Posted by Liz Colville to findingDulcinea
The Secret Service has asked for $9.5 million more to be added to its 2008 budget in light of the unusually lengthy and busy presidential campaign schedule.
According to the Associated Press, the extra money would “cover unexpected costs” accrued during a “historic year” for the agency. It has budgeted more than $100 million for 2008, a year that has seen the presidential campaign cycle extended by about five months.
Senator Obama, who “frequently draws crowds in the thousands,” requested Secret Service protection on May 3, 2007. Senator McCain requested protection on April 27 of this year.
“The campaigns are different now,” Secret Service director Mark Sullivan told the Associated Press. The agency has already protected candidates on about 1,500 trips so far this year.
The budget increase is being considered by Congress, with the funds likely coming from other organizations within the Homeland Security Department, the parent agency of the Secret Service.
The Secret Service was formed in 1865 to target counterfeit currency. It was greatly expanded in subsequent decades and was at the core of what eventually became the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Secret Service began protecting presidents following the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. Presidential candidates have been protected since Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1968.
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