Politics

Bush: Money No Object Vs. Terror

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 26, 2002 / 10:42 AM EST / CBS

President Bush pledged on Saturday to “spend what it takes” to conquer global terrorism and help Americans feel safe from attack at home.

Mr. Bush used his weekly radio address to recap the military and homeland defense proposals he announced this week as a curtain-raiser for the State of the Union address he will deliver to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

He said he will devote billions of dollars in his fiscal 2003 budget plan to his top priorities, building up the U.S. military and addressing domestic security needs.

The military alone would see an extra $48 billion, the largest increase in defense spending in 20 years, and $38 billion would go toward homeland security, the president said.

“Every budget reflects fundamental choices, and my administration has made choices to fit the times,” he said. “We'll protect our people in every way necessary, and we will carry on the campaign against global terror until we achieve our goal: The peace that comes from victory.”

In the Democrats' radio response, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) supported Mr. Bush in his war on terrorism, but suggested the nation needed a quick economic boost.

“In the war on terrorism, President Bush and his national security team continue to do a superb job,” Daschle said.

“But there are also reasons to be concerned. Last week, we learned that the massive surplus we predicted a year ago has shrunk by four trillion dollars. We are expected to be running deficits for the remainder of President Bush's term,” he said.

Daschle said lawmakers could help families by immediately passing a stimulus package that includes only those ideas that both parties support.

Partisan bickering has stalled negotiations on a larger package, but Daschle said Congress could agree on a proposal to add 13 weeks of unemployment benefits, tax rebates for those who did not get one last year, business incentives and fiscal relief for states.

"We should be trying to find ways to get our economy back on track," Daschle said, adding a stalled farm subsidy bill was another crucial economic recovery measure for farm states.

Mr. Bush said the effort to root out terrorists will be neither brief nor cheap, and the U.S. military will need the best high-tech equipment available to succeed at it.

“My budget calls for ... investing in more precision weapons, missile defenses, unmanned vehicles and high-tech equipment for our soldiers on the ground. I will also seek another pay increase for the men and women who wear our country's uniform,” he said. “We will spend what it takes to win the war against terrorism.”

The president pledged to steady the nation's wobbly economy by trying to create a climate for job reation that can ease the effects of the current recession.

“Government doesn't create jobs, but it can encourage an environment in which jobs are created,” Mr. Bush said. He urged the Democratic-controlled Senate to approve an economic stimulus package to help that process along.

But the Senate dealt a setback Friday, declining to extend a new three-year tax break to companies strained by recession.

Democrats said the provision would have cost $66 billion over the next 10 years, making the country's fiscal outlook worse and discouraging job creation.