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Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Final Agreement Reached on Supplemental
The House is expected to give final approval to an $82.04 billion "emergency" supplemental spending bill as early as tomorrow after House and Senate conferees announced they have reached agreement on the details of the legislation needed to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The legislation (HR 1268) includes a few additional spending items for tsunami relief, foreign aid, and border security in the southwest U.S.
The final cost is just above the $81.9 billion President Bush urged Congress to appropriate for the spending bill. The figure grew during talks where Lewis was convinced to include some of the money the Senate wanted to address security concerns at U.S. borders, particularly in the Southwest.
The conferees agreed to provide another $75.9 billion for the Pentagon to pursue its military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The figure is $1 billion more than Bush asked for, and represents a compromise between the $74.8 billion Senate level and the $76.9 billion sought by the House.
More details on supplemental
OMB Watcher coverage of supplemental
Bush Criticized Over War Budgeting Process
Posted by Adam Hughes
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