August 06, 2007	Monday	Rajab 21, 1428

WASHINGTON, Aug 5: The US House of Representatives early on Sunday passed a mammoth defence appropriations bill containing nearly $460 billion in funding for the US military in fiscal 2008, slightly below President George W. Bush's request.

The bill that was rushed through in the dead of night contains no money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they are being funded through separate legislation.

The bill allocates $459.6 billion to the Pentagon, against the $463.1 billion the president had requested earlier this year.

The measure contains nearly $23 billion to improve health care for members of the military and broaden military medical research programs and $2.2 billion to finance a 3.5-per cent military pay rise.

Another $925 million are allocated to specifically address equipment shortfalls in order to help forces meet the demands of overseas deployments and respond to natural disasters here at home.

The bill provides six billion dollars to boost the Army and Marine Corps by a total of 12,000 troops in order to reduce the pressure from extended deployments.

It funds weapons programs like F-22 combat planes, the Joint Strike Fighter, and the controversial V-22 aircraft that can fly like a plane and helicopter.

But it cut allocations for missile defence by more than $883 million arguing that the president's 8.5-billion-dollar request “included unrealistic missile deployment schedules.”—AFP