House OK's $82b for Iraq, Afghanistan

Associated Press

By Liz Sidoti

The House easily approved another $82 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday, a measure that includes sweeping immigration overhauls and boosts the total spent on fighting terrorism since 2001 beyond $300 billion.

The vote was 368 to 58, with one lawmaker abstaining. The Senate is to vote on the measure next week, when it returns from a weeklong recess, and approval is expected.

The bulk of the money, $75.9 billion, is slated for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while $4.2 billion goes to foreign aid and other international relations programs worldwide.

The bill includes uniform requirements for driver’s licenses across states, toughens asylum laws, authorizes the completion of a fence across the California-Mexican border, and provides money to hire more border security agents.

Both the Republican-controlled House and Senate had promised to “scrub” President Bush’s request to cut spending for items that did not represent emergency spending needs. But the bill carries the same overall price tag that Bush proposed in February, and he gets most of what he sought.

However, the bill also provides roughly $1 billion more than the president had requested for defense and about $1.5 billion less than he wanted for international relations programs, reflecting a desire by lawmakers to give the Pentagon what it needs while holding the line on State Department spending.

“We did our very best to keep the package clean, and by and large we were successful at that,” said Representative Jerry Lewis, Republican of California, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Democrats roundly criticized the Republican leadership for including the immigration overhauls in a bill meant to cover the cost of war. They also assailed the administration’s Iraq policies and railed against what they called a lack of oversight by Congress of money already given to the Republican administration for the two wars and reconstruction.

“Providing this money alone is not enough,” said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California. “A way out must be provided as well.”

Hitting on immigration overhauls in the bill, Representative Louise McIntosh Slaughter, Democrat of New York, said, “Our brave men and women are being used as a tool” for the “underhanded attempt to create a national ID card.”

The legislation is the fifth such emergency-spending package Congress has taken up since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The over four years beyond $300 billion.