DJ Bush Signs $318 Bln Defense Appropriation Bill
01/10/2002
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--President George W. Bush on Thursday signed a $318 billion defense appropriation bill for the current fiscal year and said it goes a long way to gearing up the military to fight the war on terrorism.
"In our global campaign against global terror, our military must have every resource, every tool, every weapon and every advantage you need for the missions to come. The bill I'm about to sign makes a down payment on an essential commitment. We will give our forces everything they need to defeat global terror," Bush said.
The president said the bill boosts overall spending from the fiscal year 2001 level by $30 billion and an emergency supplemental spending bill including in the overall package boosts spending $3.5 billion more.
Included in the bill's provisions are pay increases of up to 15% with the average increase being about 6.9%. The bill sets aside $3.9 billion for health-care benefits for retirees over the age of 65 and their families.
Bush also said that the bill increases operations and maintenance spending by $8 billion and research and development on new weapons systems by $50 billion. Republicans have charged that both accounts were sharply short-changed by the Clinton administration.
Finally, the bill includes $8.4 billion in funding for homeland defense
During introductory remarks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld again said that the fight in Afghanistan is only the first fight against terrorism.
"He (Bush) gave the order to strike the enemy hard, driving them from their stronghold, and he's pledged to fight this war for as long as it takes, well past Afghanistan, knowing that we are still in the early stages of a very dangerous and difficult conflict," Rumsfeld said.
-By Alex Keto, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; Alex.Keto@dowjones.com
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 01-10-02
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