Marketplace Morning Report (6:50 AM ET) October 2, 2001
Congress expected to boost defense spending
KAI RYSSDAL, anchor: That future is sure to be affected by the billions expected to be put toward national defense in the next few years. Congress is considering a huge boost in military spending, some 16 percent, a jump not seen since the Vietnam era. MARKETPLACE's Stephen Henn reports.
STEPHEN HENN reporting: While Congress hasn't quite signed a $50 billion blank check for the Department of Defense, it is being awfully generous. Andrew Krepinevich is executive director a the Center for Budgetary and Strategic Assessment.
Mr. ANDREW KREPINEVICH (Executive Director, Center for Budgetary and Strategic Assessment): The mood of the Congress right now is they would rather overspend by a considerable margin to provide homeland security, homeland defense for the American people, rather than undercut defense spending even if by only a little.
Mr. JOHN PIKE (Defense Policy Expert): I think that Congress is going to wind up spending a lot of money on pork-barrel projects, pet rocks and other things that have nothing to do with terrorism.
HENN: John Pike is a defense policy expert and director of GlobalSecurity.org.
Mr. PIKE: We really don't know what this war against terrorism is going to look like in the next week, much less the next year.
HENN: While Pike says it's already obvious the military will have new needs for troop transports, sophisticated surveillance aircraft and basics like spare parts and munitions, it's still too soon to tell exactly where the American military or its budget is headed. In Washington, I'm Stephen Henn for MARKETPLACE.
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