Top Armed Services Republican urges Gates to advocate for war-funding bill

The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee is
pressing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to advocate for the speedy passage of
the war-funding bill.

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) sent a letter to Gates Friday
urging him to “communicate the Department’s need for this funding without delay
and brief the Congress explaining why urgent action is needed.”

{mosads}Republicans and Democrats have been locking horns this week
over the approval of the supplemental request after Majority Leader Rep. Steny
Hoyer (D-Md.) said the need for Congress to send additional money for the war
in Afghanistan was not as urgent as it had been earlier in the year. The
Pentagon requested $33 billion for the wars Iraq and Afghanistan for the
remainder of fiscal year 2010.

“It appears that some in Congress question the urgency of
passing the wartime supplemental appropriation,” McKeon wrote to Gates.

“This view conflicts with information the Armed Services
Committee has received from the Department; it is my understanding that failure
to provide supplemental appropriations before the end of this spring will
undermine the Department’s operations, result in hollowing out of personnel
accounts, and force problematic reprogramming actions.”

The Senate passed before Memorial Day a nearly $60 billion
supplemental funding bill, which includes several non-defense items, but the
House has yet to act. Congressional sources said that the House may vote on the
supplemental as early as next week.

Gates has been on extended overseas travel so he hasn’t
weighed in on the developments.

In February the Pentagon had said the military would need an
additional $33 billion by Memorial Day.

“We are driving at 60 miles an hour toward a brick wall,”
Comptroller Robert Hale told reporters at the time.

War funding as well as strategy would be on the front-burner
next week when the head of Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, and
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy, give the Senate and
House armed services panels an update on the Afghanistan missions.