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Bush threatens to veto war funding

The administration objects to congressional add-ons for such things as farm aid and highway repairs that have boosted the price tag.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 26, 2006

WASHINGTON - The White House promises to veto a Senate bill to pay for the rising costs of the war in Iraq unless the cost to taxpayers is scaled back to President Bush's original request.

The must-pass $106.5-billion bill exceeds the February request by more than $14-billion with add-ons for farm aid, highway repairs and aid to the Gulf Coast fishing industry, drawing the ire of the White House and conservative Republicans.

"The administration is seriously concerned with the overall funding level and the numerous unrequested items included in the Senate bill that are unrelated to the war or emergency hurricane relief needs," said an official White House statement issued Tuesday. "The final version of the legislation must remain focused on addressing urgent national priorities while maintaining fiscal discipline."

Even as the White House raised the potential of a first Bush veto over the bill's cost, the administration asked the Senate on Tuesday for $2.2-billion more to repair and strengthen levees in and around New Orleans. The request wouldn't add to the overall cost of the bill since it was accompanied by a decrease in funding for Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds.

But the White House acknowledges FEMA coffers would now have to be replenished again in the fall instead of next year under the new proposal.

And the Senate is poised to approve today an amendment by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., to add about $2-billion in new border security funds - financed by cutting Defense Department funds for Iraq war operations by almost 3 percent.

The border funds would be used on capital needs of the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard such as new planes, helicopters and ships, as well as new communications equipment to continue building a fence along the Mexico border near San Diego.

Gregg said the agencies have insufficient equipment to adequately patrol the borders and seas borders. Much equipment is outdated or worn out, Gregg said.

"Border security must receive the same attention as other aspects of national security, and that means committing resources," Gregg said.

The underlying bill contains $67.6-billion for Pentagon war operations and $27.1-billion for hurricane relief, including grants to states to build and repair housing and $2.1-billion for levees and flood control projects. The funding for hurricane relief exceeds Bush's request by $7.4-billion.

To date, Congress has provided about $315-billion for the war in Iraq and other antiterror spending since September 2001.

According to White House calculations, resources made available thus far in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita total $87.5-billion, including appropriations for relief, recovery and rebuilding and funding for flood insurance claims.

But the Senate bill also contains numerous Appropriations Committee-approved provisions. The add-ons include $4-billion for farmers hit by drought, floods and high energy costs, $2.3-billion to combat the avian flu and $1.1-billion in aid for Gulf Coast fisheries.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., vowed to block attempts by conservatives to strip from the bill a controversial provision to provide $700-million to tear up a rail line along the Gulf Coast and use the right of way for a highway along the congested coastline.

He said the road project, lambasted by spending hawks as an inappropriate use of the emergency funding bill to fund a project devised long before Katrina, is essential to luring residents and businesses back to Mississippi's coast.

Conservatives such as Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., vow to try to trim the bill back to Bush's $92.2-billion request. "The original request was far from pocket change," Thomas said. "And yet we apparently felt compelled to add significant new spending."

Three senators - Democratic Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine - are seeking to attach to the bill a symbolic statement on Iraq. It urges President Bush to make it clear to Iraqis that the continued presence of U.S. troops in their country is not unconditional, and that it depends on the Iraqis meeting their self-imposed deadlines for forming a unity government.

[Last modified April 26, 2006, 01:23:06]