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.)
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…