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Bush blasts 1995 Kerry intelligence bill
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-09 10:31

U.S. President Bush on Monday accused John Kerry of having proposed "deeply irresponsible" cuts in intelligence spending just two years after the first attack on the World Trade Center, part of a re-election effort to depict his Democratic rival as weak on national security and the war against terrorism.

Bush, during a fund-raiser in Dallas, called attention to a 1995 bill that Kerry sponsored to trim intelligence spending by US$1.5 billion over five years. The cut was part of what Kerry called a "budget-buster bill" to strip US$90 billion from the budget and end 40 programs that he said were "pointless, wasteful, antiquated or just plain silly."

Kerry's proposal, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and calls for a peace dividend after decades of spending to thwart the Cold War opponent, never came up for a vote.

"This bill was so deeply irresponsible that it didn't have a single co-sponsor in the United States Senate," Bush said.

"Once again, Senator Kerry is trying to have it both ways," Bush said.

"He's for good intelligence, and yet he was willing to gut the intelligence services," Bush said, shaking his head. "And that is no way to lead in a time of war."

Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton said the senator's bill was about opposing "business as usual in our intelligence community" and that he has supported US$200 billion in intelligence funding over the past seven years — a 50 percent increase since 1996.

"He voted against a proposed billion-dollar bloat in the intelligence budget because it was essentially a slush fund for defense contractors," Clanton said. "Unlike George Bush, John Kerry does not and will not support every special spending project supported by Halliburton and other defense contractors."

Republicans hope to raise doubts about Kerry's ability to fight and win the war against terror, suggesting that his rhetoric does not match his 19-year record in the Senate. Bush also criticized Kerry for indicating he was uncomfortable "using the word 'war' to describe the struggle we're in."

To fend off such criticism, Kerry has relied in large part on his decorated Navy service in Vietnam.

Later Monday, the president was headlining another fund-raiser in Houston, with the two events pouring US$3 million into his campaign account the day before Texas holds its presidential primary.

In between the money events, Bush stopped by the popular Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to meet with cowboy champions and peruse the cattle on display. The White House called the livestock show an "official" event, and taxpayers paid for most of Bush's travels Monday.

Kerry, who has accused Bush of impeding a federal commission investigating the terrorist attacks, said Monday while campaigning in Florida, "If the president of the United States can find time to go to a rodeo, he can spend more than one hour before the commission."

Monday's cash swing opens a week that will also take Bush to Long Island, N.Y., for fund raising. He has collected more than $160 million for his re-election, closing in on his goal of US$170 million.

Bush's home state of Texas, of which he was governor before winning the presidency, remains a bedrock of his political support. Before Monday, Texans had sent his re-election campaign more than US$13.2 million, more than any other state, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign watchdog group. Dallas is among the top five metropolitan areas by volume of donations to his campaign.

The Dallas donors, who gave US$2,000 each to Bush's campaign, were served lunches in plastic containers. The meals included what one contributor termed room-temperature "chicken somethings," along with mini-sandwiches.

Rep. Ralph Hall, a Democrat who switched to the Republican Party last year, got VIP treatment when Bush landed in Dallas. An aide hustled him up the rear stairs of Air Force One, so Hall could step out atop the main stairs and wave to cameras at Bush's side.

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