WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- U.S. House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton Tuesday defended the non-war spending in the $124 billion war supplemental bill.
"I represent a rural area that has been suffering from drought for two years and our farmers are hurting," Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, told defense reporters. "I think its important to take care of Americans who are suffering ... You could ask the same question, is it wrong to take care of Katrina victims (in an emergency supplemental?"
"They are emergencies. You're gonna have to take care of them sooner or later. I'd rather take care of them sooner."
The original request for $105 billion in emergency funding for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and for domestic security missions, grew in the House Appropriations Committee by nearly $20 billion with earmarks from Congress unrelated to the war.
The bill also includes a plan to reploy or withdraw many U.S. troops by March 2008 at the latest.
The combination of tempting federal monies for congressional districts unrelated to the wars, which have cornered more than $450 billion in taxpayer money since 2001, and the redeployment plan puts representatives who would oppose troop withdrawals in a political bind, as it does those who want to approve the appropriation for war spending.
U.S. spending on the three wars in 2007 will top $160 billion.
President George W. Bush has promised to veto the bill if it makes it to his desk. The controversial bill may not make it out of the House as is, although Democratic leaders hoped to have it completed this week. Then it would have to pass the Senate which has opposed a redeployment plan.
