.Senate Panel Approves $542B Defense Authorization
The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a $542.5 billion defense authorization bill for next year that increases military pay, funds new weapons systems and requires Iraq to assume the cost of large-scale infrastructure projects.
The panel last night unanimously approved the package, which would fund the fiscal 2009 "baseline budget" of the Defense Department and national security programs of the Energy Department, Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), the committee's chairman, announced today. An additional $70 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "for some months beyond the current fiscal year" will be covered by a separate supplemental appropriations bill, he said.
The proposed legislation prohibits the Defense Department from using funds authorized by the act to pay for large-scale infrastructure projects in Iraq, which are defined as those costing more than $2 million. It also calls for the United States to begin negotiating with the Iraqi government a cost-sharing agreement to ensure that "Iraq pays for the training, equipping and sustaining of the Iraqi security forces" and covers the costs associated with armed groups of U.S.-allied civilians known as the "Sons of Iraq."
"American taxpayers are paying for too many things . . . in Iraq that the Iraqis ought to pay for out of their surplus" oil revenues, Levin told a news conference this morning. With crude oil fetching nearly $120 a barrel, Iraq is expected to reap about $70 billion in oil revenue this year, and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have complained that the Baghdad government should take on more of the costs now borne by cash-strapped American taxpayers.
"It is unconscionable, it is inexcusable, it makes no common sense for a country that has that kind of wealth and that kind of surplus in our banks and their banks to be sending us the tab . . . for the infrastructure and some of the training costs that we're now paying for," Levin said.
Sen. John W. Warner (Va.), a senior Republican on the committee, concurred. "The American people expect no less than an increased sharing of the responsibilities and the financial burdens of this continued important . . . mission," he told the news conference.
However, the provision applies only to the funds authorized in the bill and to projects that start after the legislation is enacted. Levin said the committee's intention was to stop the funding of major infrastructure projects in Iraq by any U.S. government department.
"We'll have to review the wording" in the bill and possibly insert new language on the Senate floor, Levin said. "We will make an effort on the floor to apply it to any act, any future reconstruction contracts," he added.
"We want to send a very powerful message to the Iraqis and to the administration as to the cost of this war and the absurdity that a country which is exporting 2 million barrels a day of oil" is not paying the costs of its own infrastructure and security forces, Levin said.
The Pentagon informed the committee last month that the United States was finished paying for major infrastructure projects, but that turned out not to be true, Levin said. At about the same time, "we got notice from the Department of Defense that they wanted to transfer about $590 million for construction and infrastructure improvements," he said.
After he complained to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Levin said, the defense chief agreed that some of that funding was "inappropriate" and would be eliminated. The total was subsequently reduced by $171 million, leaving the Iraqis responsible at least for construction of police stations, Levin said.
In addition to the provision on infrastructure projects, the authorization bill calls for a 3.9 percent across-the-board pay increase for all uniformed personnel -- half a percent more than requested by President Bush.
It also would fund weapons systems, including the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and a $3 billion program to counter improvised explosive devices. It would pay for a missile defense system in Europe--provided that the stationing of interceptors in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic were approved by the parliaments of those countries.
The bill authorizes 7,000 more troops for the Army, 5,000 more for the Marines and 3,300 more full-time personnel for the National Guard and Reserves.
In an effort to rein in private security contractors in Iraq, the bill would prohibit them from performing "inherently governmental functions in the area of combat operations," Levin said.
It also would bar contractors from conducting interrogations of detainees, he said, although this provision would take effect one year after enactment to give the Defense Department time to comply.
WaPo
The panel last night unanimously approved the package, which would fund the fiscal 2009 "baseline budget" of the Defense Department and national security programs of the Energy Department, Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), the committee's chairman, announced today. An additional $70 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan "for some months beyond the current fiscal year" will be covered by a separate supplemental appropriations bill, he said.
The proposed legislation prohibits the Defense Department from using funds authorized by the act to pay for large-scale infrastructure projects in Iraq, which are defined as those costing more than $2 million. It also calls for the United States to begin negotiating with the Iraqi government a cost-sharing agreement to ensure that "Iraq pays for the training, equipping and sustaining of the Iraqi security forces" and covers the costs associated with armed groups of U.S.-allied civilians known as the "Sons of Iraq."
"American taxpayers are paying for too many things . . . in Iraq that the Iraqis ought to pay for out of their surplus" oil revenues, Levin told a news conference this morning. With crude oil fetching nearly $120 a barrel, Iraq is expected to reap about $70 billion in oil revenue this year, and both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have complained that the Baghdad government should take on more of the costs now borne by cash-strapped American taxpayers.
"It is unconscionable, it is inexcusable, it makes no common sense for a country that has that kind of wealth and that kind of surplus in our banks and their banks to be sending us the tab . . . for the infrastructure and some of the training costs that we're now paying for," Levin said.
Sen. John W. Warner (Va.), a senior Republican on the committee, concurred. "The American people expect no less than an increased sharing of the responsibilities and the financial burdens of this continued important . . . mission," he told the news conference.
However, the provision applies only to the funds authorized in the bill and to projects that start after the legislation is enacted. Levin said the committee's intention was to stop the funding of major infrastructure projects in Iraq by any U.S. government department.
"We'll have to review the wording" in the bill and possibly insert new language on the Senate floor, Levin said. "We will make an effort on the floor to apply it to any act, any future reconstruction contracts," he added.
"We want to send a very powerful message to the Iraqis and to the administration as to the cost of this war and the absurdity that a country which is exporting 2 million barrels a day of oil" is not paying the costs of its own infrastructure and security forces, Levin said.
The Pentagon informed the committee last month that the United States was finished paying for major infrastructure projects, but that turned out not to be true, Levin said. At about the same time, "we got notice from the Department of Defense that they wanted to transfer about $590 million for construction and infrastructure improvements," he said.
After he complained to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Levin said, the defense chief agreed that some of that funding was "inappropriate" and would be eliminated. The total was subsequently reduced by $171 million, leaving the Iraqis responsible at least for construction of police stations, Levin said.
In addition to the provision on infrastructure projects, the authorization bill calls for a 3.9 percent across-the-board pay increase for all uniformed personnel -- half a percent more than requested by President Bush.
It also would fund weapons systems, including the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and a $3 billion program to counter improvised explosive devices. It would pay for a missile defense system in Europe--provided that the stationing of interceptors in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic were approved by the parliaments of those countries.
The bill authorizes 7,000 more troops for the Army, 5,000 more for the Marines and 3,300 more full-time personnel for the National Guard and Reserves.
In an effort to rein in private security contractors in Iraq, the bill would prohibit them from performing "inherently governmental functions in the area of combat operations," Levin said.
It also would bar contractors from conducting interrogations of detainees, he said, although this provision would take effect one year after enactment to give the Defense Department time to comply.
WaPo
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