Senate leader seeks to increase Pentagon's supplemental request

Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said Thursday he will seek to increase the administration's request for $25 billion in emergency fiscal 2005 funds for Iraq and Afghanistan up to $50 billion, and that the Pentagon should have flexibility to shift money between accounts.

"This is no time to set restrictions on how the money will be used," Stevens said in a brief interview. "I believe in the flexibility they've asked for."

He said the additional funds would be attached to the fiscal 2005 Defense appropriations bill, but that the exact nature of the additional funding could vary depending on the June 30 transition of power to an Iraqi government.

"All of that is subject to what happens on June 30," Stevens said, adding that he did not expect the Defense spending bill to be completed by that date.

"The package ought to be somewhere between $30 billion and $50 billion. It ought to be a package of money that's there if it's an emergency," Stevens said. "It's not appropriated yet for specific items, it's there to call upon if they need it."

He said the total would depend on the outcome of the fiscal 2005 budget resolution, which remains in conference. The House budget resolution sets an upper limit of $50 billion for additional funds, while the Senate opted for $30 billion, and aides say negotiators have settled on the higher amount. The administration submitted its official fiscal 2005 budget amendment request for the $25 billion late Wednesday. The money would be a "contingent emergency reserve" fund that could be accessed when the need arises, and made available Oct. 1.

The administration is expected to request additional funds next year, and some estimates place the total fiscal 2005 funding necessary to maintain the current pace of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as fund intelligence programs and some necessary rebuilding costs, at up to $80 billion. The request would provide almost unfettered flexibility to transfer money between accounts, although the Armed Services and Appropriations committees would be notified five days before a transfer is requested. Stevens said he agreed that five days is all that would be necessary and that any additional restrictions would amount to a delay in funds reaching the troops.

House Appropriations Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, has said he would insist on some restrictions on flexibility in using the additional funds, although at this time he is not considering adding to the $25 billion request, which the administration says will last through April of next year. Democrats are already demanding that strings be attached to the request.

"I frankly do not see any meaningful provision for oversight in this request, and I believe Congress will need to address that omission," Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., told Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a hearing Wednesday.