President George W. Bush has proposed a 9.7 per cent increase in homeland security spending but said the main focus of US efforts against terrorism still will be abroad.
The proposal comes after criticism from Democrats that domestic anti-terrorism has been shortchanged.
Mr Bush announced the proposal for his fiscal 2005 budget, saying it would nearly triple levels from the 2001 budget and would boost the counter-terrorism funds in Justice Department to $2.6 billion, a 19 per cent increase over 2004 levels, in order to put more FBI agents to work on counter-terrorism efforts.
The White House said the 9.7 per cent increase would bring the homeland security budget to more than $30 billion from $28.2 billion.
"We'll protect the homeland," Mr Bush said at the Roswell convention center. "The best way to protect America, however, is to go on the offensive, stay on the offensive and bring the terrorists to justice."
Democrats complain the administration is under funding emergency teams, including police, fire, and medical personnel, by about $100 billion over the next five years. They say cities have yet to receive their share of the $1.5 billion in so-called first responder funding appropriated by Congress this year.