Rumsfeld presses for resolution of impasse on supplemental funding

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Wednesday pressed House and Senate conferees on the fiscal 2006 supplemental spending bill to resolve differences and send the legislation to the floor for a vote in both chambers before the Memorial Day recess.

Delaying the passage of the supplemental, which now includes $67.6 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, puts other critical military accounts "at risk," Rumsfeld told the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee during a hearing Wednesday. "We do need the supplemental passed, signed ... and those funds available by the end of the month," he added.

If Congress does not pass the supplemental before the recess, the military will likely eat into fourth quarter fiscal 2006 dollars to pay for ongoing operations.

Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said he would "carry the word" to conferees, who have been unable to reach agreement on the size of the bill.

The Senate approved a $108.9 billion package for military operations, hurricane relief and avian flu preparedness. The House version, meanwhile, comes in at just $91.9 billion, and does not include the $2.3 billion for avian flu preparedness the White House has requested.

Neither the White House nor House leaders want the final price tag to exceed $94.5 billion. This week, negotiations were further delayed as Congress awaited funding and other details on President Bush's border security initiative.

Panel leaders called the hearing to discuss the fiscal 2007 defense budget request, but Iraq and other issues dominated much of the questioning. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., used the hearing as a forum to push forward his bill to promote the chief of the National Guard Bureau to a four-star general and make the officer a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Both Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace said the legislation is unnecessary, and argued that the Army and Air National Guard are represented by the service chiefs. Promoting the three-star Guard bureau chief would be "disruptive, not helpful," Pace said. Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., co-authored the bill, which has the support of Stevens and a fellow subcommittee member, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.

One of the few fiscal 2007 budget issues to arise at the hearing was the military's satellite programs, which have experienced significant cost growth over the last several years. "I would be reluctant to say it's under control," Rumsfeld acknowledged in response to a question from Stevens. "There has been, over time, a cost growth on those programs."

Rumsfeld said it was difficult to devise accurate original cost estimates on many of those programs, which are "on the cutting edge" of technology. The programs, including the Space-Based Infrared System-High, have the focused attention of department leaders, Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas said.