Defense spending bill clears House committee
Measure would cut $406 million from future combat program request, cancel reconnaissance helicopter program due to cost overruns and schedule delays.
House appropriators on Wednesday slashed $139 million from President Bush's $310 million request for Eastern European missile defense sites, the latest in a series of congressional moves to stall his controversial initiative.
Approved during the House Appropriations Committee's markup of the fiscal 2008 Defense spending bill, the cut to the European site is part of the $298 million the panel wants to trim from the Pentagon's $8.8 billion request for the massive missile defense program. The decision closely follows the House-passed fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill, which sliced $160 million from the project, and the Senate Armed Services Committee's decision to cut it by $85 million.
These cuts reflect a growing unease in Congress over the sites, which also have generated strong opposition in Russia. The Appropriations panel cut funding intended for construction of a launch site in Poland for 10 missile interceptors but backed spending on an early-warning radar system proposed for the Czech Republic. In its report accompanying the bill, the committee called it "premature" to fully fund the European effort "given the uncertainty surrounding the program."
The committee also sliced $406 million from the $3.7 billion request for the Army's Future Combat Systems. The committee report urged the Army to speed development on some FCS technologies "to benefit the current and near-term force."
The panel also canceled the Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program, due to cost overruns and schedule delays. And the committee approved a $200 million cut in the Air Force's aerial refueling tanker program because the service has not spent some of the program's fiscal 2007 funds.
But the bill adds $200 million for Joint Strike Fighter research and development and another $480 million to keep alive development of the fighter's alternate engine. The committee also endorsed a $925 million increase in National Guard and Reserve equipment and approved a 3.5 percent pay raise for military personnel, a half percent higher than requested by the president.
In addition, House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., said he halved the money sought for the Pentagon's Office of Legislative Affairs in retaliation for what he considers the Pentagon's reluctance to cooperate with his panel.
Appropriators quickly approved the $459.6 billion Defense spending bill Wednesday, saving prolonged fights over Iraq and the detention of suspected terrorists for next week, when floor action is expected on the bill.
Murtha plans to introduce an amendment requiring a reduction in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq begin within 60 days of enactment. He also will offer language requiring deploying troops be fully trained and equipped for their missions. Those amendments dovetail with ongoing efforts by House Democrats to push through legislation addressing the increasingly unpopular Iraq war.
Wednesday the House voted, 399-24, to approve legislation barring creation of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, a prohibition included in the spending bill. When the full House takes up the spending bill, Democrats plan to offer language closing the military's detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within 180 days.