NYT: House Approves Funds for Wars and Hurricane Aid
[Ian’s note: I would bet that the hurricane aid was dependent on the war aid, and not the other way around…]
The Senate is expected to approve the measure in the next few days, clearing the legislation for President Bush to sign.
House and Senate negotiators reached agreement among themselves and with the White House by reducing disaster assistance to stay within the limit set by Mr. Bush. Still, legislators from Louisiana and other Gulf Coast states praised the final bill, saying it would provide money desperately needed by their constituents to repair damage done by the hurricanes of 2005.
The vote on the bill was 351 to 67. The no votes came from 19 Republicans, mainly fiscal conservatives, and 48 Democrats, including some of the party’s more liberal House members.
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, said that in negotiations with the Senate, he made clear that the House would not accept $1 more than the president had requested.
“We made good on this promise by rejecting some $14 billion in unnecessary, nonemergency spending added” by the Senate, Mr. Boehner said.
Spending in the final bill was closer to the level originally approved by the House, $91.9 billion, than to the amount endorsed by the Senate, $108.9 billion.
The final package includes $65.8 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, $3.9 billion for foreign aid, $19.8 billion for hurricane relief and $2.3 billion to prepare for a potential avian flu epidemic, with much of the remainder intended for border security.
The bill provides money to upgrade Humvees, Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, as well as nearly $2 billion for new technology to counter the roadside bombs that have become the leading cause of death for American troops in Iraq.
Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, voted for the bill, as did the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California. But Mr. Obey denounced financing the war in Iraq with emergency spending bills, which are outside the regular budget and appropriations process.
“Such emergency spending is simply a gimmick that masks the full cost of the war, and it does not fool anybody except the American people,” Mr. Obey said.
Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, a fiscally conservative Republican who voted against the bill, echoed this concern. “I support our troops, I support the war on terror, but I do not believe we should finance the war through emergency supplemental appropriations,” Mr. Hensarling said in an interview. “That approach evades whatever spending discipline we have.”
Mr. Hensarling said some items did not meet his definition of emergency spending. For example, he said, the bill includes $38 million to reseed oyster reefs, $400,000 to assist sugar cane growers in Texas and $27.6 million to upgrade steam tunnels under the United States Capitol.
Congress provided new authority to the secretary of defense to shift money between accounts to meet the military payroll and to offer bonuses to new recruits. Lawmakers allowed $3.75 billion in such transfers in December and have now agreed to increase the limit to $5 billion, as the armed forces have had difficulty meeting enlistment goals.
The bill provides $1.9 billion for border security, including $708 million to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops along the Southwest border to thwart illegal immigration from Mexico. Congress also provided money to hire 1,000 Border Patrol agents and to build detention space for 4,000 illegal immigrants. But House and Senate negotiators dropped $648 million that had been recommended by the Senate to increase port security.
The House and Senate bills included similar provisions intended to prevent the United States from establishing permanent bases in Iraq. The provisions were dropped from the final version of the legislation. Some Democrats, like Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, cited the change as a reason for voting against the measure.
The bill provides $20 million for activities to promote democracy in Iran. It forbids American assistance to the Palestinian Authority unless a future Palestinian government agrees to forswear violence and recognize Israel.
Under the bill, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will receive $6 billion for its main disaster relief fund. That is $1.2 billion less than the president requested, $3.5 billion less than the House wanted and $4.4 billion less than the Senate proposed. The money will be used to remove debris, repair public works and provide housing for hurricane victims.
The bill also provides $550 million for a new veterans hospital in New Orleans, $50 million for higher education, and $235 million to help elementary and secondary school students displaced by the Gulf hurricanes.
The Army Corps of Engineers will receive $3.7 billion for flood control projects and levee repairs in Louisiana.
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