Terrorism price tag: $60 billion so far

Associated Press

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.

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 governmentwide anti-terrorism efforts. Fiscal 2003 begins Oct. 1.

Bush’s budget is expected to propose a $15 billion increase for domestic security programs, everything from protecting nuclear power plants to building up federal vaccine stockpiles. The White House says $34 billion was enacted for such programs for fiscal 2002.

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.

Examples of expenditures include:

The Defense Department says that from Sept. 11 through Dec. 10, the most recent date available, it spent nearly $2.9 billion for operations in Afghanistan, plus $1.8 billion domestically for combat air patrols over some U.S. cities and to call up National Guard and Reserve troops. That averages more than $1.5 billion per month. Repairing the damaged Pentagon, replacing equipment and temporary workspace are expected to total $1 billion.

Legislation bailing out financially battered airlines and providing money to compensate victims of the four crashed hijacked airliners is projected to cost $13.6 billion from 2001 through 2006.

A $40 billion anti-terrorism bill provided $17 billion for defense, $11 billion for New York and other affected communities and $10 billion for domestic security. Nearly $2 billion has yet to be allocated.

Overall, lawmakers provided about $3 billion for countering bioterrorists, such as helping state and local health agencies and research. The Customs Service got $3.6 billion to upgrade security at ports and along U.S. borders, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service got $4.4 billion to strengthen enforcement.