Panel votes to boost military construction spending

After vowing to relieve the Pentagon from a statutory cap on spending to build or renovate military family housing, the House Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee Tuesday approved $10 billion in military construction for fiscal 2005.

The bill would provide funding for military construction to build training facilities, housing, hospitals, child development centers and chapels. The subcommittee's allocation is $450 million above President Bush's request and $162 million over last year's level. The panel approved the measure by voice vote.

Before approving the bill, House Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Chet Edwards, D-Texas, said he would offer an amendment at the full committee markup slated for Friday to address the $1 billion limit on military housing improvements.

"It speaks directly to the morale of the soldiers," said Edwards about the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Edwards said he hoped the GOP leadership, and Rules and Budget committees would allow appropriators to include authorization language to lift the cap.

"We're not going to drop this," said House Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Knollenberg, R-Mich., who asked panel members to refrain from offering any amendments at the subcommittee level.

The lawmakers said the House Armed Services Committee attempted to address the issue in the fiscal 2005 authorization bill, but its provision lifted the cap at the beginning of fiscal 2006. Appropriators want to undo the statutory limit in the 2005 cycle.

The Pentagon is authorized to use funding from the Family Housing Improvement Fund to build or renovate family housing, but the total value of contracts and investments is limited to $1 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that lifting the cap would increase direct spending by $365 million in 2006 and $4.9 billion over five years.

Knollenberg and Edwards also agreed that overall funding for military construction is not adequate, but said the subcommittee had worked to produce a "fair" bill within the budgetary constraints.

"I'm frustrated with the current trend in military construction," said Knollenberg, noting the Bush administration has cut funding in its budget request for the last three years, despite budget increases in defense spending.

The legislation would provide $5.3 billion for construction on bases, including $4.5 billion for building on active duty bases; $834 million for National Guard and Reserve training facilities and barracks; $1.1 billion for troop housing; $190 million for hospital and medical facilities and $72 million for schools, among other funding items.

The panel recommended $4.2 billion for family housing related projects; $166 million for the NATO security investment program and $246 million for base closure activities. It also matched Bush's requested funding for new weapons systems such as $305 million for the Army's Stryker vehicle, $65 million for the C-17 Globemaster cargo plane and $40 million for the F-22 Raptor fighter plane.