"Republican-sponsored amendments that challenge the military�s plan to close bases and impose new standards to prevent the ill treatment of military detainees prompted advisers to President George W. Bush to threaten a veto of the $491.6 billion military spending bill.
The Senate halted action on the bill July 26 rather than risk antagonizing the president. Now it will lie dormant until Sept. 5 at the earliest, while lawmakers take a month-long vacation. The delay increases the chance that the bill will not pass before the U.S. government�s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30." "Three Republicans � Sens. John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Armed Services Committee; John McCain of Arizona, a former Vietnam prisoner of war; and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a lawyer in the Air Force Reserve � introduced amendments that establish rules for the humane treatment of detainees in U.S. military prisons. Senate efforts to ban cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners follow disclosure of ill treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Abu Ghraib, Iraq. It is opposed at the White House, where officials say it would limit presidential authority." http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1001213&C=america Posted 08/01/05 19:41 U.S. Senate Postpones Authorization Bill Action By WILLIAM MATTHEWS The U.S. Senate shelved its version of the 2006 Defense Authorization Bill until after the August recess rather than confront amendments that would pit Senate Republicans against the Republican White House. Republican-sponsored amendments that challenge the military�s plan to close bases and impose new standards to prevent the ill treatment of military detainees prompted advisers to President George W. Bush to threaten a veto of the $491.6 billion military spending bill. The Senate halted action on the bill July 26 rather than risk antagonizing the president. Now it will lie dormant until Sept. 5 at the earliest, while lawmakers take a month-long vacation. The delay increases the chance that the bill will not pass before the U.S. government�s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. It is the largest defense spending bill since the Korean War, but on matters of money there is little disagreement among Senate Republicans and Democrats, or between the House and the Senate, or between Congress and the Bush administration. In May, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved $441.6 billion of the $441.7 billion Bush requested in February. Lawmakers then added $50 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In some budget categories, senators opted to outspend the Bush plan. On procurement, for example, the Senate version of the bill would spend $78.2 billion compared with the president�s $76.6 billion. And for research and development, the senators budgeted $69.8 billion in place of the administration�s $69.4 billion. To balance for the accounts they increased, the senators trimmed accounts such as personnel and operations and maintenance. Congress, however, is certain to take up another emergency supplemental funding bill early next year that will more than restore the amounts cut, said Christopher Hellman, director of the Project on Military Spending Oversight. The Senate�s total is slightly higher than the $490.7 billion for 2006 defense spending that the House approved in May. Lawmakers in both houses agreed on some of the key provisions: Both would block Bush administration plans to retire an aircraft carrier, and both reverse plans to end production of C-130J cargo planes. A Difference on Ships One area where the two houses disagree is shipbuilding. Bush asked for $6.2 billion to buy four new ships in 2006. The Senate Armed Services Committee stuck with the four-ship plan, but added $337 million to speed up construction of an aircraft carrier, a destroyer and an amphibious ship. The House added $3.3 billion and three ships to the administration�s planned buy. Differences between the two houses of Congress will be worked out by a conference committee. Differences between the Senate and the White House promise to be much more prickly. Three Republicans � Sens. John Warner of Virginia, chairman of the Armed Services Committee; John McCain of Arizona, a former Vietnam prisoner of war; and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a lawyer in the Air Force Reserve � introduced amendments that establish rules for the humane treatment of detainees in U.S. military prisons. Senate efforts to ban cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners follow disclosure of ill treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Abu Ghraib, Iraq. It is opposed at the White House, where officials say it would limit presidential authority. The White House also opposes an amendment by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., that would delay this year�s round of base closings. Thune, who hopes to save Ellsworth Air Force Base, would halt base closures until after the Quadrennial Defense Review is completed in February and after studies on overseas facility requirements are done and most U.S. troops return home from Iraq. Also among more than three dozen amendments is a provision by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to eliminate funding for work on a nuclear �bunker buster� bomb. Kennedy proposes transferring the $4 million Bush wants for bomb research to the Washington National Guard to improve its ability to handle mass casualties. The House cut funding for the nuclear bunker buster, instead shifting the $4 million to the Air Force to conduct research on conventional bunker busters. ⢠E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! 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