Bush to Ask Congress for Additional Defense SpendingUS President George W. Bush is expected to ask the Congress for extra defense spending of 5.6 billion US dollars in the current fiscal year, the Washington Post said Thursday.The supplemental budget request, as it nears completion, does not include any new money for ballistic missile defense, which Bush has depicted as a top priority, or for the weapons systems and operating costs that he said the Clinton administration had grossly underfunded, the paper said. The largest single item in the Bush request is 1.9 billion dollars for improved salaries, health insurance, housing and other personnel benefits that were authorized but not funded in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2001, which ends September 30. Nearly 1 billion dollars more will provide full funding for previously authorized flying hours by military aviators. The armed services developed the request under a 5.6-billion- dollar limit set by the administration. The proposed additions to the 310-billion-dollar defense budget could be sent to the Congress by the end of the week, the Post said |
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