A wartime funding bill remains stalled in the U.S. Congress, partially because of a dispute over how Iraqi reconstruction funds should be handled, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, April 10).

The overall bill would provide $62 billion for the Defense Department and additional funds for homeland security and U.S. allies.

The White House rejected a compromise between the House of Representatives and the Senate that would send the money to President George W. Bush but designate it to be used by nonmilitary agencies.  Bush administration officials want broad authority on how to allocate the funding.

The bill is also being delayed by a provision that would prevent a German-owned overnight delivery service from carrying U.S. Defense Department shipments.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) added a last-minute provision to the Senate version of the bill that would not allow German-owned DHL Worldwide to carry packages for the Pentagon.  Many House Republicans oppose the provision, which would cause problems for a proposed $1 billion DHL acquisition of a U.S.-based company’s ground operations.

DHL competitors United Parcel Service of America and FedEx are supporting the provision.  The dispute has involved prominent lobbyists and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — President Bush’s brother — who is concerned that his state could suffer under the provision, according to the Post (Dan Morgan, Washington Post, April 11).

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