Military

DATE=10-2-01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CONGRESS - DEFENSE (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-281285

BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE

DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The U-S Senate has passed a 345 billion dollar defense spending bill. Lawmakers put aside disagreements over missile defense to act on the bill ahead of an expected military campaign against those believed responsible for last month's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

TEXT: The bill includes more than six billion dollars for programs to fight terrorism. It also gives President Bush the option of shifting one-point-three billion dollars out of an eight-point-three billion dollar budget for missile defense and use it for additional anti-terrorism efforts.

Senate Democrats -- like their counterparts in the House -- put aside their disagreements over missile defense in a show of unity following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The Senate vote was 99 to zero. The only Senator who did not vote was 98-year-old Republican Strom Thurmond, who fainted earlier in the day and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The Senate bill includes a pay increase and better health care coverage for members of the U-S military. It also calls for another round of U-S military base closings next year -- a provision not included in the House version of the bill, which was passed last week.

A conference committee will work out differences in the two versions before sending a final bill to President Bush for his expected signature. (signed)

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