WASHINGTON — Defense officials lobbied for yet another war supplemental bill Thursday, arguing that the $83 billion-plus measure is critical to keep deployed troops equipped and foreign operations successful.
But unlike at contentious hearings on supplementals over the last seven years, lawmakers in the Senate were cordial and cheerful talking about the expense this time. That’s because the White House has promised that this one is the last.
President Barack Obama has promised after this fiscal year not to use the emergency budgeting measure to fund ongoing operations overseas, arguing that it conceals the true costs of war by keeping them outside the federal budget. Under his plan, war funds will still be separated from the base defense budget, but will undergo the same lengthy Congressional review as the rest of the federal budget.
House and Senate leaders also routinely criticized President Bush for the practice, saying it discouraged the services from proper budget planning for their future needs, and for hiding extra nonwarfighting projects in with the emergency funds.
Still, although they’ve delayed supplemental requests — some by several months — Congress has always reluctantly passed the measures in the end. Obama’s fiscal 2009 supplemental request would push the total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and related support operations costs to nearly $800 billion.
The $83.4 billion request is for both DOD and the State Department; $76 billion would go to DOD. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he needs the request to be approved before Memorial Day.
Of the total, $38 billion would go directly to operations costs, predeployment training and transport of troops to and from the theaters. Another $11.6 billion would replace and repair equipment damaged, destroyed or worn down by use in Iraq and Afghanistan. New lightweight body armor and lighter Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles cost another $9.8 billion.
The Afghan National Security Forces would receive $3.6 billion for equipment and training, but for the first time in years the supplemental does not include money for the Iraqi Security Forces. Gates said the government of Iraq has taken over the "financial burden" of supporting its troops and police.
About $7 billion would go toward State Department activities, including efforts to put 500 new agriculture and infrastructure experts into Iraq next year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told lawmakers.
That’s an increase from past supplementals, and Clinton said it underscores the increasing cooperation between the State and Defense departments, particularly in Afghanistan.
"Bringing stability to that region is not only a military mission, and it requires more than a military response," she said. "Counterinsurgency training is critical. But of equal importance are diplomacy and development to provide economic stability and diminish the conditions that feed extremism."
Gates said the new request also includes about $2.2 billion to fund extra pay and costs associated with increasing the end strength of the Army and Marine Corps, and $1.6 billion for combat injured troops’ health care and family support programs.
Starting next year, he said, those types of costs will be moved from war funding budgets to the base defense budget plan.
No time line has been set for passage of this supplemental measure, but Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said he expects lawmakers to support the request.
Reporter Jeff Schogol contributed to this story.
