Senate and House conferees agreed late last week to hold the Fiscal 2006 supplemental appropriations for the war on terror and hurricane recovery to $94.5 billion—more than the House proposed, but much less than the Senate version. The President had requested $98.7 billion and vowed to veto the measure if lawmakers went above the Administration request. The conferees agreed to fund DOD at the Administration’s request of $65.8 billion. (Find the Senate summary here and the House here.)
Defense experts say the drone threat represents only part of a larger, looming problem: U.S. air bases in the Pacific are increasingly vulnerable to air attacks.