Spring Break
Bush wants $600 million for Iraq police, but cuts aid to U.S. cops
May 28, 2008
David Lightman - McClatchy NewspapersIssue date: 5/22/08 Section: Real News
WASHINGTON _ At the same time the Bush administration has been pushing for deep cuts in a popular crime-fighting program for states and cities, the White House has been fighting for approval of $603 million for the Iraqi police.
The White House earlier this year proposed slashing the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which helps local law enforcement officials deal with violent crime and serious offenders, to $200 million in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
In 2002, the year before the Iraq war, the program received $900 million.
The administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress are headed for a showdown over the domestic money, probably next month. When the Senate last week passed the emergency Iraq war funding bill, it allotted an immediate $490 million for the domestic grants while keeping the Iraqi police funds intact.
The House is expected to consider the package when it returns from its Memorial Day recess next week. But the domestic grants are the kind of spending that's causing Bush to threaten a veto.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino did not single out the Byrne grants but made it clear the president is not happy with items that don't deal with the war on terror.
She talked about how Congress wants "to ladle on lots of special projects. The president thinks that some of those projects may be meritorious. But they should have that debate outside of funding for the troops."
Some budget experts argue that the Iraq police and domestic grants have nothing to do with one another.
"State and local policing should be left to state and local governments. I don't see any advantage to federal meddling," said Chris Edwards, an analyst at Washington's Cato Institute.
Cato opposed the Iraq war, but Edwards said the issue of Iraq's police funding "is a foreign policy question, and foreign policy should depend on things other than economics."
But Travis Sharp, military policy analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, disagreed.
The White House earlier this year proposed slashing the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, which helps local law enforcement officials deal with violent crime and serious offenders, to $200 million in the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
In 2002, the year before the Iraq war, the program received $900 million.
The administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress are headed for a showdown over the domestic money, probably next month. When the Senate last week passed the emergency Iraq war funding bill, it allotted an immediate $490 million for the domestic grants while keeping the Iraqi police funds intact.
The House is expected to consider the package when it returns from its Memorial Day recess next week. But the domestic grants are the kind of spending that's causing Bush to threaten a veto.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino did not single out the Byrne grants but made it clear the president is not happy with items that don't deal with the war on terror.
She talked about how Congress wants "to ladle on lots of special projects. The president thinks that some of those projects may be meritorious. But they should have that debate outside of funding for the troops."
Some budget experts argue that the Iraq police and domestic grants have nothing to do with one another.
"State and local policing should be left to state and local governments. I don't see any advantage to federal meddling," said Chris Edwards, an analyst at Washington's Cato Institute.
Cato opposed the Iraq war, but Edwards said the issue of Iraq's police funding "is a foreign policy question, and foreign policy should depend on things other than economics."
But Travis Sharp, military policy analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, disagreed.
Be the first to comment on this story