http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=20214ARLINGTON, Va. — The Bush administration is asking Congress for $401.7 billion to fund defense programs in fiscal 2005 — a 7 percent increase over the $375.3 billion request for 2004.
The budget includes a 3.5 percent pay raise for servicemembers and the elimination of all out-of-pocket housing costs, but nothing is earmarked for operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Pentagon officials said they will come back to Congress to request supplemental funds for Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom — but not until 2005, a senior defense official told Pentagon reporters Friday.
The official denied that the Bush administration intended the delayed supplemental request to downplay the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars before the November elections.<snip>
Space-based missile defense, a longer-term initiative dear to the Bush administration’s heart, was boosted from $7.7 billion to $9.2 billion, despite delays in the program.
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