House GOP war-funding bill would trim foreign aid request

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers from President Bush's own party balked Thursday at foreign aid included in his spending request for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, eliminating money for Afghan reconstruction projects and State Department programs.

"Supporting our troops is the No. 1 reason for the supplemental," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Still, Bush would get most of what he asked for in his $81.9 billion war-funding proposal, under the version House Republicans made public Thursday. Its price tag is only slightly lower at $81.1 billion.

House GOP leaders say the foreign aid could be restored in the budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

The bill that Congress is expected to pass this spring likely will look a lot like Bush's request. House leaders are acting quickly in hopes of approving it within the next two weeks. The Senate isn't expected to produce its version until April.

The House GOP bill would provide $1.8 billion more than the president's proposal for defense-related expenses, reflecting a bipartisan intention to support U.S. troops in war zones no matter the cost. That means $76.8 billion of the total package would be used to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A large chunk of it would go to the Army and Marine Corps, which are bearing the brunt of major combat.

"A modest investment in replacing and improving equipment for our ground forces will save lives in the future," according to the appropriations committee's report that accompanies the bill.

Reduced by half

The bill also would fund only about half of the $4 billion the president had requested in foreign aid. Both Republicans and Democrats had complained some foreign aid programs were not urgent.

Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, said GOP leaders who drafted the House version of the war-spending package were mindful of lawmakers' concerns about "the amount of foreign assistance spending at a time when domestic priorities are being held to no increases."

Their version calls for eliminating about $570 million the president had requested for the rebuilding of Afghanistan, including money for the Kabul airport, industrial parks, courthouses, a community housing project and a new law school.

The bill wouldn't give Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice $400 million for U.S. allies. It would have been split between economic and military aid.

House Republicans also propose scaling back by about $70 million the funds slated for a U.S. embassy in Baghdad. However, the bill still would provide about $592 million to build the diplomatic compound because House Republicans say it's an urgent matter, given what they call imminent security threats to U.S. personnel in Iraq.

Also, the president's request for international peacekeeping missions would fall by $200 million to $580 million, most of which would be used for the Sudan.

The bill also would give about $905 million to Indian Ocean countries recovering from the December tsunami, $45 million shy of what the president had proposed.

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House Appropriations Committee: http://appropriations.house.gov/