Washington — Congress has provided more than $60 billion since September to combat terrorism at home and abroad and to rebuild from the attacks on New York and Washington. That's roughly five times what the nation spent to fight terrorism in the previous year.
Some costs are one-time expenses or will diminish in coming years like helping communities recover from the Sept. 11 devastation, but other anti-terrorism programs are sure to grow.
When he sends Congress his $2 trillion budget for fiscal 2003 next month, President Bush is expected to propose billions more for the military's $345 billion wartime budget for the rest of this year, plus a hefty increase for next year for government-wide anti-terrorism efforts. Fiscal 2003 begins Oct. 1.
Republican aides on the House Budget Committee estimate that so-called homeland security programs alone such as hiring FBI agents and stopping bioterrorists will grow by $150 billion over the next decade. That excludes money for military anti-terrorism operations and for local recovery aid.
Not all of the $60 billion Congress approved will be spent this year. Precise figures remain hazy because of disagreements sometimes fueled by politics over what exactly constitutes anti-terrorism spending, and because such activities are often included within broader programs and are not distinct.
"We're scrambling" to figure out precisely how much was enacted, said spokeswoman Melissa Merson of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Though but a sliver of the federal budget, $60 billion exceeds the 2000 revenues of all but the dozen largest U.S. corporations. It is also five times the $12 billion total for all federal anti-terrorism spending in fiscal 2001.
Beefing up security at home and hunting Osama bin Laden are hugely popular with the public and members of both parties, assuring that such spending will continue.
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