House Approves $59 Billion for War Efforts
Just as the Pentagon feared that the money to fund troops was about to run out, the House Appropriations Committee passed a bill yesterday that allocated almost $59 billion towards funding for war efforts in Afghanistan and other programs.
The House voted 308-114 on the legislation, which dedicates nearly $37 billion to the additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and continued military operations in Iraq, as well as State Department operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The rest of the almost $23 billion will be used to fund other programs. It includes money for the the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund, State Department aid programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Haiti and benefits for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange.
“Supporting the requested levels of force structure in each of the Military Services contributes to moving toward a better balance between periods of deployments and time at home,” said Chairman of Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Norm Dicks during his opening remarks yesterday, “a balance that is essential to maintaining good morale and the well-being of individuals.”
The bill comes amidst concerns over the recent release of confidential Afghanistan war documents on the site, Wikileaks.com. Although the brief controversy raised some concern, President Barack Obama commented that the documents do not hinder efforts in Afghanistan.
“While I’m concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield that could potentially jeopardize individuals or operations, the fact is that these documents don’t reveal any issues that haven’t already informed our public debate on Afghanistan,” he said yesterday from the White House Rose Garden. “Indeed, they point to the same challenges that led me to conduct an extensive review last fall.”
Posted by Molly Mulrain
on Wednesday, July 28th, 2010. Filed under General.
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