Congress, White House spar over more emergency spending

Members of Congress are pushing to add billions of dollars in new funds for agencies to deal with terrorist threats, but the Bush administration has vowed to hold the line at the $40 billion in supplemental funds already signed into law by the President.

House Appropriations Committee ranking member David Obey, D-Wis., signaled Tuesday he wants to add billions more in supplemental spending for various domestic and international security needs.

While Obey has the support of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., and ranking member John Murtha, D-Pa., to boost spending in fiscal 2002, Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., and the House leadership--as well as President Bush--have said any additional appropriations will have to wait until the fiscal 2003 budget cycle.

When Bush submitted his request for the second half of the $40 billion already approved by Congress, he explicitly stated that the administration "does not intend to seek additional supplemental funding for either domestic or defense needs for the remainder of this session of Congress."

Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Ted Stevens, R- Alaska, has expressed similar reservations about spending more FY02 money. But Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., is pushing a $20 billion package for items of additional FY02 spending for security needs--such as increased border patrols, more Customs officers, food safety inspection, security at nuclear power plants and transit systems, and public health protection--as part of the Senate's economic stimulus bill.

Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., meanwhile, has his own proposal for roughly $15 billion in new infrastructure and homeland security spending for inclusion in the stimulus package.

Obey told reporters Tuesday that after consultations with officials from agencies with domestic and international security responsibilities--including the FBI, the National Security Agency, CIA, Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--he believes billions more should be appropriated this year.

The $40 billion already appropriated to respond to the Sept. 11 attacks, Obey said, "is simply not enough. If we really are at war, we can't fight it on the cheap--either at the Pentagon or on the home front."

Obey unsuccessfully advocated adding billions in new spending on security initiatives to the $100 billion stimulus bill the House will take up today. He said Tuesday that it is "absolutely ludicrous for us to be talking about $100 billion in tax cuts, when the single best thing we can do to stimulate the economy is to restore a sense of security" through additional dollars for the Pentagon and the security agencies.

During a briefing Tuesday at the White House for a group of senior lawmakers about the President's trip last week to the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference, Obey asked Bush to consider providing more supplemental spending.

Bush indicated he would pass the request to Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels. But it appeared Bush's response was mainly an effort to be polite.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer Tuesday reiterated Daniels' contention, made last week, that $40 billion in supplemental spending was all the administration would agree to this year.

While Obey does not plan to try to add more security spending to the Defense appropriations bill the House is scheduled to take up today, he could attempt to do so when the bill goes to the floor--although such an amendment probably would not be made in order--or, most likely, in conference with the Senate.

President Bush released another $1.7 billion Tuesday from the $40 billion emergency response fund Congress had established to deal with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Of the total, $1.6 billion is subject to a 15-day review by Congress, although the administration has the final say over how the money is spent.

This is the first $1.6 billion of the $10 billion subject to the review. The administration has released $7.2 billion of the $10 billion it can provide immediately without official congressional review. Last week the administration outlined a request for the final $20 billion, which Congress must approve.

The money released by the White House Tuesday would provide funding for National Guard personnel and additional sky marshals to provide increased airport security. It also funds food assistance programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighboring countries, as well as anti-terrorism and national security operations.

Nearly $1.1 billion--including $438 million for increased "situational awareness," $210 for improved command and control, $175 million for National Guard personnel to assist with security at airports and $140 million for anti-terrorism measures--goes to the Defense Department.

Keith Koffler and Geoff Earle contributed to this report.