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Bush Praises Missile Defense in Signing Funding Bill By David Ruppe WASHINGTON — Flanked by senior military officials and appointees, U.S. President George W. Bush on the campaign trail today signed the largest military spending bill in U.S. history and for the first time in 2004 publicly praised his plan to activate “components” of a national missile system this year (see GSN, July 22). The $391 billion Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005 includes about $10 billion for the Bush administration’s missile defense program, including money for operating components of the long-range defense system, which the president in 2002 had ordered to begin later this year. While not directly praising the anticipated effectiveness of the activated components, which has been the subject of expert skepticism, Bush said the planned activation would fulfill a 2000 campaign pledge to deploy an “effective” national missile defense system “at the earliest possible date.” “Later this year, the first components of America’s missile defense system will become operational. This will fulfill a pledge I made to the American people more than four years ago,” he said. “America and our allies face a deadly threat from ballistic missiles armed with the world’s most dangerous weapons. And we will deploy the technologies necessary to protect our people,” Bush said, flanked by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers. The Bush administration has been accused of rushing for political purposes to activate the system before it is developed enough to be effective, a charge then-Missile Defense Agency director Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish denied at a March congressional hearing (see GSN, March 26). Critics have noted that the Oct. 1 date scheduled for activation by Rumsfeld is just one month before the Nov. 2 presidential election (see GSN, July 13). Pentagon spokespeople have refused to comment on the activation date and Kadish in March said his agency had selected a Sept. 30 date have components ready to begin operation for “internal management purposes.” The Defense Department announced last month that the first interceptor missile was installed, though not activated, at Fort Greely, Alaska (see GSN, July 23). More Money Expected to be NeededThe appropriations law does not provide for all fiscal 2005 defense spending. Nuclear weapons-related funding for the Energy Department and money for military construction will be appropriated in separate bills. In addition, analysts anticipate an additional supplemental appropriation will be needed next year to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of fiscal 2005. “As much as $50 billion, I would say, said Christopher Hellman, budget analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. One reason, according to Hellman, is that language in the fiscal 2005 law allows the Bush administration to spend $25 billion appropriated to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan upon enactment, as opposed to at the beginning of the fiscal year on Oct. 1. Another reason, he said, is that the $25 billion should not be enough to cover operations through the end of fiscal 2005. Hellman said the military probably would spend about $75 billion to $80 billion on Iraq and Afghanistan this year. Bush said at the signing today, “This bill meets our commitments by making sure that our armed forces have every tool they need to meet and defeat the threats of our time.” The $25 billion will “buy more armored Humvees, more ammunition, more fuel, more spare parts. It will upgrade our helicopters with the latest equipment,
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