thedrifter
07-30-07, 06:07 PM
Officials to explain what $12B a month buys
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 30, 2007 18:21:14 EDT
Pentagon and State Department officials will be under the gun on July 31 to explain the estimated $12 billion-a-month cost of continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House Budget Committee hearing on the cost of military operations and reconstruction costs comes after the Congressional Research Service, a bipartisan analytical arm of Congress, reports the that Congress has provided $610 billion already for the two operations and related costs for fighting terrorism, and will be spending an additional $147 billion in fiscal 2008, which begins Oct. 1.
Most of the money — about $568 billion so far — has been allocated to the Department of Defense. The State Department and Agency for International Development have received $41 billion, and about $1.6 billion has gone to the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the research service report.
One of the calculations made by the research service is the average annual cost per deployed service member, a number that has climbed 33 percent over the last three years and is now $390,000.
The $12 billion a month in current expenses is an increase from the $8.7 billion a month average cost in fiscal 2007, the report says.
Testifying at the hearing will be Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Sattler, strategic plans and policy director for the Joint Staff. State Department officials also will be asked to explain increases in reconstruction programs and the growing costs for building a new U.S. embassy.
The Congressional Budget Office, which provides economic analysis for Congress and the special U.S. inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, also will testify.
Ellie
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 30, 2007 18:21:14 EDT
Pentagon and State Department officials will be under the gun on July 31 to explain the estimated $12 billion-a-month cost of continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The House Budget Committee hearing on the cost of military operations and reconstruction costs comes after the Congressional Research Service, a bipartisan analytical arm of Congress, reports the that Congress has provided $610 billion already for the two operations and related costs for fighting terrorism, and will be spending an additional $147 billion in fiscal 2008, which begins Oct. 1.
Most of the money — about $568 billion so far — has been allocated to the Department of Defense. The State Department and Agency for International Development have received $41 billion, and about $1.6 billion has gone to the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the research service report.
One of the calculations made by the research service is the average annual cost per deployed service member, a number that has climbed 33 percent over the last three years and is now $390,000.
The $12 billion a month in current expenses is an increase from the $8.7 billion a month average cost in fiscal 2007, the report says.
Testifying at the hearing will be Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England, Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas and Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Sattler, strategic plans and policy director for the Joint Staff. State Department officials also will be asked to explain increases in reconstruction programs and the growing costs for building a new U.S. embassy.
The Congressional Budget Office, which provides economic analysis for Congress and the special U.S. inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, also will testify.
Ellie