House and Senate conferees have provided less than half of the funding requested for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization in their fiscal year 2009 defense authorization bill. However, another $2 billion in funding is provided through supplemental appropriations. In May, the Senate Armed Services Committee declined to include any funding for JIEDDO -- the Pentagon's single manager for anti-IED efforts -- in the FY-09 base budget, instead proposing that all funding be moved to supplemental spending accounts. "The...
