House Democrats seek more Army funding

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group of Democrats in the House of
Representatives on Wednesday called for at least $10 billion in
additional funds to help the U.S. Army rebuild resources
depleted by the Iraq war, now in its fourth year.

In a letter to President George W. Bush, Missouri Rep. Ike
Skelton cited Army assessments showing that “nearly every
non-deployed combat brigade in the active Army is reporting
that they are not ready to complete their assigned wartime
mission.” Skelton is the senior Democrat on the House Armed
Services Committee.

The Army is estimating a funding shortfall of $17 billion
next year for repairing and replacing equipment used in the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Democrats said.

They asked Bush to submit an emergency request to Congress
for the added funds by October 1, the beginning of the new
fiscal year.

If the emergency request is not submitted, Democrats this
fall will push for a $10 billion increase in a “bridge fund”
for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that is included in a fiscal
2007 Pentagon spending bill moving through Congress. That fund
currently would be set at $50 billion, with the expectation
that another $50 billion or so for the wars would be sought
early next year.

Rep. John Murtha, the pro-defense Pennsylvania Democrat who
stunned Washington last year by calling for pulling U.S. troops
out of Iraq, said most Army units do not have adequate
equipment and ammunition to train on before going to war.
“Under-trained units have higher rates of casualties” once they
enter combat, Murtha told reporters.

He said in order to patch the funding shortfall, some Army
bases in the United States have stopped using ammunition in
training and stopped cutting grass for the rest of the summer
while also suspending custodial services, except for cleaning
restrooms.

At the Red River Army depot in Texas, Murtha said there was
no money to repair 2,500 Humvees, trucks and other vehicles
used in training.

The funding shortfall comes as Congress is considering
cutting back on Bush’s fiscal 2007 defense request by as much
as $9 billion in order to add funds to some domestic programs
during this congressional election year.

By September 30, the end of this fiscal year, the United
States will have spent about $450 billion on the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan. The combat has contributed to huge U.S. budget
deficits.