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December 29, 2001
CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush signed a bill Friday to raise intelligence spending but warned Congress he won't turn over documents he thinks could compromise national security.
The president also signed a $343-billion defense bill that gives what he wanted for his missile defense program, provides the largest military pay raises in two decades and sets up a new round of base closures.
Bases will be closed in 2005, two years later than Bush had wanted. He said in a written statement that he regretted the postponement.
The intelligence bill places new emphasis on traditional human spy networks in combating terrorism.
It would increase spending by 8 percent. Besides focusing new attention and money on spies, the new law aims to increase the portion of collected data to be analyzed and turned into useful information.