http://sroblog.com/2009/10/15/u-s-tr...hington-times/

Shaun Waterman THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Senators diverted $2.6 billion in funds in a defense spending bill to pet
projects largely at the expense of accounts that pay for fuel, ammunition
and training for U.S. troops, including those fighting wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, according to an analysis.
Among the 778 such projects, known as earmarks, packed into the bill: $25
million for a new World War II museum at the University of New Orleans and
$20 million to launch an educational institute named after the late Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat.
While earmarks are hardly new in Washington, "in 30 years on Capitol Hill,
I never saw Congress mangle the defense budget as badly as this year," said
Winslow Wheeler, a former Senate staffer who worked on defense funding and
oversight for both Republicans and Democrats. He is now a senior fellow at
the Center for Defense Information, an independent research organization.
Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, called the transfer of funds from
Pentagon operations and maintenance "a disgrace."
"The Senate is putting favorable headlines back home above our men and
women fighting on the front lines," he said in a statement.
Mr. Wheeler, who conducted the study, compared the Obama administration's
requests for funds with the $636 billion spending bill that the Senate
passed. He discovered that senators added $2.6 billion in pet projects while
spending $4 billion less than the administration requested for fiscal 2010,
which began Oct. 1.
Mr. Wheeler said that senators took most of the cash for the projects from
the "operations and maintenance" or O&M accounts.
"These are the accounts that pay for troop training, repairs, spares and
supplies for vehicles, weapons, ships and planes, food and fuel," Mr. Wheeler
said.
Raiding those accounts to fund big-ticket projects the military does not
want, but that benefit senators' home states or campaign contributors,
amounts to "rancid gluttony," he said.
The administration's budget requested $156 billion for the regular O&M
account and $81 billion for O&M for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill
passed by the Senate cut $2.4 billion from the regular account and $655
million from the war O&M fund.
Senate appropriators insisted that the O&M accounts, despite the cuts, do
not shortchange the troops.
"The operation and maintenance title is fully funded," Appropriations
Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii Democrat, said during the debate on
the bill. "There is no shortage. ... The committee is deeply concerned that
the critical operational needs of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and
Marines are met with the finest equipment available."
Money for the Kennedy Institute was inserted by Mr. Inouye and Sen. John
Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat. Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, and
Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, sought the funding for the World
War II museum.
Whitney Smith, a spokesman for Mr. Kerry, said the earmark was "a worthy
investment."
"Sen. Kennedy served on the Armed Services Committee for 27 years, where he
fought to deliver top-of-the-line body armor and armored Humvees to
protect our troops and save lives. Educating Americans about these battles is a
core mission for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, which showcases one
senator's ability to make a difference," Mr. Smith wrote in an e-mail. "This
funding will help the Edward M. Kennedy Institute become one the nation's
pre-eminent civic educational institutions, and Sen. Kerry is proud to have
worked with Chairman Inouye to make it possible."
Mrs. Landrieu said she was "proud to fight" for money for the World War II
museum, which is not just a "monument to the brave men and women who served
during World War II," but also "a constant reminder to future generations
about the tremendous sacrifice of millions of Americans." She added that
the earmarked funds "will help to increase tourism to New Orleans."
Beyond those two earmarks, the largest in the Senate bill are:
- $20 million for Humvee maintenance at an Army National Guard installation
in Maine, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe, Maine
Republicans. The senators said cuts in the maintenance program proposed by the
administration would result in the "layoff of 175 employees in a region
already suffering" from the recession.
- $20 million for the Maui Space Surveillance System in Hawaii, requested
by Mr. Inouye.
- $25 million inserted by Mr. Inouye for the Hawaii Federal Health Care
Network. Mr. Inouye's Web site says the health care program "supports applied
research, development and deployment of technology to improve access and
the quality of care to service members, military families and impacted
communities."
Laura Peterson, of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan spending
watchdog, told The Washington Times, "Earmarks like these take money away from
other defense programs that the Defense Department actually wants. While
military health care is certainly a worthwhile venture, it's hard to see how a
program located in Hawaii that openly favors Hawaii-based industries
guarantees [the Department of Defense] the best value for such an exorbitant
price tag."
Mr. Inouye had a total of 35 earmarks worth more than $206 million in the
final bill, and the ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Thad Cochran
of Mississippi, sponsored 48 worth $216 million.
Mr. Cochran defended earmarking as part of Congress' responsibility to
direct government spending.
"I am not ready to cede the power of the purse to any administration," he
told The Times in an e-mail. "It is vested by the Constitution in the
Congress." He added that appropriators had "reviewed the budget request very
carefully, conducted public hearings and reported the appropriation bills that
the committee thinks will serve the public interest."
In addition to the $2.6 billion in earmarks, the bill includes $2.5 billion
for 10 Boeing C-17 cargo planes that the military says it does not need,
and $1.7 billion for an extra DDG-51 destroyer not requested in the
Pentagon's budget proposal.
Mr. Coburn mounted a rear-guard action on the Senate floor to try to
restore some of the money to its original purpose. One proposed amendment
restored $100 million to the accounts by correcting the economic projections used
in the bill to estimate future costs. That passed, but other amendments to
prevent the use of O&M money to fund earmarks were soundly defeated.
Mr. Wheeler said senators had raided O&M accounts to pay for narrowly
targeted projects in every budget since 2002, with dire results for troops on
the front lines.
"Air Force and Navy combat pilots training to deploy are getting about half
of the flying hours they got at the end of the Vietnam War," he wrote in
his analysis. "Army tank crews get less in tank training today than they did
during the low-readiness Clinton years."
Mr. Wheeler told The Times that the figures were drawn from the Pentagon's
budget justification.
Mr. Coburn said in May that the Navy had been forced to curtail at-sea
training and flying because of a shortfall in 2009 O&M funds.
The White House Office of Management and Budget has called on lawmakers to
reverse the cuts.
"These reductions would hurt force readiness and increase stress on
military people and equipment," the agency said.
The House approved its version of the bill in July. Ms. Peterson said that
lawmakers still could restore the funding in the conference that reconciles
the two versions of the bill.
The conference "presents a final opportunity for Congress to take their
hands out of the cookie jar and put some dough where it's really needed -
protecting our fighting men and women," she said.