Friday, May 21, 2004
Plans to destroy Abu Ghraib prison took a step forward.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A record-high wartime defense bill awaits Senate approval after passing the House in a strong bipartisan vote.
Putting aside for a moment differences over the war in Iraq, the House voted 391-34 Thursday for a $422 billion bill to authorize military programs in the new budget year that begins in October. The spending level was up nearly $21 billion over the amount approved for this year.
Plans to destroy the prison where Iraqi detainees were humiliated and abused took a small step forward Thursday as lawmakers voted to include it in the defense bill.
The plan by Pennsylvania Reps. Curt Weldon, a Republican, and John P. Murtha, a Democrat, would demolish the Abu Ghraib prison and build a modernized detention facility in its place.
The House also agreed to a White House request to add $25 billion as a downpayment for the costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan during the next budget year.
"No one can question the need to fund our troops to keep them strong and victorious," said Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
The Senate was debating a similar bill, but then put off a final vote until after it returns from the Memorial Day recess next week.
Near unanimity
There was near unanimity in the House on the need to focus on programs aimed at keeping troops in hostile areas safer and doing more to make their families back home financially secure.
The House bill, generally mirrored by the Senate version, includes an across-the-board 3.5 percent pay raise for military personnel and raises the hazardous pay for troops facing hostile fire from $150 to $225 a month. It also increases separation pay for those stationed overseas and improves health care programs for reservists.
To answer complaints that U.S. troops are not adequately protected from insurgent strikes, more than $1 billion is included in the bill for better armored Humvees and add-on ballistic protection for vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A dispute over base closings was the one major trouble spot. The House bill courts a presidential veto by delaying for two years the next round of military base closures, set to take place next year. An amendment to reverse the delay was defeated, 259-162.