WASHINGTON (AP) – The latest White House request to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should face easy approval in Congress, but a companion submission dealing with hurricane relief for the Gulf Coast could face much more debate.

The war request submitted Thursday would lift military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan to $115 billion this year and nearly $400 billion since the fighting began in March 2003.

A separate request for almost $20 billion in storm relief money would bring total spending in response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita to more than $100 billion.

That probably is not enough for some lawmakers from the affected regions. Conservatives, meanwhile, already are concerned the new spending is not accompanied by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.

The Bush administration submitted a $65.3 billion war request. Pentagon officials said the money would be sufficient to conduct the two wars at least through Sept. 30. Congress had approved $50 billion more for the war effort in December.

“These funds support U.S. armed forces and coalition partners as we advance democracy, fight the terrorists and insurgents, and train and equip Iraqi security forces so that they can defend their sovereignty and freedom,” President Bush wrote Congress.

The war in Iraq now costs about $5.9 billion a month, while Afghanistan operations cost about $900 million per month, said the Pentagon comptroller, Tina Jonas.

That total does not include the costs of replacing worn out or destroyed equipment, training Iraqi and Afghan forces or restructuring Army brigades into more agile units.

The Pentagon said the latest request assumes a U.S. force of 138,000 troops on the ground in Iraq through Sept. 30, the end of the budget year, even though the administration has signaled that troop numbers could fall below that this year.

The supplemental spending request for the wars would bring the total price for the Iraq and Afghanistan missions to almost $400 billion. Bush’s budget anticipates an additional $50 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1, though the costs probably will be much greater.

The requests Thursday totaled $91 billion and came 10 days after Bush submitted his $2.8 trillion spending plan for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. Overall, the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars consumes about 4 percent of the budget.

Still, war and hurricane relief costs and the burgeoning budget deficit – estimated to hit a record $423 billion this year – have put a squeeze on other programs.

Bush’s budget proposed cuts for a variety of domestic programs such as education, Amtrak, community development and local law enforcement grants, and also proposed curbing inflation increases for Medicare providers.

Congress is expected to vote on the massive requests as a single bill next month.

Lawmakers, however, are grumbling that the White House left out funds for highway repairs in Gulf Coast states and for various agriculture disasters dotting the Midwest. On the other side of the spectrum, conservatives believe the Katrina request should be matched with spending cuts elsewhere.

The latest request also includes $4.2 billion for State Department operations and foreign aid, such as $75 million to promote democratic institutions in Iran and $514 million to support peacekeeping efforts and provide food aid in Sudan.

The request also includes $2.9 billion for intelligence gathering and other related activities.

The $19.8 billion being requested for hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast includes $4.2 billion in flexible community development block grants aimed at compensating Louisiana residents whose homes have been damaged or destroyed. Louisiana officials said their state was shortchanged when Congress approved $11.5 billion in such funds in December.

An additional $1.5 billion would go toward levee repair, storm-proofing drainage pumps and other flood control projects, including $100 million to restore wetlands around New Orleans. Some $3.1 billion would go to repair and rebuild federal facilities such as military bases and a veterans hospital in New Orleans.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund is seeking $9.4 billion for such tasks as debris cleanup, housing aid and other relief. The request comes less than two months after lawmakers took $23.4 billion from FEMA’s coffers to help pay for a $29 billion Katrina relief bill.

The latest request would push total federal spending for hurricane rebuilding to more than $100 billion, according to administration tallies. That reflects about $68 billion in emergency appropriations, $18.5 billion in available flood insurance funds and the latest $19.8 billion request.

The latest war request includes:

-$33.4 billion for operations and maintenance costs, including logistics, troop security, food and fuel associated with the Iraq and Afghanistan missions.

– $10.9 billion to fix or replace damaged equipment such as Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles and improve armor, night-vision equipment and sensor capabilities.

-$9.6 billion for personnel costs.

-$5.9 billion to train and equip Afghanistan’s and Iraq’s military forces.

-$1.9 billion for equipment to detect and neutralize roadside bombs and other so-called improvised explosive devices.

-$1.5 billion to increase military survivors’ benefits and increase benefits for those injured in combat.

AP-ES-02-17-06 0345EST

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