8A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17. 2006
NATION
Bush requests money for war, Katrina relief
BY ANDREW TAYLOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — U.S. military spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will rise to $115 billion for this year — and nearly $400 billion since the fighting started — under a new White House request submitted to Congress Thursday.
A separate request for almost $20 billion in new hurricane relief funds would bring total spending in response to Katrina and Rita to more than $100 billion.
The Bush administration submitted a $65.3 billion war request, and Pentagon officials said the money would be sufficient to conduct the two wars at least through Sept. 30. Congress had approved $50 billion more for the war effort in December.
"These funds support U.S. Armed Forces and Coalition partners as we advance democracy, fight the terrorists and insurgents, and train and equip Iraqi security forces so that they can defend their sovereignty and freedom," President Bush said in a letter transmitting the request to Congress.
The war in Iraq now costs about $5.9 billion a month, while Afghanistan operations cost about $900 million per month, said Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas. That doesn't include the costs of replacing worn-out or destroyed equipment or training Iraqi and Afghan forces.
The Pentagon said the latest request assumes a U.S. force of 138,000 troops on the ground in Iraq through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, even though the administration has signaled that troop numbers would fall below that this year.
The supplemental spending request for the wars would bring the total price tag for the Iraq and Afghanistan missions to almost $400 billion. Bush's budget anticipates an additional $50 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, though the costs are likely to be much greater.
Thursday's dual requests totaled $91 billion and came 10 days after Bush submitted his $2.8 trillion federal budget for 2007. Overall, the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars consumes about 4 percent of the budget.
Still, war and hurricane relief costs and the burgeoning budget deficit — estimated to hit a record $423 billion this year — have put a squeeze on other programs. Bush's budget proposed cuts for a variety of domestic programs such as education, Amtrak, community development and local law enforcement grants, and also proposed curbing inflation increases for Medicare providers.
Congress is likely to vote on the massive requests next month, but lawmakers are already grumbling that the White House left out funds for highway repairs in Gulf Coast states and for various agriculture disasters dotting the Midwest. On the other side of the spectrum, conservatives believe the Katrina request should be matched with spending cuts elsewhere.
The latest request also includes $4.2 billion for State Department operations and foreign aid, such as $75 million to promote democratic institutions in Iran and $514 million to support peacekeeping efforts and provide food aid in Sudan.
The $19.8 billion being requested for hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast includes $4.2 billion in flexible community development block grants aimed at compensating Louisiana residents whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. Louisiana officials said their state was shortchanged when Congress approved $11.5 billion in such funds in December.
The request also includes $2.9 billion for intelligence gathering
and other related activities.
The congressional delegations from bordering states Texas and Mississippi say they will resist devoting the new community development funds exclusively to Louisiana.
"The complete lack of funding in this proposed supplemental for a state that absorbed enormous costs from two hurricanes is stunning," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "This is a major disappointment, but one the entire Texas delegation will fight to correct."
An additional $1.5 billion would go toward levee repair, storm-proofing drainage pumps and other flood control projects, including $100 million to restore wetlands around New Orleans. Some $3.1 billion would go to repair and rebuild federal facilities such as military bases and a veterans hospital in New Orleans.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund is seeking $9.4 billion for such tasks as debris cleanup, housing aid and other relief. The request comes less than two months after lawmakers took $23.4 billion from FEMA's coffers to help pay for a $29 billion Katrina relief bill. The latest request would push total federal spending for hurricane rebuilding to more than $100 billion.
One very small step
David Pulliam/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
nirdr-gradeer Michael Hansen has his picture taken "on the moon" on Thursday at Morse Elementary School in Overland Park. Hansen posed for the picture following an all-school singing of the "The Star Spangled Banner," as part of The National Anthem Project. The moon scene, which included a static plastic space suit, was chosen as one of the most patriotic images in American history. The project is an effort to re-teach Americans to sing the national anthem and to spotlight school music programs. According to a Harris Poll, two out of three Americans don't know the words to the National Anthem.
NATION
Missouri limits funeral protests
BY CHRIS BLANK
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The House passed a bill Thursday making it a crime for protesters at funerals to get any closer than a football field's length away.
protested in several other states and say they believe the soldiers are dying in Iraq as divine punishment because the U.S. harbors homosexuals.
Two St. Joseph lawmakers, Rep. Martin Rucker and Sen. Charlie Shields, have sponsored bills that would limit funeral protests after members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church protested last August outside the St. Joseph funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq.
The church's members have
Several other states have proposed or discussed legislation limiting protests outside funerals. Representatives from the church have said they would sue if Missouri tries to limit their ability to protest.
Despite being a Democrat in a solidly Republican House, Rucker was tapped to carry the funeral protest bill during House floor debate Thursday.
been an honor was soured by the need for the bill.
"It's a travesty that we must regulate decency and integrity," he said.
Rucker said what should have
Last month, the Senate voted to bar protests near a funeral an hour before and after a service. There was little debate, and no one voted against the bill.
The House's version keeps the same time requirements laid out by the Senate but specifies that protests must be 300 feet away. A conference committee of lawmakers from both bodies will need to meet to work out the differences.
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