据defensenews2020年3月17日报道,3月17日晚,白宫向美国国会提交紧急拨款申请,要求增加458亿美元,其中83亿美元用于国防部抗击新冠病毒大流行。该申请与特朗普政府当天向国会提出的1万亿美元刺激计划不同。拨给国防部的经费将用于“降低COVID-19对美国军人、家属和国防部文职人员的风险;减少病毒对战略任务准备的影响;提高国家应对能力。”总统要求联邦政府各新设部门,通过“国防应急基金”将相关经费转向其他国防部账户。继国会上周批准的83亿美元援助计划(主要拨给卫生与人力资源服务部)后,该庞大支出计划再次表明特朗普政府为抗击疫情的决心。
Trump’s $46B coronavirus aid request includes $8B for DoD
WASHINGTON ― The White House submitted an emergency funding request to Congress late Tuesday for an added $45.8 billion, with $8.3 billion in it for the Defense Department―all to address the coronavirus pandemic.
The request is separate from the Trump administration’s $1 trillion stimulus proposal, which it presented the same day on Capitol Hill.
“With the pandemic growing, resource needs have also grown. The unprecedented mobilization the Administration has achieved has forced agencies to incur unanticipated costs,” White House acting budget director Russell Vought said in a letter attached to the 118-page request.
“These costs must be met with a legislative response to ensure full operational capacity. The aim of this request is to maintain that capacity and ensure that resource needs created by the pandemic response are met.”
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee plans to hold its markup of the annual defense bill ― usually a hearing with more than 100 people in attendance ― on schedule next month.
For DoD, the funds would be to, “mitigate the risk of COVID-19 to United States service members, their dependents, and DOD civilians; minimize the impacts of the virus on strategic mission readiness; and support national response efforts.
“The request includes resources to facilitate changes in servicemember personnel policy; expedite access to rapid COVID-19 diagnostics; ensure access to medical care, including additional medical countermeasures; address the impacts of the pandemic on logistics and supply chains, including pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment; and bolster the overall national response.”
The president is also requesting a variety of new authorities across the federal government, including the provision of transfer authority from the Defense Emergency Response Fund to other currently available DoD accounts.
On the heels of an $8.3 billion aid package Congress approved last week ― primarily for the Department of Health and Human Services ― the sizes of the spending packages signal the broad scope of what the Trump administration believes it will need to grapple with the pandemic.