Funding Increase for Military Construction OKd

In a prelude to a torrent of military funding, the Senate unanimously agreed Wednesday to spend $10.5 billion in the coming year on construction projects for the armed services, including upgraded barracks and family housing.

The Senate action followed unanimous approval of similar legislation in the House last week. Both bills raise by 17% the amount appropriated for military construction in fiscal 2001, which ends Sunday. Both also exceed by 5% what President Bush requested months ago.

The two versions, which have minor differences, must be reconciled by a House-Senate conference before being sent to the White House for the president’s signature.

While sizable, the increase in the new appropriations had largely been decided before the nation began mobilizing for a war on terrorism in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who heads the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on military construction, said the amount approved “barely scratches the surface” of what will be needed.

Added Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, top Republican on the subcommittee: “America is united in our cause, and Congress will provide the support to win.”

The military construction spending represents just one piece of a $343-billion package of defense programs under the departments of Defense and Energy that Congress is considering for fiscal 2002. That total, about $30 billion more than was approved for the current fiscal year, is also expected to increase substantially as the Bush administration assesses new defense needs and requests more money.

In addition, the Pentagon is in line for a substantial--though still undetermined--share of a $40-billion emergency spending package that Congress approved within days of the terrorist attacks. On Friday, the White House announced that the military would receive about $2.5 billion of the first $5.1 billion to be spent.

With the scope and duration of the anti-terrorism campaign still unknown and U.S. forces now massing in the Middle East, no one can be sure how much money will be spent on the military in the coming year and beyond. But it seems clear that the amount will go up--way up.

Christopher Hellman, a senior analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington, guessed that military spending in fiscal 2002 could rise to $375 billion. “And that’s just back of the envelope,” he said. “You could be looking at more than that.”

John Isaacs of the Council for a Livable World, an advocate in Washington for arms control and nuclear disarmament, said: “I don’t think anyone will stand in the way of a large increase in the military.”

That was the case with the military construction legislation, which was approved 97-0 in the Senate and 401-0 in the House. The legislation would set aside $1.2 billion for building or refurbishing barracks--up 72% from fiscal 2001--and $4.1 billion for housing the families of military personnel, an increase of 13%. In addition, at least $33 million would be spent on child-care centers and at least $199 million on medical facilities.

Feinstein, in the Senate bill, raised to $682 million the amount of money that would be spent to clean up mothballed military bases. That is $150 million more than Bush requested. Base cleanup is an important issue in California, where 29 major military bases have been closed in recent years.