager, and revenue collector for the federal government. Treasury’s allocation within the budget will allow this department to continue its recent accomplishments in these areas. 

The overall budget request for Treasury is reduced by nearly a third from the previous year’s budget of $15.943 billion because of the transfer of Treasury law enforcement functions to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.  This reorganization of the law enforcement functions within the federal government will improve the nation’s ability to defend itself against terrorism and other threats, and allows Treasury to focus on its core functions.  The proposed Treasury budget for 2004 is $11.408 billion, a 3.5% increase over the adjusted 2003 level of $11.018 billion.

These funds will help us achieve our chief objectives, which include ensuring the fairness of the U.S. system of taxation, increasing Treasury’s efficiency and effectiveness as an organization, fighting the financial war on terrorism, and safeguarding the integrity of our nation’s financial systems and currency.  I would like to highlight a few of the programs that fall into these categories.

With regard to ensuring the fairness of our system of taxation, the 2004 budget directs new resources toward areas where non-compliance is highest in dollar terms while maintaining balanced reviews across all areas, thereby applying tax laws fairly and equally to all taxpayers. 

The budget also provides $35 million in 2004 to continue implementation of a health coverage tax credit program authorized by the Trade Act of 2002.  This program provides a refundable tax credit to eligible individuals and their family members for the cost of qualified health insurance. 

The budget invests $429 million to continue the Business System Modernization at the Internal Revenue Service, now in its fifth year of implementation.  This funding level restores modernization funding that had been diverted last year to support the startup of the health coverage tax credit.

I would also like to highlight the Treasury Department’s critical role in the financial war on terrorism, the newest and highest priority for our agency.  The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) serves as the hub for interagency and global cooperation toward fighting domestic and international financial crimes.  This function has made FinCEN the natural center for fighting the financial war on terror, and the divestiture of most of Treasury’s other law enforcement activities will allow us to focus on this task with even greater precision and effectiveness than before.  Since September 2001, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and our allies have frozen over $124 million in terrorist assets.

The FY 2004 budget also supports a $14M level for our International Technical Assistance program, $4M above last year, to continue programs that improve economic governance, particularly in post-conflict countries, and to increase focus on international terrorist financing.  The funding also increases economic assistance for key geographic regions, such as, Central Europe, former Soviet Union, Africa, and Latin America.

I have chosen to highlight only a very few of the important tasks that Treasury accomplishes for the people of the United States.  Let me add, however, that in these matters and all others, we are striving to make the President’s Management Agenda the foundation of our success.  We are focused on achieving results, improving customer and employee satisfaction, enhancing our productivity, and providing accurate and timely financial information to support government-wide implementation of accounting standards.

In conclusion, the Department of the Treasury is looking forward to implementing the President’s budget programs in 2004. 

Thank you.