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US Pentagon Chief to Recommend Bush Veto Senate Spending Bill
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday he would recommend that President George W. Bush veto a military spending bill that cuts more than 1 billion US dollars from his request for missile defense and restricts testing.
The US Democratic-run Senate Armed Services Committee voted on September 7 along party lines for reducing missile defense spending by 1.3 billion US dollars from Bush's 8.3 billion dollars request.
The legislation also would limit the president's ability to conduct missile defense activities that would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with Russia.
"I certainly would recommend a veto to the president," Rumsfeld said on "Fox News Sunday."
However, Rumsfeld expressed the hope that when the House and Senate resolve differences in each chamber's defense spending plans, missile defense money will be restored.
"I have found over time that the American people care about their national security, they understand its importance, and that the Congress tends to be supportive," he said.
Last month, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee voted to trim 135 million dollars from the missile defense request.
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