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House Backs Nuclear Weapons and Missile Defense Plans By David Ruppe WASHINGTON — In approving yesterday the largest defense budget in U.S. and world history, $447 billion, the U.S. House of Representatives also authorized funding for the Bush administration’s national missile defense program and nuclear weapons research and development activities (see GSN, May 13). Several potential Democratic amendments to the bill, which would have cut some missile defense program funding and required operational testing before deployment of systems, were blocked by the Republican-majority rules committee from reaching the floor for a vote. A Democratic amendment to block the nuclear weapons research and development plans was allowed, but was defeated in a narrow vote. The fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill, approved in a 391-34 vote, authorized $10 billion for ballistic missile defense programs, effectively approving a $1 billion increase over fiscal 2004 funding. The bill, however, authorized the administration’s plan for fielding an initial long-range missile defense capability beginning this year, despite Democratic objections over the system’s lack of proven effectiveness through operational testing. It also authorized initial funding for a second batch of missile defense capabilities — including land- and sea-based interceptors and a third missile base. The House vote also approved early funding for developing and testing a space-based interceptor by around 2010, and a request for testing an existing interceptor in space scheduled for early 2006. The bill fully authorized funding requested for fiscal 2005 by the Bush administration for nuclear weapons research and development for projects such as the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator and other Advanced Concepts nuclear weapons programs, and for the Enhanced Test Readiness program to reduce the preparation time for resuming nuclear testing if ordered. Democratic Efforts PreventedThe Republican-controlled House Committee on Rules on Wednesday prevented several Democratic amendments challenging the administration’s missile defense deployment plans from reaching the House floor for a vote. One potential amendment by Representative John Spratt (D-S.C.) would have redirected $414 million for four ballistic missile defense programs to increase military personnel pay, reimburse life insurance premiums for troops in imminent danger, pay for increased force protection equipment for troops in Iraq, and improve the PAC 3 theater missile defense system. Two other amendments would have blocked deployment of missile defense systems that had not met operational testing requirements. “I think this is a tremendous amount of political cover for an untested system,” said Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.). “It’s our job to determine what we think are the most important issues for the House to debate, and that’s what we did with 28 bipartisan amendments,” said committee spokeswoman Jo Maney. The Committee on Rules allowed an amendment by Tauscher that would have transferred the requested $36.6 million for the earth penetrating nuclear weapon feasibility study and other Advanced Concepts work to “to increase both intelligence capabilities to get at hard and deploy buried targets” and to “improve conventional bunker-busting capabilities.” It failed in a narrow 204-214 vote. The overall defense budget increase, from $400.5 billion last year, includes an added $25 billion mainly to support operations in Iraq, a 3.5-percent pay increase and other benefits for members of the armed forces, and an additional $2 billion for more force protection equipment.
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