The Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee approved its fiscal 2005 spending bill Wednesday, marking the first Senate action on appropriations bills. The subcommittee, operating under tentative 302(b) allocations, approved $33.1 billion for the Homeland Security Department — $896 million more than President Bush requested. Yet Democrats on the panel argued more funding is needed to bolster homeland security. “The overall levels in the tentative allocation constrain our ability to address known threats to the safety of the American people,” said Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who also is ranking member of the subcommittee. Full Story