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Defense Bill Goes To Senate |
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Putting aside for a
moment differences over the war in Iraq, the House on Thursday voted 391-34
for a $422 billion bill to authorize military programs in the new budget year
that begins in October. The spending level was up nearly $21 billion over the
amount approved for this year. The House also agreed
to a White House request to add $25 billion as a downpayment
for the costs of military operations in "No one can
question the need to fund our troops to keep them strong and
victorious," said Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay,
R-Texas. The Senate was debating
a similar bill, but then put off a final vote until after it returns from the
Memorial Day recess next week. There was near
unanimity in the House on the need to focus on programs aimed at keeping
troops in hostile areas safer and doing more to make their families back home
financially secure. The House bill,
generally mirrored by the Senate version, includes an across-the-board 3.5
percent pay raise for military personnel and raises the hazardous pay for
troops facing hostile fire from $150 to $225 a month. It also increases
separation pay for those stationed overseas and improves health care programs
for reservists. To answer complaints
that A dispute over base
closings was the one major trouble spot. The House bill courts a presidential
veto by delaying for two years the next round of military base closures, set
to take place next year. An amendment to reverse the delay was defeated,
259-162. The administration
contends the Pentagon could save billions by closing unneeded facilities. It
says there still is more than 20 percent excess capacity in military
facilities nationwide. There have been four
previous rounds of base closings from 1988 and 1995, in each case over the
objections of lawmakers concerned about the economic repercussions to their
districts. Under the "base
realignment and closure," or BRAC, authority, the Pentagon draws up a
list of excess capacity facilities and an independent commission picks which
bases to close. Congress can accept or reject, but cannot change, that
decision. There's still a long
way to go before President Bush has to decide whether to veto a
record-breaking defense bill during wartime. The Senate, also considering its
version of the authorization bill, earlier this week voted 49-47 against an
amendment to delay the closings, and the House provision could be removed
when the two chambers negotiate a compromise version. The White House issued
another veto threat over language in the House bill that would restrict
Pentagon flexibility on "competitive sourcing," or contracting some
Pentagon jobs out to private companies. The bill also requires
that the Army add 30,000 troops over the next three years and the Marines
9,000. On Thursday the House
voted 214-204 against an amendment proposed by Rep. Ellen Tauscher,
D-Calif., and others that would have eliminated
some $36.5 million in the bill for the Energy Department to study a tactical
nuclear weapon known as the "bunker buster." Tauscher argued that even the small
nuclear weapon could cause massive collateral damage and "undermine
decades of |
