Lawmakers to begin debates on war

A $94.5 billion dollar support bill is expected to pass through the Senate.
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- Both sides of the Capitol will be ringing with debate on the war in Iraq this week, first on its cost, then on its course -- with a healthy dose of election-year politics mixed in.
The House on Tuesday took up a record-breaking $94.5 billion emergency spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gulf Coast hurricane relief, border security and avian flu preparation. With Senate passage expected later in the week, the bill would push the cost of the Iraq war to nearly $320 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Military and diplomatic costs in Iraq this fiscal year will have reached $101.8 billion, up from $87.3 billion in 2005, $77.3 billion in 2004 and $51 billion in 2003, the year of the invasion, congressional analysts said.
Nearly $66 billion would go to the Pentagon to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an additional $4 billion would be spent on foreign assistance, including $66 million to promote democracy in neighboring Iran.
Changes
Congress delivered the dollar total that President Bush had requested in war funding. But lawmakers made several key changes, including adding $725 million to ensure that Army tracked combat vehicles such as Abrams tanks are upgraded and available to National Guard units. They also added $480 million for newer humvees, for a total investment of $890 million, to replace retrofitted models.
The bill also would provide $2 billion to develop countermeasures to the makeshift bombs that kill many U.S. troops. But the measure knocked down Bush's request for training funds, providing $4.85 billion to prepare Iraqi and Afghan troops, about $1 billion less than what Bush had sought.
Other spending
The package also includes nearly $20 billion to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other local, state and federal entities continue disaster recovery and relief efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi. And Congress tucked in numerous unrelated items, including $500 million in agricultural assistance; $2.3 billion to prepare for an avian flu outbreak; and $1.9 billion to bolster security along the U.S. border, including by hiring 1,000 more border agents and adding 4,000 detention beds.