White House: Billions more needed for war, Katrina and Rita relief

~ Administration makes an emergency request for $65 billion for war and $20 billion for relief. Congress had approved $50 billion more for the war effort in December.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. military spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will rise to $115 billion for this year -- and nearly $400 billion since the fighting started -- under an emergency request the White House submitted Thursday.

A separate request for almost $20 billion in new hurricane relief funds would bring total spending in response to Katrina and Rita to more than $100 billion.

The Bush administration readied a $65.3 billion war request, and Pentagon officials said the money would be sufficient to conduct the two wars at least through Sept. 30. Congress had approved $50 billion more for the war effort in December.

The Pentagon told congressional staffers that the latest request assumes a U.S. force of 138,000 troops on the ground in Iraq through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, even though the administration has signaled that troop numbers would fall below that this year.

The supplemental spending request for the wars would bring the total price tag for the Iraq and Afghanistan missions to almost $400 billion. President Bush's budget anticipates an additional $50 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, though the costs are likely to be much greater.

Thursday's dual requests totaled $85 billion and came 10 days after Bush submitted his $2.8 trillion federal budget for 2007. In that submission, Bush proposed cuts for a variety of domestic programs such as education, Amtrak, community development and local law enforcement grants.

The latest request includes $4.2 billion for foreign aid such as $75 million to promote democratic institutions in Iran and $514 million to support peacekeeping efforts in Sudan and to provide food aid there.

The request also includes $2.9 billion for intelligence gathering and other related activities.

The $19.8 billion being requested for hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast includes $4.2 billion in flexible community development block grants aimed at compensating Louisiana residents whose homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Despite enduring more damage than neighboring Mississippi, Louisiana received a bare majority of $11.5 billion in community development block grant funds -- much of the money to be devoted to compensating homeowners -- that was approved in December. That in part reflected the clout of Mississippi's congressional delegation, whose dean is Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, a Republican.

The congressional delegations from bordering states Texas and Mississippi are likely to resist devoting the new community development funds exclusively to Louisiana.

An additional $1.5 billion would go toward levee repair, storm-proofing drainage pumps and other flood control projects. Some $3.1 billion would go to repair and rebuild federal facilities such as military bases and a Veterans Administration hospital in New Orleans.

And, in a move sure to raise objections from conservatives who have been pressing to finance disaster aid with spending cuts elsewhere in the budget, $9.4 billion is requested for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund for such tasks as debris cleanup, housing aid and other relief. The request comes less than two months after lawmakers took $23.4 billion from FEMA's coffers to help pay for a $29 billion Katrina relief bill in December.

The latest request would push total federal spending for rebuilding to more than $100 billion, according to administration tallies. That reflects about $68 billion in emergency appropriations, $18.5 billion in available flood insurance funds and the latest $19.8 billion request.

Cochran is certain to try to push the amount above the White House request.

The latest war request includes:

-- $33.4 billion for operations and maintenance costs, most of which would go to repair and replace equipment worn out or damaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.

-- $15 billion for new equipment.

-- $9.6 billion for personnel costs.

-- $5.9 billion to train and equip Afghanistan's and Iraq's military forces.

-- $1.5 billion for equipment to detect roadside bombs and other so-called improvised explosive devices.

Separately, the Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to extend unemployment benefits for those who lost jobs because of Katrina from the current maximum of 26 weeks to 39.