Bush Tried to Take Funds from Military School Kids to Pay for Iraqi-Afghan Policies
President Bush attempted to slash money from the program that pays to educate the children of military men and women even while saying, "Our men and women in uniform give America their best and we owe them our support."
At the same time the President lauded the "great courage" of the soldiers he sent to Iraq, he requested major cuts in the Impact Aid program that provides funds for the schooling of the 900,000 children of military families. Bush tried to take $172 million from Impact Aid and shortchange its funding by $583 million under the No Child Left Behind Act. The cutbacks would have directly affected children of troops currently deployed in Iraq.
The cutbacks were part of Bush's budgetary effort to find $87 billion for his policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, which include $40 million for school programs to benefit Iraqi children.
Congress defied the President on his cutbacks, however. The House added $223 million to Impact Aid, and the Senate slightly less. Apparently, Bush will accept the funding rather than resort to a veto.
If we have to leave a few children behind in order to extricate ourselves from the quagmire that is Iraq, well then so be it, eh??
