Bush signs bill
Budget includes $10 billion for missile defense, 3.5-percent pay raise

SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR

The 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill will provide monies for new equipment for deployment troops like the 116th Bde. Combat Team currently training at Fort Bliss.

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President Bush signed the fiscal year 2005 defense appropriations bill Aug. 5 that includes $25 billion in emergency funding for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, $10 billion for missile defense and $95 million in aid for western Sudan.

The $416.2 billion bill — which includes a 3.5 percent pay raise for military personnel — garnered bipartisan support from members of Congress. Bush praised both parties for coming together in support of the U.S. forces serving around the world. The message, he said, is clear: “In a time of conflict and challenge, America stands behind our military.”

The bill addresses military requirements such as the need for more ammunition, fuel, spare parts and upgraded helicopters, as well as more heavily armored military ground transportation.

Bush said the new bill would help the United States maintain peace in the world and keep its commitments to its allies. He said will fund three new guided-missile destroyers, 42 F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft, new C-17 strategic heavy-lift Globemaster aircraft, and a number of unmanned Predator surveillance drones.

“We will develop the weapons and systems to meet the threats of tomorrow,” the president said, pointing to planned systems such as the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship, the multiservice next-generation Joint Strike Fighter, wideband satellite laser communications, and the Army’s Future Combat System.

Fort Bliss Commander Maj. Gen. Michael A Vane praised the bill’s commitment to readiness and its recognition of the needs of servicemembers. “Soldiers deserve the pay raise,” Vane said, “and the additional funding for missile defense will improve our readiness and help with the transformation of the force.”

In announcing his support of the bill, Bush also sought to draw attention to what he described as the brutal militias that are causing “human suffering on an immense scale” in the western Sudan region of Darfur. Even though the bill includes $95 million for Darfur, Bush said humanitarian aid such as famine relief and refugee assistance cannot “substitute for true and lasting peace.”

The Sudanese government, he said, “must stop the violence of Janjaweed militias, and all parties must respect the cease-fire and allow the free movement of humanitarian workers and supplies.”

Addressing the global war on terrorism, Bush said U.S. troops remain on the offensive against al-Qaida.
The president signed the defense legislation 15 days after the Senate and House of Representatives voted to send the bill to the White House. Congress must still pass a second piece of legislation known as the National Defense Authorization Act before the Pentagon can spend the money that has been appropriated for the fiscal year beginning October 1.

(Editor’s Note: This information was distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. For information, visit the State Dept. Website at http://usinfo.state.gov).