House passes $422 billion defense bill, Senate debate continues

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A record-high wartime defense bill awaits Senate approval after passing the House in a strong bipartisan vote. <br/><br/>Putting aside for a moment differences over the war in Iraq, the

Friday, May 21st 2004, 6:14 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A record-high wartime defense bill awaits Senate approval after passing the House in a strong bipartisan vote.

Putting aside for a moment differences over the war in Iraq, the House on Thursday voted 391-34 for a $422 billion bill to authorize military programs in the new budget year that begins in October. The spending level was up nearly $21 billion over the amount approved for this year.

The House also agreed to a White House request to add $25 billion as a downpayment for the costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan during the next budget year.

``No one can question the need to fund our troops to keep them strong and victorious,'' said Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

The Senate was debating a similar bill, but then put off a final vote until after it returns from the Memorial Day recess next week.

There was near unanimity in the House on the need to focus on programs aimed at keeping troops in hostile areas safer and doing more to make their families back home financially secure.

The House bill, generally mirrored by the Senate version, includes an across-the-board 3.5 percent pay raise for military personnel and raises the hazardous pay for troops facing hostile fire from $150 to $225 a month. It also increases separation pay for those stationed overseas and improves health care programs for reservists.

To answer complaints that U.S. troops are not adequately protected from insurgent strikes, more than $1 billion is included in the bill for better armored Humvees and add-on ballistic protection for vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A dispute over base closings was the one major trouble spot. The House bill courts a presidential veto by delaying for two years the next round of military base closures, set to take place next year. An amendment to reverse the delay was defeated, 259-162.

The administration contends the Pentagon could save billions by closing unneeded facilities. It says there still is more than 20 percent excess capacity in military facilities nationwide.

There have been four previous rounds of base closings from 1988 and 1995, in each case over the objections of lawmakers concerned about the economic repercussions to their districts.

Under the ``base realignment and closure,'' or BRAC, authority, the Pentagon draws up a list of excess capacity facilities and an independent commission picks which bases to close. Congress can accept or reject, but cannot change, that decision.

There's still a long way to go before President Bush has to decide whether to veto a record-breaking defense bill during wartime. The Senate, also considering its version of the authorization bill, earlier this week voted 49-47 against an amendment to delay the closings, and the House provision could be removed when the two chambers negotiate a compromise version.

The White House issued another veto threat over language in the House bill that would restrict Pentagon flexibility on ``competitive sourcing,'' or contracting some Pentagon jobs out to private companies.

The bill also requires that the Army add 30,000 troops over the next three years and the Marines 9,000.

On Thursday the House voted 214-204 against an amendment proposed by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., and others that would have eliminated some $36.5 million in the bill for the Energy Department to study a tactical nuclear weapon known as the ``bunker buster.''

Tauscher argued that even the small nuclear weapon could cause massive collateral damage and ``undermine decades of United States leadership'' in stopping nuclear proliferation. Her proposal would have shifted the money to improving intelligence on deeply buried targets and improving conventional bunker-busting capabilities.