Bush Signs Big Boost in Defense Spending

President Bush signed into law Wednesday the biggest military spending increase since the Reagan administration -- a $355.5-billion package giving the wartime Pentagon “every resource, every weapon and every tool they need.”

Overwhelmingly approved by Congress, the measure contains a 4.1% salary increase for military personnel, $7.4 billion to keep developing a ballistic missile defense system and $72 billion for new weapons.

With the president contemplating war against Iraq, and U.S. troops involved in an anti-terrorism campaign across the globe, the law increases Pentagon spending in almost every area for the budget year that began Oct. 1 by a total of more than $34 billion, or 11%, over the previous year. It was the biggest increase in 20 years.

“Since Sept. 11, Americans have been reminded that the safety of many depends on the courage and skill of a few,” Bush told a Rose Garden audience filled with uniformed military personnel and lawmakers from both parties. “The bill today says America is determined and resolute to not only defend our freedom but to defend freedom around the world, that we’re determined and resolute to answer the call to history and that we will defeat terror.”

He also signed a $10.5-billion bill financing the building and upgrading of military installations in fiscal 2003.

While Congress gave Bush most of what he requested, lawmakers rejected his plea for a $10-billion fund he could tap without congressional input for combating terrorists overseas.

In a statement later in the day, Bush said he was disappointed by that decision and another to approve $2.7 billion less than he wanted for operations and maintenance programs. “Without these funds, we may be forced to reduce other important programs to finance the war on terrorism,” Bush said.

There was a tinge of politics in the bill signing before elections that will decide which party controls Congress.

Bush took a veiled dig at the Democratic-controlled Senate for the failure to approve his request for a Cabinet-level Homeland Security Department. The president noted that all the armed forces were collected under a single federal roof when President Truman began revamping national security agencies after World War II.

“He reorganized our nation’s defense structure to meet the security threats of a new era,” Bush said.