Pentagon Spending Cuts Detailed

The OMB has released detailed plans for cuts in military spending to offset Bush’s border security costs in the emergency supplemental making its way through Congress. Last week, there was only speculation about how the president’s planned to find nearly $2 billion in military spending to pay for his border security initiative. CQ reporting: Among the defense programs that would lose substantial funding are the $96 million in emergency funds requested by the Army to secure information systems, $155 million out of $500 million for AH-64 helicopters, the full $74 million requested by the Navy for UH-1Y utility helicopters and $30 million of the $85 million requested by the Navy for Hellfire missiles. Reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan also would be affected, with Bush’s plan to eliminate the $15 million he initially requested for a wastewater treatment plant in Afghanistan and $6.3 million requested for an air control tower in Iraq. His $69 million request for a convoy support effort in Iraq would be cut in half, to $34 million.
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