WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- A key congressional committee has approved $40 billion in spending for the U.S. armed forces.
The House Armed Services Terrorism Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday unanimously approved about $40 billion in fiscal 2007 Pentagon spending, an increase of about $15.7 million from what President George W. Bush requested, CongressDaily reported Friday.
"We remain a nation at war, with our troops engaged in battle every day," said Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Jim Saxton, R-N.J.
One of the largest increases went to the Special Operations Command, which would get $183 million added to a $7 billion request, congressional aides told CongressDaily.
The subcommittee also increased funding for chemical and biological science and technology by $7 million, the aides said. About $970 million was requested.
But the subcommittee placed a new requirement on the Pentagon's Director of Operational Testing and Evaluation. Aides said DOT&E would be required to inform Congress of what capabilities major defense systems demonstrate when tested if they do not meet 100 percent of requirements. Now, DOT&E only has to report whether a test was appropriate and whether the system passed the test, aides said.
The subcommittee's mark would also bar the Army from transporting and dumping the byproduct of VX nerve agent destruction from Indiana into New Jersey until the Government Accountability Office does an analysis of current and alternative proposals, CongressDaily said.
