$29.4 Billion for Homeland Security and related to go to Bush....for this year! Seems to be off to a good start, John!
Security, defense fund bills go to Bush
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press
[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 9/25/03 ]
WASHINGTON -- Congress completed work Wednesday on a $29.4 billion measure to finance domestic security programs next year, sending President Bush the first spending bill to cover the new Department of Homeland Security.
The House also approved a $368 billion measure covering Pentagon spending other than for the war in Iraq.
The Senate was expected to follow suit today so Bush can sign the bills into law before the 2004 budget year begins Tuesday.
Both measures passed with little opposition, though House Democrats said the Homeland Security bill did not go far enough to ensure the safety of cargo on passenger planes.
The House and Senate also passed a $3.54 billion bill to run Congress and its related offices. Attached to that measure was $937 million in emergency spending for this budget year to help victims of natural disasters.
The three bills would be the first spending bills this year to reach the president's desk. Every year, Congress must pass 13 spending bills to fund federal programs for the new fiscal year.
The Homeland Security bill, passed 417-8 in the House and by voice in the Senate, is the first for the new department formed last spring from the combination of 22 security-related agencies.
The funding, $1 billion above what Bush requested, includes some $4.2 billion for first responder programs, $9 billion for border protection and $5.2 billion for the Transportation Security Agency and the Federal Air Marshal Program.
At the White House, Bush celebrated the passage of the bill, which he said he looked forward to signing.
"To win the war on terrorism, we are staying on the offensive abroad and protecting Americans at home," he said in a statement. "These funds will help make Americans and their families even safer."
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