|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
New Warhead Poised to Receive $66 Million in Senate By Jon Fox The funding level set in the bill drafted by the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee represents a nearly $23 million cut to the president’s $88.8 million request. Still, the proposed funding is a huge leap from the House version of the legislation, which completely eliminates any money for the controversial program in the next fiscal year (see GSN, May 24). If lawmakers approve the preliminary funding levels set by each chamber, the stage would be set for a debate over the program when the competing bills go to conference committee to be reconciled. The Senate bill provides $6.49 billion for nuclear weapons activities. That is a $231 million increase over current spending levels but $22 million less than what President George W. Bush requested for fiscal 2008. The House version provides roughly $5.9 billion for weapons activities. The Senate bill sets funding for nonproliferation programs at $1.87 billion, an increase of $200 million from the president’s request. The House version increased funding over the president’s request by $878 million, a 74 percent increase. The Senate bill also left the budget for Los Alamos National Laboratory largely intact. “I believe this bill takes us in the right direction, pulling back where needed and moving forward in a manner that does not put our nuclear deterrent or the future of any single laboratory in jeopardy,” Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said in a statement. While the Senate bill reduces some funding for nuclear weapons activities, it leaves the laboratory’s core responsibilities untouched and remains close to the president’s budget request. Detailed breakdowns of the figures have not yet been released. The House version would cut roughly $300 million from the $2.2 billion fiscal 2008 budget for the nuclear weapons research facility. The Reliable Replacement Warhead, as the administration has dubbed its proposed weapon, is intended to be easier to produce and maintain and less likely to fail than Cold-War era bombs that were engineered to have the greatest explosive power relative to their weight, administration officials say. The $66 million funding level would provide for engineering research and design work on the warhead but no actual production of new weapons in the coming fiscal year. Generally, during conference committees, differences in funding levels are simply split down the middle. “That’s how it’s usually done,” said David Culp, legislative representative for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, an anti-nuclear lobby. “There aren’t big language disputes. It’s all money” This year, however, both the House bill and the Senate version of the energy and water funding bills are more than $1 billion over the president’s budget request. The House exceeds the mark by $1.1 billion and the Senate by $1.8 billion. The president has made clear his intention to veto the House bill if Congress is unable to bring the spending plan within the parameters set by his budget request. House Republicans have enough support to sustain a veto, so the president’s threat could spur further reductions in the RRW budget or other segments of the budget bills, Culp said. “I also don’t think it’s the end of the story,” he said. “Unless the president backs off this threat, they’re going to have to go in there and do some major surgery.”
| ||||||||||
Back to top
