Tsunami aid request could increase to nearly $900 million

The Bush administration is planning to increase its pledge for tsunami aid in South Asia to about $900 million, according to congressional aides, as part of a supplemental spending request that could be sent up to Capitol Hill Feb. 7 to coincide with President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget submission.

While details and timing remain in flux, the tsunami request is expected alongside a much larger supplemental request -- perhaps $80 billion -- for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.

An OMB spokesman said final decisions have not been made and that discussions are ongoing. Transmittal of the supplemental requests Feb. 7 would mark an expedited timetable from what appropriators had expected, reflecting pressure from lawmakers to begin the process with an eye toward passing the request by the Presidents' Day recess at the end of February.

The increased tsunami aid request also will include at least $200 million more for the U.S. Agency for International Development than the $350 million already pledged by the Bush administration.

The increase is aimed at replenishing fiscal 2005 funds appropriated for international famine and disaster assistance as well as ensuring there is enough money to cover non-tsunami related costs, including food aid for African nations such as Sudan and Ethiopia. Despite the increase, lawmakers are likely to try to tack on additional funds for tsunami relief and other costs, and 43 senators from both parties already have asked the White House to request an additional $1 billion in food aid.

The increased tsunami aid request is expected to include at least $340 million to cover costs incurred by the Pentagon such as the deployment of 14,000 personnel to aid in the relief effort as well as the use of helicopters and an aircraft carrier. The Pentagon has spent about $165 million and needs about $175 million more to last through the end of February. Navy Admiral Thomas Fargo, the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, said Friday the United States soon will begin withdrawing troops from the region.

Submitting the supplemental by Feb. 7 also would mean any decisions on proposed changes in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees probably would have to be in place by that time, sources said. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, are expected to meet this week with House Appropriations Chairman Lewis and Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., to discuss the matter, although no final decisions are likely until at least next week.

The House Republican Steering Committee is unlikely to interview proposed subcommittee "cardinals" when the panel meets Tuesday, in part to give Lewis and Cochran more time to negotiate restructuring decisions. The process is being driven in part by a desire of House Majority Leader DeLay to realign subcommittees to better reflect GOP budget priorities, and also by a Senate resolution passed in October recommending the creation of a separate subcommittee to handle the intelligence agencies' budgets.