The US Department of Defense (DOD) has indicated that it will seek congressional approval for its planned $100 million Guantanamo Bay legal facility [JURIST report] rather than expedite construction by declaring it an emergency expense. US Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, in a November letter [PDF text] to Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman John Warner, had proposed to pay for the facility using "unobligated military construction appropriations;" the FY 07 Defense department supplemental request would then re-fund the depleted budget of the source program. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who was among those calling for congressional approval of the project, announced the DOD's reversal in a Friday press release. Read the Pentagon's project summary via the Miami Herald.
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