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Political battle lines forming over Kosovo funding
April 19, 1999 WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 19) -- President Bill Clinton is urging Congress to pass his $6 billion emergency appropriations request for the Kosovo operation now and save a bitter debate over U.S. military readiness for later. "The needs for this funding is urgent, immediate, clearly in the national interest. There are literally lives hanging in the balance," Clinton said Monday. The Pentagon's share of the emergency spending request includes $3.6 billion to fund military operations at their current high levels through September; $700 million to replenish the U.S. supplies of bombs, missiles and other munitions; and an additional $850 million reserve fund for military readiness and emergency munition needs. The president also wants $721 million for the Kosovo refugee crisis. Nearly half -- $335 million -- of that money is for the Pentagon role in the humanitarian effort. The other $386 million would flow through the State Department. In addition, the administration requested $150 million in new aid to help Albania, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria deal with the Kosovo crisis. "This is a difficult thing for the neighborhood," Clinton said. The question on Capitol Hill isn't whether the president will get his $6 billion dollars, but what else the supplemental appropriation bill will include. Calling U.S. defense capabilities "grossly inadequate," House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) said the emergency spending measure for Kosovo should include money for "broader military needs." "The emergency funding measure cannot be short-sighted -- it cannot simply replace bullets for bullets and bombs for bombs spent in Kosovo," Hastert said in a statement. "The Clinton Administration has been downsizing our military for the last seven years, and the Kosovo crisis has exposed how our national security is now in real danger." Some Republicans want to add money for a military pay raise and more training and weapons than the president is requesting. "I don't know how much it should be but it should be more rather than less is my point. Six billion dollars probably seems like to me to be the least amount," says Sen. Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Setting the stage for a showdown on military spending, Democratic leaders said the emergency spending measure should be limited to the money needed for the conflict in Kosovo. "If you burden any vehicle ultimately that vehicle stops," Sen. Minority leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) told reporters." "I'm afraid that if we overburden this vehicle, it too will stop." The battle will begin in earnest Wednesday as the House Appropriations Committee plans to hold hearings on Clinton's Kosovo funding request. CNN's John King and Jonathan Karl contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Monday, April 19, 1999
• Political battle lines forming over Kosovo funding • Book news: Agent who led arrest of McVeigh tries to put human face on FBI • Poll: Clinton scandals hurt Gore • For once, Clinton and Starr see eye-to-eye • Congress honoring civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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