Dems target missile defense funds to boost troop strength

With pressure mounting on Capitol Hill to fund more troops and equipment in Iraq, some Democratic lawmakers are eyeing the president's $10.2 billion missile defense request as a vehicle to offset such costs.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., said it would play into her plans to boost the Army's strength by 10,000 troops, a proposal that would cost an estimated $1.6 billion in fiscal 2005.

"I will more likely than not offer an amendment to do that in the defense bill using national missile defense as the offset," she said. "I don't think the Pentagon should be without sacrifice for this while we're at war."

Although observers say Republican backing for such a proposal is unlikely, Tauscher's comments coincide with a General Accounting Office report issued last week criticizing the president's plan to field a missile defense capability this summer.

GAO found that the system has not been thoroughly tested and the program's prime contractors were over budget in fiscal 2003 by roughly $380 million, according to a summary of the report.

GAO recommended that the Pentagon carry out more rigorous testing and set cost, schedule and performance baselines. Although the Defense Department agreed to establish baselines, it said formal operational testing is not required before entering production.

The Bush administration has argued that growing concerns over the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, especially by a handful of potentially hostile states and terrorists, justifies the need for a missile defense capability.

The fiscal 2005 funding proposal would help field a national missile defense system with ground-based interceptors in Alaska starting sometime this summer. A total of 20 missile interceptors would be deployed in Alaska and California by the end of 2005.

Because the Bush administration has made missile defense a top priority, it is unlikely Republican lawmakers would support cuts proposed for it.

But bipartisan support to increase the number of troops and provide more equipment for troops in Iraq before the November election is growing.

House Armed Services member Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., last week introduced a bill that would provide $50 billion in fiscal 2004 supplemental funding for troops deployed in Iraq. And Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said he would support a fiscal 2005 wartime supplemental of at least $20 billion to pay for more troops and equipment in Iraq.

Tauscher introduced a bill last year to temporarily increase military end-strength by 83,700 troops, raising the total strength of the Army, Marines and Air Force by 8 percent for five years. The bill had 25 Democratic co-sponsors, including Armed Services ranking member Ike Skelton, D-Mo.