House Armed Services reaches deal on terrorism spending

Insisting that it keep tabs on military spending, the House Armed Services Committee reached a bipartisan agreement Wednesday for divvying up $10 billion that the Pentagon initially sought, with no strings attached, to press the war against terrorism.

Under the agreement, which will be formalized by the full committee at a markup of the Cost of the War Against Terrorism Authorization Act Thursday, the Pentagon will get the money it asked for. But the committee, mindful of complaints by some lawmakers that the $10 billion amounted to little more than a "slush fund," will impose restraints.

Committee sources said the $10 billion will be parceled out this way in fiscal 2003: $3.1 billion for exigent warfighting needs; $182 million for enhanced combat pay; $2 billion for classified and intelligence programs; $200 million for munitions resupply; $1 billion for equipment replacement and "enhancement of critical military capabilities," and $3.5 billion for "war on terrorism" operations.

A committee source said the agreement largely tracks a July 3 request from the Pentagon, asking for $2.5 billion for personnel costs, $5.5 billion for operations and maintenance plus some construction projects, and $1.8 billion for procurement and research and development.

The deal has yet to be vetted by the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, where a spokesman said Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., "needs to take a look at it" before deciding whether to go along with it. The CWATAA bill is the second piece of a $393 billion defense authorization measure.