Democrats demand accounting on terrorism funds
Lawmakers allege illegal shift helped pay for Iraq war planning
From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two senior Democrats demanded on Monday that the White House provide an accounting of how $40 billion in emergency antiterrorism funds was spent after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The demand from Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin comes in the wake of a book by Bob Woodward, "Plan of Attack," that alleges the administration bypassed Congress and shifted some funds from the war on terror to prepare for war against Iraq in 2002.
"We have numerous concerns about the administration's stewardship of these funds," Byrd and Obey, the top Democrats on the Senate and House Appropriations committees, wrote in a letter to President Bush.
At issue is whether Byrd, Obey and other congressional offices were properly notified about how the money was spent.
"To the best of our knowledge," wrote the Democrats, "during 2002 we were provided no consultations by the White House, as required by law."
Last week, the administration denied any wrongdoing and said no money was used for war preparations until after Congress passed a resolution on October 11, 2002, authorizing the use of force in Iraq, Reuters reported.
Pentagon officials also denied last week that the department did anything wrong.
Reuters reported that the Pentagon confirmed $178 million was used from the emergency funds for "supporting the global war on terrorism" in Kuwait, Qatar and other countries in the Gulf months before Congress passed the Iraq resolution, the lawmakers' letter said.
A senior Pentagon budget official told CNN that "nothing Iraq-specific" was authorized.
The letter also says the White House has not filed a required quarterly report on allocations from the fund since May 9, 2003.
"When the Congress approved the extraordinary authorities in response to the al Qaeda attacks of September 11, 2001, it expected that tax dollars would be managed carefully," the Democrats' letter said. "Transparency in this regard is critical. We need a full accounting of the entire $40 billion Emergency Response Fund."
