Pentagon gets OK to shift construction budget

By Major Garrett
CNN White House Correspondent

CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- President Bush gave the Defense Department more flexibility Friday to use its construction budget to protect sensitive facilities.

Bush signed an executive order allowing the Pentagon to move funds from congressionally mandated projects and use them to boost security around weapons facilities, research laboratories and other high-risk areas.

In authorizing the change, the president gave the Pentagon the power to take away money from some projects that may not be crucial, such as on-base golf courses or running tracks.

The executive order gives the secretary of defense authority to use funds at his discretion from this year's $10.5 billion military construction budget to boost security at potentially vulnerable military facilities.

Bush requested $10 billion for the military construction budget this year, following up on a campaign pledge to boost spending on barracks and other base facilities to improve the quality of life for soldiers and their families. Congress added $529 million to that request.

In the executive order, Bush said the Pentagon had to respond to "the continuing and immediate threat to the national security of the United States" posed by the possibility of "further terrorist attacks."