Senate panel OKs European missile defense sites

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Armed Services Committee said Thursday it had approved President George W. Bush's request for U.S. missile-defense installations in the Czech Republic and Poland.

The panel unanimously agreed to "fully authorize" both a proposed interceptor site in Poland and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic as part of a $542.5 billion fiscal 2009 defense spending bill, an official summary said.

But the proposal, which still must be approved by the full Senate and reconciled with a companion measure in the House of Representatives, would continue limitations on the use of funds until certain conditions are met.

Chief among them would be final approval for the project by the parliaments of the two European countries involved.

"This is a clear, unequivocal statement by the Democratic controlled United States Senate that reflects endorsement of missile defense deployment," said Riki Ellison, head of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, which has campaigned for the European installations.

The Pentagon and Boeing Co said in March they expected to negotiate a sole-source contract under which Boeing would extend work on the core, ground-based missile defense system it manages to tie in the 10 projected interceptor missiles to be based in Poland.

In February, Bush asked Congress for $719.8 million in fiscal 2009 to start building a missile defense leg in Europe aimed at thwarting what Pentagon officials call a looming threat from long-range Iranian missiles.

The Armed Services Committee also said it would require an independent assessment of the "feasibility and advisability" of developing a space-based interceptor for missile defense.

(Reporting by Jim Wolf; editing by Gunna Dickson)