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© St. Petersburg Times, published November 7, 2001
WASHINGTON -- President Bush promised congressional leaders Tuesday he would veto any emergency legislation that exceeds the $40-billion Congress already has provided for antiterrorism efforts.
The pledge, which the president conveyed to leading lawmakers at a White House meeting, puts Bush in the position of opposing Democrats and some Republicans who say more money is needed to finance an escalating war in Afghanistan and to protect the country from bioterrorism, more airline hijackings and other threats.
Many GOP lawmakers, in turn, will have to choose between supporting more money for highly popular antiterrorism programs and backing the president of their own party.
Bush told the leaders that the $40-billion was "enough . . . and he'll veto anything over that," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told a reporter.
With the extra money likely to end up in either a defense spending bill or an economic stimulus measure, Bush put himself in the awkward position of threatening to veto legislation that otherwise has strong bipartisan support.
In the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bush and congressional leaders agreed to limit the price tag for all of this year's spending bills to $686-billion. That is $25-billion more than Bush initially requested, and $44-billion more than was spent in 2001.
They also provided $40-billion in emergency spending, half controlled by Bush, half to be specified in subsequent legislation. And they approved $15-billion to help the airline industry cope with diminished ridership.
Bush, who in the early months of his presidency said he wanted to slow government growth, wants Congress to live within those negotiated limits. He is supported by Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.
Lott told reporters that he believes many lawmakers are using the terrorist attacks as an excuse for more spending. Seeking more money "to this amount, at this time, with this cover, is more than I can choke down."
But Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees argue those spending agreements were brokered before the anthrax attacks and the need for broader antiterror efforts was clear.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young, a Largo Republican, told Bush that GOP lawmakers would be forced to take "bad votes" if they were forced to oppose Democratic amendments aimed at boosting spending for the FBI and other popular antiterrorism programs, the Associated Press reported.
And Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said he told Bush, "Go ahead if you feel that way about the bill. Veto it. We have a responsibility, too."
Young and other Republicans said they are willing to provide the extra money on a contingency basis, in which Bush could decide to simply not spend it.
But citing a worry that federal spending will skyrocket out of control, the White House wants any additional increases to be postponed until next year.