Bush sends $87 billion tab for Iraq, Afghanistan to Congress
Congressional approval likely
 |
President Bush wants Congress to approve $87 billion in spending for Iraq and Aghanistan.
Story Tools
VIDEO
|
An audiotape supposedly from Saddam Hussein calls on coalition forces to leave Iraq.
|
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
SPECIAL REPORT
|
|
|
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration on Wednesday sent its $87 billion budget request for military operations and reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan next year to Capitol Hill.
"This is about providing all the necessary resources that our military needs to achieve their objectives, and it's about providing the resources necessary to bring stability and civility to Iraq as quickly as possible," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
While the measure is expected to win congressional approval, the request promises to spark debate about the administration's plans for Iraq.
Even as the White House request lands on Capitol Hill, one leading Democrat, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, introduced legislation Wednesday to raise the $87 billion by reducing tax cuts pushed through by President Bush.
Under Biden's proposal, the tax cut would be reduced for taxpayers in the top tax bracket starting in the sixth year of Bush's 10-year tax cut plan. He said the change would apply to the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers, whose average income is about $1 million a year.
"We can either pass on to our grandchildren the cost of meeting our security needs, we can cut deeper into the services middle class taxpayers count on or we can face our obligations squarely and pay for them by asking the most fortunate among us to share in the common sacrifices Americans are making to make the nation more secure," he said.
The administration's request will include $51 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and another $11 billion for similar efforts in Afghanistan, according to the White House.
In Iraq, another $20 billion will be spent on reconstruction efforts, which include improving security -- including training police, border agents and a new Iraqi army -- and rebuilding the country's neglected infrastructure.
The request also calls for spending an additional $800 million on reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and shifting $400 million from existing accounts to speed up the process.
These funds are in addition to $1.8 billion that Congress has previously appropriated for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, the White House said.
