MACDILL, AFB, FLA. -  Congressman Jim Saxton (NJ-3rd) today is at MacDill Air Force Base, home of the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to meet with U.S. Special Forces.

Saxton met with soldiers returning from theaters of operations in the Middle East. They presented classified briefings on recent and current operations in the war on terrorism. Saxton is a longtime supporter of special operations even before 9/11, and helped craft recent increases in equipment, training and personnel. This week, a budget of $4.5 billion for 2004 that will fund U.S. Special Forces in FY2004 is expected to reach the House and Senate. That represents a 47 percent hike over last year.

"These special forces are consummate professionals," Saxton said. "What they are doing overseas requires great skill, bravery and daring on a grand scale. They are taking the fight to the terrorists, and putting themselves in danger to do it. America owes them a lot."

Earlier this year, Saxton was the leading force in Congress in the creation of the House Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, the first of its kind. The subcommittee is an extension of the Armed Services Committee. Saxton has been a proponent of terrorism threat awareness to the United States and its military personnel since the late 1980s. Saxton's terrorism subcommittee oversees over $25 billion in annual funding for the military, including the Navy Seals, Green Berets, a special order of Marines and other elite forces.

"When I meet with the troops who are doing the fighting, I listen to everything they say closely," Saxton said. "I will take what they tell me back to Capitol Hill and the Armed Services Committee."