Last week, President Bush signed a bill that would assign $355.4 billion to the Department of Defense’s fiscal year 2003 budget. It was the first of the federal spending bills to be signed, with the other bills to be decided upon after the election on Nov. 5.

Bush said the bill “says America is determined and resolute to not only defend our freedom, but defend freedom around the world; that we’re determined and resolute to answer the call to history, and that we will defeat terror.”

The defense budget saw an increase of $37 billion compared to last year’s budget, which will increase funding for military operations and maintenance and research and development.

In times when national security and the war on terrorism are dominating news headlines, Congress and the president also need to focus on other federal department budgets.

There are still battles that need to be fought on our own soil — battles against poor housing, substance abuse, homelessness, the environment, education and domestic violence.

For example, the Department of Health and Human Services has requested $488.8 billion to tackle issues such as Medicare, Medicaid, bioterrorism and drug treatment programs. But the department, in conjunction with the U.S. Agency for International Development, is giving $200 million in U.S. contributions to Investing in the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

Most of the Health and Human Services Department’s budget is going toward preparing the United States against a bioterrorist threat, with $4.3 billion assigned, and providing assistance to state and local entities for bioterrorism preparedness, with $940 million requested.

Also, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is requesting $31.5 billion for expanding home ownership, ensuring affordable rental housing opportunities and helping individuals achieve self-sufficiency.

Part of the department’s budget is going toward helping the homeless and people with HIV/AIDS, as well as giving people a boost with self-sufficiency.

Hopefully the people in Congress and President Bush will give these two departments the same attention as the Department of Defense’s bill because these departments cater to the issues that U.S. citizens live with every day.

We need to pay more attention to what’s happening at home than preparing ourselves for a potential war. We can’t win a war overseas when we can’t win a war on our own soil.

Editorial Board:Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Rachel Faber Machacha, Charlie Weaver, Zach Calef, Ayrel Clark.