Senate approves defense budget; more money to border security

The Senate passed a $459 billion budget for the Pentagon yesterday, after adding almost $4 billion to try to gain control over the U.S. border with Mexico. The Pentagon spending bill, passed by voice vote, does not include President Bush’s almost $190 billion request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill does, however, give the Pentagon a 10 percent increase of $43 billion, much of which would be devoted to procuring new weapons systems. Some $3 billion in emergency border security money was already included in a spending bill for DHS but was added to the Pentagon spending measure in a gambit by GOP leaders to save President Bush from an embarrassing override of his planned veto of the DHS measure. Another $794 million was added to maintain a large National Guard deployment along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The border security spending, especially money to construct 700 miles of fencing to keep illegal immigrants from Mexico from crossing into the United States, is very popular among Republicans. The bill writers from the Democratic majority figured that many Republicans would vote to override Bush’s DHS veto if necessary to obtain financing for the fence. The border money was added to the Pentagon bill by a 95-1 vote.

Bush vowed to veto the homeland security bill because it exceeds his budget by more than $2 billion, even without the border spending. With his popularity in historical lows, Bush is eager for a fight with Democrats over $22 billion that they have added to his budget, all for domestic programs. Democrats touted funding increases in the defense measure for National Guard equipment, military health care, and a 3.5 percent pay increase for military personnel, half a percentage point more than requested by Bush. In return, Democrats have granted Bush’s almost $100 billion request to purchase new weapons such as V-22 tilt rotor aircraft, unmanned drone aircraft, next generation Joint Strike Fighters, and the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. The measure also includes $8.5 billion to continue work on a ballistic missile defense system. It also contains $140 billion for operations and maintenance accounts.

The border security issue is politically important: On border security, the White House has signaled Bush will accept the additional $3 billion, even though it also exceeds his budget. The White House initially resisted using deficit dollars to finance the initiative, GOP lawmakers said, but backed off in the face of overwhelming support for the idea. GOP leaders now say rank-and-file Republicans could support a veto of the homeland security bill since the border defense funding is also attached to the defense measure, which Bush supports. The money approved Wednesday would go toward seizing “operational control” over the U.S.-Mexico border by using additional Border Patrol agents, vehicle barriers, border fencing, and observation towers. It would also be used to pursue immigrants who had entered the United States legally but overstayed their visas. Later Wednesday, senators approved an amendment by Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama), adding $794 million more to maintain a deployment through 2008 of up to 6,000 National Guard troops along the border with Mexico. Sessions said the Pentagon plans to maintain only a troop level of 3,000 but argued the presence of more National Guard troops would free up more Border Patrol agents to police the border.

The overall defense budget for procurement is $17 billion higher than last year and will likely continue to grow. The Pentagon’s overall budget, even adjusted for inflation, is more than 20 percent higher than the average cold war budget and has gone up more than 40 percent since 9/11.