'05 defense bill will see 'smooth sailing'.

• Author: Fein, Geoff S.
• Position: Washington Pulse

Congressional staffers predict the fiscal year 2005 funding for the Defense Department will move quickly through the appropriations process, despite widening concerns about the administration's reluctance to disclose projected cost estimates on the war in Iraq.

The president's request of $401.7 billion for the Defense Department in 2005 does not include any money for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan or for the 30,000 additional soldiers the Army requires to meet pressing wartime needs.

The 30,000 troops alone will cost at least $3.6 billion, according to Charlie Houy, minority staff director for the Senate defense appropriations subcommittee. He said the administration's decision to postpone a supplemental funding request until after the November 2004 elections is likely to generate "controversy," because many members of Congress may not want to be kept in the dark about the estimated cost of the war for fiscal year 2005. His subcommittee, he said, would much rather receive the supplemental request by mid- or late summer.

Defense Department Comptroller Dov Zakheim defended the administration's decision, claiming that it is too early to predict funding requirements for conflicts where the situation changes on a daily basis.

Steven Kosiak, director of budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, predicts the...