WASHINGTON — President Bush asked Congress for an additional $81.9 billion Monday that would go mainly to fund the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, boosting the cost of U.S. military operations stemming from the 2001 terrorist attacks to about $280 billion.
The bulk of the spending package would fund the wars' day-to-day costs, but $12 billion is also requested to refurbish and replace military trucks, tanks and helicopters. Of that, $3.3 billion is earmarked to upgrade the armor on U.S. military vehicles deployed in combat zones.
The Bush administration found itself on the defensive last year after soldiers complained about having to rummage through landfills for scraps of metal to armor their vehicles.
The budget request also includes $7.4 billion to accelerate the training of local armies in Iraq and Afghanistan that are the Pentagon's best hope for an eventual U.S. military exit from both countries.
While the Defense Department would receive roughly $75 billion of the budget request, the remainder would be spent on various State Department initiatives and tsunami relief efforts in southern Asia.
The proposed $950 million in aid to victims of the tsunami is far more than the $15 million offered shortly after the Dec. 26 disaster -- an amount that many assailed as stingy.
Although the $81.9-billion emergency funding request was not included in the budget package that Bush submitted to Congress last week, the figure was taken into account in a recent White House estimate that the federal budget deficit would total $427 billion this year.
Congress is expected to authorize the spending bill, as lawmakers from both parties are eager to show support for U.S. troops in harm's way. Still, the budget request is expected to give some Democrats a new forum to press the White House for an "exit strategy" from Iraq -- a commitment currently costing about $1 billion a week.
Passage of the measure also could be complicated by the prospect that House Republican leaders will attach to it proposed changes in immigration policy -- including a bid to block states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Bush called for quick passage of the spending request, saying it would "ensure that our troops continue to get what they need to protect themselves and complete their mission."
The supplemental budget also would give $5.3 billion to the Army's "transformation" efforts to create more combat brigades out of its current force structure.
