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Politics : The Iraq War And Beyond -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (18)	4/13/2003 9:20:43 AM
From: Ed Huang	Respond to of 9018

Congress Sends Bush $79 Billion for Iraq War Sat April 12, 2003 02:34 PM ET By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress on Saturday sent President Bush a $79 billion package to pay for conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, reward allies such as Turkey, bolster anti-terrorism and help struggling airlines. The huge bill, which Congress took up at the start of the war in Iraq and pushed through in just three weeks, gives Bush all the money he sought for the war, but curbs the free rein he wanted over most of the funds. Rushing to get the money to Bush before starting Congress' two-week spring recess, the House of Representatives passed the measure by a voice vote in a rare weekend session. The Senate agreed late on Friday to approve the measure even while House-Senate negotiators were working out its details and many lawmakers were headed to airports. "This bill began with the administration asking for a series of blank checks totaling almost $70 billion," said Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, top House Appropriations Committee Democrat. The final measure, he said, "reintroduces them to the concept of checks and balances." House members also said that final bill knocked out much of the money for pet projects that the Senate sought. "In this town we have people who will take advantage of even a war situation and a war supplemental," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, said in reference to the Senate. The dispute over the spending bill further strained relations between House and Senate Republicans, who already were feuding over a Senate move on Friday that slashed by half the $726 billion in new 10-year tax cuts sought by Bush. The final spending bill gives Bush the $62 billion he wanted to meet war costs. But while he wanted almost all of it in a Pentagon fund, lawmakers gave him $16 billion to use with little congressional oversight and allocated the rest for such things as buying weapons and personnel costs. In a statement, Bush said the final product "includes the resources necessary to win the war and help secure enduring freedom and democracy for the Iraqi people." POSTWAR RESTORATION The bill provides the $2.5 billion Bush wanted as seed money for Iraq's postwar restoration, but specifies that the money is in foreign assistance funds to the State Department, ensuring lawmakers' oversight of its spending. Bush had wanted the money in a White House fund expected to go to the Pentagon, which he has designated to take the lead in Iraq's transition to a new government. Some lawmakers said that plan would cut Congress out of the process and blindside the State Department that they said should have the top role in Iraq once the war was over. With the bill, Bush has ultimate authority over how the money is used, and by which agencies. In a bow to the White House, the bill also designates the Defense Department as a potential recipient of the funds. Food aid for Iraq is $369 million, between the Senate's original $600 million and the House's $250 million. The bill contains about $8 billion in aid to reward key allies, including $1 billion for Turkey as well as funds for Jordan, Egypt, Afghanistan, Israel and Pakistan. Lawmakers included relief worth about $3.5 billion for U.S. airlines that lost business because of the war, and extended jobless benefits for aviation industry workers. The bill provides $4 billion to tighten homeland security protections, including $2.2 billion to help local governments meet rising costs of sending police, firefighters and other "first responders" to terror threats. It has $100 million to help state and local health authorities with costs of the civilian smallpox vaccination program, and $42 million to compensate volunteers who suffer adverse reactions to the vaccinations. Most of the haggling, which continued right up to the bill's final passage, was over funds for pet projects senators had tucked into it. The final bill cut the nearly $700 million in Senate add-ons by half, reducing $50 million in proposed shipbuilding subsidies to $25 million and eliminating $3.3 million to repair a dam in Vermont. In a blow to House Republicans angry at Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley for his role in passing a budget that trimmed the tax cut, it kept $98 million to complete an agricultural research center in Grassley's home state of Iowa. reuters.com