Hawai'i gains in Bush budget plan
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration's proposed $2.23 trillion federal budget for 2004 includes a Stryker brigade for Hawai'i as the Defense Department evaluates the project's future.
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The Pentagon planned to convert six Army brigades into $1.5 billion Stryker brigades — quick, mobile infantry forces on eight-wheeled armored combat vehicles. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has delayed final decision on the fifth and sixth brigades — in Hawai'i and Pennsylvania — pending an assessment this year of whether the brigades should be modified to improve combat effectiveness.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld delayed final decision on the fifth and sixth Stryker brigades.
The defense budget for the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 includes $46 million to continue Stryker development and $955 million for 301 combat vehicles, the bulk of which are expected to be assigned to the fourth Stryker brigade, at Fort Polk, La.
The president's budget, which would cut taxes anew, increase spending on the military and homeland security, and run the biggest deficit in history, opens the annual congressional debate on federal spending.
Administration officials blamed the projected deficit of $307 billion on a confluence of factors beyond their control, especially the need to beef up security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
House and Senate leaders will arrive at their own budget figures after committee hearings, in which lawmakers will have the opportunity to add money to favored projects.
After a first look yesterday, aides to the Hawai'i congressional delegation did not find any major surprises. The president's budget contains more than $300 million for military construction in Hawai'i, up from $269 million this fiscal year.
Schofield Barracks would receive $49 million for work on Capron Road, $49 million for Quad E, $33 million for a mission support training facility and $18 million for an information systems facility.
Pearl Harbor would receive $32 million for waterfront improvements and $7 million for perimeter security lighting. Hickam Air Force Base would receive, among other things, $30 million for C-17 corrosion control, $10 million for work on squadron operations and $10 million to expand a strategic airlift ramp.
"There are always fierce battles over the (military construction) money, and I'll be fighting hard to protect every penny for Hawai'i," said Hawai'i Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie.
Overall, the national defense budget would rise to $399.1 billion next fiscal year, up from $382.2 billion this year, as the Bush administration seeks to transform the military to respond to multiple threats rather than the old standard of fighting two wars simultaneously.
The proposed budget does not include operational costs for a possible war with Iraq or the ongoing war on terrorism, so defense officials likely will ask Congress for additional money this year.
The budget would support an active-duty force of 1.3 million, with new investments in shipbuilding, missile defense, special operations forces and unmanned vehicles.
Military pay raises would range from 2 percent to 6.3 percent. The military construction and family housing budget would fall by $1.5 billion, in part because of family housing privatization and Congress' decision to add more money for projects this year.
The Bush administration is proposing annual increases of about $20 billion to the defense budget through fiscal year 2009, when the budget would reach a half-trillion dollars.
Meanwhile, the president recommended $18 million for Native Hawaiian education programs, the same amount he proposed this fiscal year. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, worked to increase that to $32.5 million; Congress has not yet acted.
Bush's budget also includes $4 million to help institutions that serve Alaskan and Native Hawaiian students, compared with the $7 million Congress is considering this year.
The Interior Department's budget contains $250 million to control invasive species, including $2.3 million to combat the brown tree snake infestation on Guam and prevent its spread into Hawai'i.
Hawai'i, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands also would divide $15 million a year in aid to help offset the cost of migration from the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. The Office of Insular Affairs, which oversees the U.S. territories, also plans to open a compact office in Hawai'i.
Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, said the aid is well below what is needed to handle the number of people who have moved to the Islands. "I really query whether that's sufficient," Case said. "I have no doubt that Hawai'i alone exceeds $15 million (in costs)."
