US House continues financial support for war

The US House of Representatives passed a $94.5bn (€75bn) Bill today to pay for continuing US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, hurricane relief, bird flu preparations and border security at home.

The House-Senate compromise bill contains $66bn (€52.5bn) for the two wars, bringing the cost of the three-year-old war in Iraq to about $320bn (€254bn). Operations in Afghanistan have now tallied about $89bn (€70.8bn), according to the Congressional Research Service.

The Bill, which passed by a 351-67 vote, had only minimal debate last night.

It contains almost $20bn (€16bn) in funds to further deal with the remaining hurricane devastation along the Gulf Coast. Much of the money would go to Louisiana for housing aid, flood control projects and a new veterans hospital in New Orleans.

It also provides funding for small-business disaster loans, rebuilding federal facilities and replenishing Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster-relief coffers.

The Senate is to clear the measure for President George Bush’s signature later this week. The big margin in the House reflected politicians’ support for US troops overseas despite whatever reservations they may have about the war.

The measure’s long legislative odyssey began in February as a $92.2bn (€73.3bn) request by Bush. He subsequently added another $2.2bn (€1.75bn) for flood control projects and $1.9bn (€1.51bn) for a border security initiative featuring the deployment of 6,000 National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border.

The House largely stuck to Bush’s demands when passing its version back in March. But the Senate, led by Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, responded with a $109bn (€86bn) measure that drew a veto threat from Bush for add-ons such as $4bn (€3.1bn) in farm disaster aid, $648m (€515m) for port security and $1.1bn (€875m) in aid to the Gulf of Mexico seafood industry.

But House negotiators killed a controversial Senate project to pay CSX Transportation $700m (€557m) for a recently rebuilt freight rail line along the Mississippi coast so the state could use its path for a new East-West highway. The project had earned scornful media coverage and protests from the White House and conservative activists.