Bush Promises to Step Up Iraq Rebuilding Spending
Sat Sep 25, 2004 01:26 PM ET
By Adam Entous

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush, under election-year pressure from Democrats and some fellow Republicans over Iraq, promised on Saturday to step up the pace of spending on reconstruction contracts in that country despite the violence.

Bush, in his weekly radio address, cited what he called "steady progress" in Iraq to counter warnings by his Democratic presidential rival, Sen. John Kerry, that the situation in reality was deteriorating.

The Republican president said more than $9 billion would be spent on contracts in the next several months to rebuild Iraqi schools, refurbish hospitals, repair bridges and upgrade the electrical grid and communication system. But congressional aides and some administration officials said spending would increase more slowly.