Analysts: Congressional pork might have hurt Defense spending

Defense analysts say members of Congress might have inadvertently robbed the Army and Marines of resources to build up their stock of up-armored Humvees and other equipment needed to fight an increasingly violent Iraqi insurgency.

The fiscal 2005 Defense appropriations bill contains funding cuts for the Army and other programs that defense analysts say were made to cover the cost of nearly $9 billion in congressional pork projects added to the bill.

"We know from the proportionate, across-the-board cuts that body armor and armor kits for Humvees and trucks were affected," said Winslow Wheeler, a defense analyst and former professional staff member on the Senate Budget Committee.

Defense appropriators trimmed $300 million from the Pentagon's procurement accounts, including those that fund armor for Humvees and other vehicles in Iraq, and another $411 million was taken from the Defense Department's operations and maintenance and research and development accounts.

Alhough congressional sources say the appropriations process might not be perfect, House and Senate lawmakers worked hard last year to move money toward combat readiness, particularly for the Army and Marine Corps.

"To suggest that the appropriations committees have not reallocated resources and pushed them toward some of these problems misses the point," said one House Appropriations Committee aide. "The biggest reallocation of resources in the bill was trying to push money into some of these shortfalls, either with the $25 billion budget amendment or in the base bill," the aide said, adding that since Oct. 1 House and Senate appropriators have reprogrammed $3 billion from the Army and other funds to cover mounting costs in Iraq.

While the overall reductions for each account are small, armored vehicles, armor kits, ammunition, training, repair and maintenance, spare parts and more are affected.

Other budget cuts are more vague. The bill directs the Pentagon to reduce funding in certain accounts but with no specificity as to which programs should be trimmed.

Defense budget reductions also include:

• $300 million from service operations and maintenance accounts as a result of improved contract management on the part of the military services.
• Army and defense-wide operations and maintenance accounts would be reduced by $500 million in an effort to "limit excessive growth in procurement of advisory assistance services."
• Navy and Air Force operations and maintenance would be reduced by $316 million, including $150 million from the Navy and $166 million from the Air Force.
• $197.5 million from service procurement and research and development accounts to "limit cost growth in information technology development."
• $768.1 million was cut from service and Defense-wide operations and maintenance, including a $161 million cut to the Army that affects training, repair and refurbishing equipment, and spare parts.
• $100 million from the overall operations and maintenance request to limit "excessive growth in the travel and transportation of persons."