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Gates asks for billions more for Iraq, Afghanistan |
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By Manu Raju and Roxana Tiron
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Posted: 09/26/07 05:42 PM [ET] |
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As the Bush administration took its case to Congress Wednesday for an additional $190 billion for the Iraq war, Democratic leaders downplayed calls for swift action on the massive spending package, foreshadowing a protracted battle over new funding for U.S. military involvement in Iraq. At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, which was repeatedly disrupted by raucous anti-war protesters, Democrats were skeptical of comments made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Congress should pass the fiscal 2008 supplemental spending bill “as quickly as possible and without excessive and counterproductive restrictions.” When asked earlier if there was a sense of urgency in taking up the supplemental funding package, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told The Hill, “Not for me, there isn’t.” Democrats on the appropriations panel lamented that the White House had yet to send to Congress the details of $42 billion of their $190 billion request. Gates said of the additional $42 billion, $6 billion would go toward Army and Marine Corps combat formations currently in Iraq through fiscal 2008; 14 billion for force protection, $11 billion of which would go towards fielding about 7,000 more MRAPS on top of the 8,000 already funded or requested; $9 billion for equipment reconstitution; $1 billion to support National Guard pre-deployment training; $1 billion to improve U.S. facilities in the region and consolidate our bases in Iraq and $1 billion to train and equip Iraqi Security Forces. At the Wednesday hearing, the increasingly vocal protests from the anti-war group left a bitter taste in the mouth of Democrats, and Byrd ordered the doors closed to keep protesters out. Even with the doors closed, protesters were heard voicing their displeasure with the war. “What a sad day in this committee,” said Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski. “To have such tension such chaos such disrespect this has not been the best day that has occurred here.” |
