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Senate Passes $447 Billion Defense Bill
The Senate passed a massive defense spending bill that, at $447 billion, still only covers a fraction of war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan...The bill, which now must be reconciled with a similar House bill passed a month ago, includes a military pay raise, an increase in the size of the Army and billions of dollars for weapons systems. The measure includes $25 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Bush administration plans to submit a supplemental budget at the start of the next calendar year, after Novemberâs election, that is expected to seek at least an additional $25 billion for the two ongoing military campaigns. Defying the White House and Pentagon, senators also included a provision to add 20,000 troops to an Army stretched thin by the war in Iraq, the global war on terror and other commitments around the world. Lawmakers have for months heard complaints from families of service men and women who have served repeated deployments or been forced to remain on duty after their obligation has ended under a Pentagon device called "stop-loss." The Senate bill would increase the Army by about 4 percent, to 502,400. The House version would add 30,000 Army soldiers and 9,000 Marines over three years. a) Strange that the WH and the Pentagon would not want to increase troops. Why is that? b) How will the military manage to attract 39,000 warm bodies to join the military in 3 short years? Posted by: rex 2004-06-24 |
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