Congress completed action last month on the final conference report to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations legislation for FY 2006. The final version of the legislation provides $31.9 billion for the Department, of which $30.8 billion is for discretionary spending for the Department’s operations and activities. The conference agreement provides an increase of $1.4 billion over FY 2005 levels, and is $1.3 billion above the level requested by the President. The conference report includes DHS organizational changes recommended by Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff in July. President Bush signed the bill into law on October 18, 2005.