Washington Times
Kellan Howell
04/30/2015
In what some are calling a political power play, Congress moved Thursday to approve the national defense budget that includes millions of dollars for a missile-defense site that Pentagon officials have repeatedly said is unneeded.
The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act passed late Wednesday by the House Armed Services Committee includes $30 million in funding for design and planning of an East Coast missile defense site. Construction of the site, which would be used to defend the U.S. against long-range missiles from rogue states, is expected to cost at least $3 billion.
But Pentagon officials and watchdog groups say that the missile site isn’t needed and that the money could be put to better use.
The U.S. already has two missile defense sites in Alaska and California that are capable of intercepting North Korean missiles and anything launched from Iran, should that threat develop. Iran does not have a long-range missile capable of reaching the U.S.
Neither the Obama administration nor the Missile Defense Agency has asked for an East Coast site, but Congress has pushed for the effort anyway.
Budget analysts say the Pentagon is often used as a pork barrel for lawmakers who want to pour money into their districts via the defense budget.
