U.S.
President Donald Trump has asked for another 30 billion dollars for the Defense
Department to rebuild the armed forces and accelerate the campaign to defeat
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Trump made the request in a letter to House Speaker
Paul Ryan, according to a statement by the Department of Defense, the request
was for 2017 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30
“The fiscal 2017 budget
amendment provides 24.9 billion dollars in base funds for urgent war fighting
readiness needs and to begin a sustained effort to rebuild the armed forces,
according to the president’s letter.
“The request seeks to
address critical budget shortfalls in personnel, training, maintenance,
equipment, munitions, modernization and infrastructure investment.
“It represents a
critical first step in investing in a larger, more ready and more capable
military force.
“The request includes
5.1 billion dollars in overseas contingency operations funds so the department
can accelerate the campaign to defeat ISIS and support Operation Freedom’s
Sentinel in Afghanistan, he said.
“He noted that the
request would enable the Department to pursue a comprehensive strategy to end
the threat ISIS poses to the United States, ” the statement read.
John Roth, the acting
undersecretary of defense-comptroller, said “our request to Congress is that
they pass a full-year defense appropriations bill, and that the bill includes
the additional 30 billion dollars.
“We are now approaching
the end of our sixth month under a continuing resolution, one of the longest
periods that we have ever been under a continuing resolution”.
Roth said much of the
money in the 2017 fiscal year request is funding for operations and
maintenance.
“We’re asking for
additional equipment maintenance funding, additional facilities maintenance,
spare parts, additional training events, peacetime flying hours, ship
operations, ammunitions and those kinds of things.
“This is the essence of
what keeps this department running on a day-to-day basis. It keeps us up and
allows us to get ready for whatever the next challenge is.
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