Coffman, Polis say money for separate war budget should wind down

AURORA | You don’t often see Aurora Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman and Boulder Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis agreeing on many things coming out of Washington D.C., but the duo found common ground on a letter to President Barack Obama asking the administration to wind down a separate military fund.

In a letter signed with 24 other representatives, Coffman and others ask the administration to stop using an Overseas Contingency Operations fund for normal military operations. The letter says that the fund has been misused by both the administration and Congress, and both parties, for everything from aircraft to up to 20 percent of the Air Force’s operational budget. The 2014 request for the OCO fund was roughly $80 billion.

The letter cites an analysis that showed that up to $30 billion from the fund was used to pay for normal operations, and the letter says that money should be folded into the base budget request from the Pentagon so a more accurate cost of the military’s operations can be measured. The letter says as the wars wind down the fund should be ended as well.

A proposal from the White House in 2014 said the budget request was 10 percent less than 2013 due to the wars winding down. In 2013, the administration asked 24 percent less than 2012 due to reduced troop involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.