Senate panel passes $488 billion defense spending bill

The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Wednesday approved a $487.7 billion fiscal 2009 spending bill, which closely adheres to President Bush's requests despite a $4 billion reduction in total funding to meet its 302(b) allocation.

The measure would provide all or most of the administration's recommendations for major procurement programs, including the Army's massive Future Combat System and the national ballistic missile defense.

It also funded all the Navy's shipbuilding proposals, including the controversial DDG-1000 destroyer, for which the Navy has reversed its support twice since the budget was unveiled.

That puts the Senate bill at odds with the measure approved by the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which made cuts in the FCS and the national missile defense effort and did not fund a third DDG-1000.

The bill would fund a 3.9 percent pay raise for the military and add funds for medical services to cover Tricare expenses that the administration wanted to pay for with an increased fee for higher-income retirees.

Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Thad Thad Cochran, R-Miss., filled in as top Republican at the subcommittee markup in place of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who is facing federal criminal charges of alledgedly failing to report expensive gifts from a supporter. Stevens was at the markup, however.

Cochran said the package presented by Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, "is a bipartisan bill that reflects a consensus on the priorities" for the armed services and the intelligence community. Inouye and Cochran expressed hope that the bill would be approved shortly by the full committee and the Senate so it could go into conference with the House before Congress adjourns for the year. The House Appropriations Committee postponed a markup of its Defense bill Tuesday and has not rescheduled it.

The Senate bill was approved by a voice vote, with the only controversies stemming from an amendment by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., to continue an agreement to buy enriched uranium from Russia for nuclear power plant fuel and an attempt by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to rescind $4.4 billion in funding for Iraq. Domenici's amendment evoked initial opposition from Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., because they had not been briefed on the details and because they considered it an inappropriate add-on to the Defense bill.

Domenici said he wanted to include the measure in the Defense bill because it was likely to be approved, unlike the Energy and Water appropriations bill that already includes it. The amendment would continue a nonproliferation agreement that has resulted in hundreds of tons of highly enriched uranium from former Soviet weapons being converted into lower grade nuclear fuel.

After an explanation of the amendment and the support of Inouye, Dorgan and others, it was approved on a voice vote with only Mikulski voicing a "no." Dorgan tried to rescind money already appropriated for Iraq reconstruction and training and equipping its security forces, arguing that Iraq has accumulated a budget surplus of more than $49 billion. He said the $4.4 billion had not been allocated.

But GOP members and Inouye objected that the money was meant to prepare the Iraqi forces to replace U.S. troops and argued that most of the money was for fiscal 2009 and could still be spent. Dorgan then reduced his proposal to rescinding $1 billion in funds designed for infrastructure improvements, but it was rejected 10-9.