The $42.8 billion Homeland Security spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law last week has its roots in the office of U.S. Rep. David Price.

The bill stumbled through the type of drama that can often envelop Capitol Hill — last-minute political maneuvers along with closed-door meetings, quiet arm-twisting and flying accusations, Barb Barrett reports in a look at how a big bill became law.

U.S. Rep. David Price told the N.C. Sheriffs' Association on Monday that comprehensive immigration reform is on the horizon.

He said Congress could see a bill as early as September that will get the ball rolling on reforming immigration.

"It is a debate that is not yet resolved at the local level," Price said. "We simply need to have, I believe, comprehensive immigration reform at the national level."

Price listed off increases in crime prevention funding that he has helped direct as chairman of the subcommittee on homeland security appropriations, several of which have focused on immigration.

But he said no matter how much money is devoted to immigration enforcement, there is a larger problem that needs to be tackled.

"We are not going to spend our way out of the enforcement problem," he said. "And we are not going to enforce our way out of comprehensive reform either."

He said people need to realize the different roles of local and national government in the debate. Local governments, he said, should focus on crime prevention, while the national government works on reform.

"This is a big challenge, and we need to get it right," he said.

Despite rounds of complaints by Republicans, the U.S. House of Representatives late Wednesday approved the Homeland Security spending bill championed by U.S. Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill.

The vote was 389-37, Barb Barrett reports.

Price, a Democrat, is chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, responsible for writing and passing legislation that pays for border security, airport security, disaster response, immigration matters, the Secret Service and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The bill spends $42.6 billion — a $2.6 billion increase over last year, but slightly below President Barack Obama’s request.

"This bill will enable our government to better protect the American people against all major threats," Price said in a statement. "The key investments made here will assist first responders and enhance security on our borders, at our ports, and in aviation and transit.  And this legislation makes these investments in a fiscally responsible manner, coming in under the President’s budget request and saving $1.8 billion through elimination of 17 programs and reduced funding for another 40 programs."

Republicans said Democrats had wrongly limited amendments on the spending bill on the House floor. As part of their opposition, they repeated offered motions to adjourn early Wednesday, then requested roll calls when the motions were rejected, according to Congressional Quarterly.

The homeland security pie was big enough for House members outside the Triangle to get a piece.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield sponsored $600,000 for an emergency operations center in Greenville. U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell secured $650,000 in the bill for a similar center in Scotland County. McDowell Hospital in Marion would get $220,000 for a disaster preparation program, thanks to U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, and U.S. Rep. Howard Coble sponsored $425,000 for disaster preparation in the city of Kannapolis.

Butterfield, Kissell and Shuler are Democrats. Coble is a Republican.

All of the projects depend on the full House and then the Senate passing the homeland security bill.

The triangle region would receive more than $10.6 million in earmarked money from the spending subcommittee in Congress les by Chapel Hill Democratic Rep. David Price.

The House Committee on Appropriations passed the homeland security bill Friday. The earmarks are spending projects directed to home districts. The spending bill for th 2010 fiscal year must still pass the full House, and then goes to the Senate.

Nearly half of Price's total, $5 million, would go to a new joint center at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University, Barb Barrett reports. The N.C. Collaboratory for Bio-Preparedness would conduct suveillance of biological threats for the state. Democratic U.S. Reps. Brad Miller, of Raleigh, and Bob Etheridge, of Lillington, also sponsored the earmark.

Price also sent: $3.5 million to Research Triangle Institute, a non-profit organization, for a cyber security testing project; $1 million to LOGTECH in Chapel Hill, which provides Department of Defense training; $1 million to the N.C. Emergency Operations Center and $165,000 for the N.C. Division of Emergency Management.

U.S. Rep. David Price will help lead a hearing Wednesday on how thousands of visitors were kept out of the presidential inauguration ceremony in January despite holding tickets.

On the late morning of Jan. 20, people were caught outside ticketed areas as Barack Obama took the stage to be sworn in. Many were corralled inside the underground Third Street tunnel, crammed together with few police officers around, in what became known as the Purple Tunnel of Doom, named after the ticket colors. Many were stuck inside the tunnel for several hours without moving.

The chaos marred an otherwise calm day, and congressional offices were flooded with complaints, reports Barb Barrett.

A congressional report released last week found that crowds showed up at the Capitol before police did, that screening lines became ineffective in part because of non-ticketed guests, that there was confusion among law enforcement about the crowds and that more people than expected showed up to watch the ceremony from areas close to the Capitol.

More after the jump.

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U.S. Rep. David Price is meeting this afternoon with new Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

Price holds the purse strings for the Homeland Security agency as chairman of the spending subcommittee with jurisdiction over the department. He plans to talk with her today about his priorities within the department, said his spokesman, Paul Cox.

Those include focusing enforcement efforts on criminal illegal immigrants, and ensuring that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has a strong connection with local and state governments.

The meeting also could be helpful to Napolitano as she shapes her budget request for next fiscal year. She will go before Price’s panel this spring to ask for funding for the agency.

Rep. Bill Daughtridge is seeking nearly $19 million in state spending.

The Republican nominee for state treasurer has cosponsored six bills seeking appropriations in the upcoming state budget.

Among the larger appropriations bills he is cosponsoring: $6 million for the Communities in Schools dropout prevention program, $5.6 million for the N.C. Museum of Art, $3.2 million for a biotechnology research campus at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, $2 million for the N.C. Arts Council and $2 million for a business incubator for homeland security and national defense.

He also cosponsored a bill for $100,000 to study the state Department of Public Instruction.

Daughtridge's Democratic opponent, state Sen. Janet Cowell, has sponsored and cosponsored bills seeking $76 million in appropriations. 

Both Daughtridge and Cowell are cosponsors on the dropout prevention program, the N.C. Museum of Art projects and the N.C. Arts Council funding, which would total $13.7 million in spending.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge wants the Department of Homeland Security to consider schoolchildren as it plans the nation’s response to disaster and terrorist attacks.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, plans to introduce legislation that would give schools greater access to homeland security grants. It also would offer districts resources on the best ways to prepare schools to respond to disasters, reports Barb Barrett.

Etheridge will discuss the legislation at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Carnage Middle School in Raleigh.

His bill would:

- explicitly say that schools are eligible for homeland security block grants

- create an office for school preparedness and response within the Department of Homeland Security

- offer a one-stop shop within the agency for schools to research best practices in response planning.

Etheridge wrote the bill in response to a survey he conducted of schools in the 2nd Congressional District. There, principals said they want more federal help in responding to disasters and other threats, said Etheridge’s spokeswoman, Joanne Peters. A study by the Government Accountability Office last year found similar views among school leaders nationwide.

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has been named a “Center of Excellence” by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

UNC-Chapel Hill will lead a program with Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., to study emergency preparedness.

The Center of Excellence for Natural Disasters, Coast Infrastructure and Emergency Management will focus on protecting people and property from natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and wildfires.

UNC-Chapel Hill is located in the congressional district of U.S. Rep. David Price, a Democrat and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Homeland Security.