MIDDLE EAST Approval nears for aid package

Most of the aid from other countries comes from loans.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Despite rising criticism about President Bush's handling of Iraq, Congress is on the verge of approving an $87 billion package for military and reconstruction costs in Iraq and Afghanistan that largely follows the White House's request.
House-Senate negotiators worked out final details late Wednesday, meeting Bush's demand that none of the Iraqi reconstruction money be provided as loans. The House could vote on the bill as soon as today, and the Senate is likely to follow shortly afterward. It then would go to Bush for his signature.
Concerns
Lawmakers have been increasingly uneasy about the rising human toll and financial costs of U.S. involvement in Iraq. They have questioned whether the Bush administration has done enough to win international assistance and how long U.S. troops will have to remain there.
But there was little debate about the bulk of Bush's proposal, $65.1 billion for U.S. military expenses. The House-Senate conferees ended up supporting almost all of it, $64.7 billion.
Bush's $20.3 billion request for Iraqi reconstruction and its security forces received greater scrutiny. That total had been cut by both the House and the Senate, and the conferees ended up approving $18.4 billion. They also approved $1.2 billion for Afghanistan reconstruction, compared with the $800 million sought by Bush.
Loaning money
The loan issue was the most divisive item. A Senate amendment, passed with bipartisan support, would have required Iraq to pay back about half of the $18.4 billion.
But with Bush threatening a veto, Senate conferees voted 16-13 not to insist on their loan amendment with their House counterparts.
Bush and congressional Republican leaders argued that Iraq already was too deeply in debt to borrow more money and that there was no Iraqi government with the authority to take on new loans.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the grants were needed to quickly improve conditions in Iraq and get U.S. troops home.
"America will be recompensed 50 times over if this thing gets ended and they have a strong country," he said.
Favoring loans
Loan supporters said U.S. taxpayers already were spending plenty on Iraq and that the country's vast oil reserves should enable it to pay back some of the money eventually. Under the Senate bill, Iraq would not have had to repay the loan if other countries forgave 90 percent of the debt Iraq ran up under toppled leader Saddam Hussein.
Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, the House Appropriations Committee's top Democrat, noted that much of the new aid pledged by other nations at an international donor's conference last week was made as loans.
"It seems to me that we're asking the U.S. taxpayers to be Uncle Sucker instead of Uncle Sam," he said.
The administration had one key setback when the conferees agreed to a pilot program to expand the military health insurance system known as Tricare to include members of the National Guard and Reserves who are unemployed or lack health insurance coverage.
Activated reservists and Guard members also would be eligible for coverage for a longer period. This change would be in effect only until the end of the budget year, Sept. 30, 2004.
The Pentagon had opposed the change. "We think that's probably not the best way to compensate the reserves," its chief financial officer, Dov Zakheim, told reporters.
Other funding
On other issues, the conferees agreed to provide:
* $500 million to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help it deal with recent disasters, including the California wildfires and Hurricane Isabel.
* $60 million for programs to strengthen women's rights in Afghanistan.
* $200 million for Liberia, $100 million for Jordan and $20 million for Sudan.
Republicans defeated a Democratic proposal that would have required Senate confirmation for Bush's civilian administrator in Iraq, the position held by L. Paul Bremer. Democrats complained about what they said was the administration's disdainful treatment of Congress on Iraq and said this could make it more accountable.
Republicans said they didn't believe Senate confirmation was necessary, but some agreed with Democratic criticism of the administration's attitude.
"You bump up to a degree of arrogance over and over," said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.