Staff on an influential House committee are proposing a $311 million boost to the Pentagon's fiscal year 2007 emergency spending requests that would allow the Marine Corps and Army to buy as many Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as possible to outfit troops in Iraq with improved protection against roadside bombs. The proposed spending increase -- outlined in a March 7 memo to Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, from subcommittee staff -- would...