This report provides an overview of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) budget and operations for FY2008, FY2009, and FY2010. It chronicles congressional action on the annual Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS), and Related Agencies Appropriations bills for those fiscal years, as well as action on supplemental and stimulus appropriations bills. Located in the Department of Justice (DOJ), the ATF is the lead federal law enforcement agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws related to the manufacture, importation, and distribution of firearms and explosives. As part of the Homeland Security Act, Congress transferred ATF's enforcement and regulatory functions for firearms and explosives to the DOJ from the Department of the Treasury, adding "explosives" to ATF's title. ATF is also responsible for investigating arson cases with a federal nexus, as well as criminal violations of federal laws governing the manufacture, importation, and distribution of alcohol and tobacco. The regulatory aspects of those alcohol and tobacco laws are the domain of the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which was established at Treasury following ATF's transfer to DOJ. As a law enforcement agency within the DOJ, ATF's first priority is preventing terrorist attacks within the United States. ATF is responsible for countering the illegal use and trafficking of firearms and explosives, and the criminal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products as an illegal source of funding for terrorist activities. In criminal investigations, ATF agents have reportedly uncovered foreign terrorists and their supporters bootlegging cigarettes as part of larger terrorist-financing operations in the United States. With those responsibilities, ATF special agents are partners on DOJ's Joint Terrorism Task Forces. As shown below, however, the lion's share of ATF's resources are allocated to its firearms compliance and investigations program. While the ATF periodically checks the records of federally licensed gun dealers, the major focus of the firearms program is the reduction of firearms-related violence. In three years, Congress increased appropriations for ATF by 13.4%, from $988.1 million in FY2007 to $1.121 billion in FY2010 (see Table 1 ). For this time period, the annual percent growth was 4.3%. Most of the program increases were provided to bolster ATF's capabilities in the areas of gun trafficking and explosives. For example, for the past two fiscal years, FY2009 and FY2010, Congress has provided ATF with program increases to address illegal gun trafficking from the United States to Mexico under an initiative known as "Project Gunrunner." For FY2008, Congress also provided ATF with a program increase for domestic gun trafficking, and the focus of this program increase was also largely on the Southwest border. As a result, for those three fiscal years, Congress has provided over $49 million in program increases to address gun trafficking, which is the diversion of firearms from legal to illegal markets. Congress has also provided nearly $30 million for the construction of a National Center for Explosives Training and Research (NCETR). Congress appropriates funding annually for ATF in a salaries and expenses account and, for some but not all years, in a construction account. Both accounts are given a line item in the CJS appropriations bill. As shown in Table 1 , ATF subdivides its budget into three budget decision units: firearms compliance and investigations, arson and explosives investigations, and alcohol and tobacco diversion. Under the construction line item, Congress appropriated $23.5 million for FY2008 and $6.0 million for FY2010 to fund the NCETR. As that funding was explosives-related, these amounts were added into the arson and explosives investigations decision unit in Table 1 . Although Congress does not appropriate monies for the ATF (or any other DOJ agency) by decision unit, the appropriators often address whether program increases requested specifically by the Administration are to be provided in report language, and more rarely in bill language, for the salaries and expenses account itself. As a consequence, the amounts requested for decision units are binding in the sense that the appropriators are aware of the increases that were provided for in the annual bureau appropriation and how those increases would affect the decision unit totals. If funding is shifted from one decision unit to another, statutory budget reprogramming requirements are triggered, under which DOJ and its agencies are required to notify the Appropriations Committees about such shifts. Over three appropriation cycles, FY2008 through FY2010, the firearms decision unit allocation has increased by 13.0%; the arson and explosives, by 14.7%; and alcohol and tobacco, by 13.3%. Due to a reduction in "hollow" or "unfunded" FTE positions, there was a decreased in FTE positions from 5,053 for FY2007 to 4,880 for FY2008. While FTE positions increased to 4,957 for FY2009 and 5,025 for FY2010, the number of FTE positions funded for FY2010 is still lower than the 5,053 FTE positions that were budgeted for FY2007. As a result, funded FTE positions at ATF oscillated somewhat; however, the net decrease in FTE positions is less than 1%. In the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 ( H.R. 3288 ), Congress matched the Administration's request and appropriated $1.121 billion for ATF, or $24.0 million (3.9%) more than the agency's total FY2009 appropriations ($1.078 billion). President Obama signed this bill into law on December 16, 2009 ( P.L. 111-117 ). In the absence of an FY2010 CJS appropriations act by the end of FY2009 (September 30, 2009), Congress passed a series of continuing resolutions that funded most of the federal government, including ATF, until the enactment of P.L. 111-117 . For FY2010, the Administration requested $1.121 billion for ATF, or a proposed 6.3% increase compared to the FY2009-enacted appropriation of $1.054 billion (at the time of the request). The requested amount was projected to fund 5,025 FTE positions and 5,101 permanent positions. Compared to the FY2009-enacted level, the FY2010 request included a net increase of $66.6 million, 68 FTE positions, and 93 permanent positions. This proposed increase included $23.6 million, 22 FTE positions, and 1 permanent position in base adjustments; $18 million, 46 FTE positions, and 92 permanent positions (including 34 agents) to support "Project Gunrunner," an initiative focused on stemming illegal firearms trafficking to Mexico from the United States; and $25 million for NCETR facility outfitting and expanded training. On June 12, 2009, the House Appropriations Committee reported an FY2010 CJS appropriations bill ( H.R. 2847 ; H.Rept. 111-149 ). On June 17, 2009, the House passed this bill. It would have provided ATF with $1.106 billion for FY2010, or $9.0 million (1.3%) less than the FY2010 request. Report language indicated that this amount included the following budget increases: nearly $18 million to combat gun trafficking on the Southwest border and $10 million for ATF Violent Crime Impact Teams. As in the enacted FY2010 appropriation, however, the committee recommendation did not include $25 million for phase two of the NCETR project. Although the committee expressed its support for this endeavor, fiscal constraints prompted the committee to dedicate limited resources to Southwest border, anti-gun trafficking efforts. As a result, the committee recommended only $10 million for the NCETR project. On June 25, 2009, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported an FY2010 CJS appropriations bill ( H.R. 2847 ; S.Rept. 111-34 ) that would have provided ATF with $1.121 billion, the same amount as requested by the Administration. The Senate took no further action on this bill, however. Nevertheless, as noted in report language, the committee recommendation included a total of $61 million to combat gun trafficking on the Southwest border, including an increase of $18 million for Project Gunrunner. Report language also conveyed the committee's support for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) and directed ATF to ensure that ballistic-imaging technology be routinely upgraded and made available to state and local law enforcement. The Senate recommendation, unlike the House bill, would have provided ATF with an increase of $25 million for construction to fully fund phase two of the NCETR project. In P.L. 111-117 , Congress appropriated $1.121 billion for ATF for FY2010. The House agreed to the conference report on the underlying bill ( H.R. 3288 ; H.Rept. 111-366 ) on December 10, 2009, by a recorded vote: 221-202, 1 present (Roll no. 949). The Senate agreed to the conference report on December 13, 2009, by a recorded vote: 57-35 (Record Vote Number: 374). Conference report language ( H.Rept.