Westmoreland votes for war funding, border security
Washington,
May 5, 2005 -
U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland voted Thursday for a congressional spending package that will fund our military’s ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The legislation also tightens our nation’s borders and issues high standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and IDs in order to crack down on fraud and terrorism.
"This legislation honors our troops on the ground in the Middle East who are on the front lines of the war on terror," Westmoreland said. "We’ve put particular emphasis on giving troops better and more protection and we’ve increased the benefits for military families when soldiers die or are injured. It’s the right thing to do. Our troops are still facing hostile forces every day. The Congress has to assure they’re the best trained, best equipped fighting force in the world so that they can eventually win this fight.
"I’ve also strongly supported efforts to strengthen our immigration policies. It’ll now be easier to deport suspects linked to terrorism and it’ll be much more difficult for would-be terrorists to blend into our society by gaining driver’s licenses. This is a significant improvement over our current laws."
Supporting our troops
The Conference report proposes a total of $75.9 billion for total defense related expenditures, $921 million over the Administration’s request.
Additional funds over the Administration’s request are for force protection and to increase the survivability of troops in the field.
The Supplemental Conference report increases the Death Benefit and Gratuity for the families of our fallen heroes.
This is particularly poignant this year as we celebrate Military Spouses Appreciation Day on May 6th and Mother’s Day on May 8th.
The bill increases the maximum Servicemember Group Life Insurance benefits from $250,000 to $400,000.
The onetime death gratuity for combat families is also increased from $12,000 to $100,000.
The Conference report also includes Traumatic Injury Protection Insurance.
This new insurance benefit provides up to $100,000 for soldiers who have suffered traumatic injuries such as loss of limb or sight, or other debilitating injuries.
Border Security
The Conference report provides $635 million for increased border security and enforcement.
Support includes $450 million in new funding and $185 million offset by corresponding rescissions, including:
$176.2 million to hire, train, equip and support an additional 500 Border Patrol Agents and relieve current facility crowding,
$454.2 million is provided for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which includes $361.2 million to permit ICE to fully fund remaining base cost shortfalls remaining from the transition to DHS and deferred FY05 initiatives, and
$97.5 million to hire and train additional criminal investigators and Immigration Enforcement Agents.
