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Senate passes Iraq war funding bill with add-ons

By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republicans have broken with President Bush to help Democrats add support for veterans and the unemployed to a bill paying for another year of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The 75-22 vote also added billions of dollars in other domestic funds such as heating subsidies for the poor and money for fighting wildfires to the $165 billion for the military operations overseas.

Shortly afterward, the Senate endorsed $165 billion to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next spring, when Bush's successor will set war policy.

The vote on the domestic add-ons was a rebuke to Bush, who has promised to veto the measure if it contains the domestic measures. However, the president still has enough GOP support in the House to sustain a veto.

The House still has to act on the bill. Last week, it voted to reject money for continuing the war. It endorsed the help for veterans and the unemployed, but kept its version clean of most other domestic programs.

The huge tally in the Senate was driven by $15.6 billion over two years to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks and more than $50 billion over the upcoming decade to provide returning Iraq war veterans with sharply increased college aid.

But dozens of add-ons favored by senators in both parties contributed to the unexpectedly sweeping tally that embarrassed the White House.

The vote came after Bush, speaking to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, urged Congress to pass a war funding bill without congressional add-ons.

Some 25 Republicans abandoned Bush to endorse money for grants to local police departments, repairing roads damaged by natural disasters and boosting health research. Just 22 stood with him.

Such initiatives included money for Louisiana and Mississippi for projects including levees and coastal restoration.

There's also $850 million for international food aid, $1.9 billion for military construction projects, and several billion dollars in various foreign aid programs _ all requested by the administration.

In another tally, the Senate voted 63-34 to reject Democratic efforts to urge Bush to begin redeployment of combat troops and place other strings on his ability to conduct the war in Iraq.



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Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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