While few firefighters dispute the system's value, some question why so much is being spent for technology tailored in-house while the staff is being cut.
However Emerson said today it was spending $1.2bn for technology group Avocent Corporation, making a new bid for Chloride unlikely.
Although other factors were certainly involved, the United States entered a recession shortly thereafter, intensified by sharp declines in business investment spending, especially for technology, software and telecommunications equipment.
The budget proposal also would permit $100 million in spending for border technology improvements, Chertoff said.
Research budgets are second only to the spending for information technology at investment banks, analysts say, meaning companies may turn to their research staff for additional cuts.
The budget will lock in billions of dollars in future spending for outmoded technology like the 70-ton Crusader howitzer and the F-22 jet fighter.
"We're definitely seeing a steady improvement in capital spending for information technology," Fujitsu's chief financial officer, Masamichi Ogura, said at a news conference.
He added that spending for information technology "will grow at a rate somewhat faster than the overall economy, maybe as much as twice as fast in real terms".
Other major proposals include $55 billion for veterans' health care and military families; $30 billion in tax cuts and spending for high technology; and up to $80 billion for an extra 40,000 soldiers.
