Congress OKs War Spending

May 25, 07:22 AM

Current Headlines: From wire reports

WASHINGTON - Bowing to President Bush, the Democratic-controlled Congress grudgingly approved fresh billions for the Iraq war Thursday night, minus the troop withdrawal timeline that drew his earlier veto.

"The Iraqi government needs to show real progress in return for America's continued support and sacrifice," said the commander in chief, and he warned that August could prove to be a bloody month for U.S. troops in Baghdad's murderous neighborhoods.

The Senate vote to send the legislation to the president, 80-14, came less than two hours after the House gave its approval on a margin of 280-142. In both cases, Republicans supplied the bulk of the support, an oddity in an era of Democratic control.

But Democrats also won a top priority - the first minimum wage increase in more than a decade. The current federal wage floor of $5.15 an hour will go to $7.25 in three installments of 70 cents.

Democrats in both houses coupled their concession over Iraq spending with pledges to challenge Bush's policies anew - and force Republicans to choose over and over between the president and public sentiment on the unpopular war.

"This debate will go on," vowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada was even more emphatic.

"Senate Democrats will not stop our efforts to change the course of this war until either enough Republicans join with us to reject President Bush's failed policy or we get a new president," he said.

But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky cautioned against more of the same.

"I want to make it clear ... that if all funding bills are going to be this partisan and contentious, it will be a very long year," he said.

Thursday's action came at a time when Americans view the war in Iraq more negatively than at any time since the invasion more than four years ago, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. Still, the poll found that the majority of Americans supported continuing to finance the war as long as the Iraqi government met specific goals.

From the White House to the Capitol, the day's events closed out one chapter in an epic struggle pitting Congress against the president over a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,400 U.S. troops.

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio choked back tears as he stirred memories of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 : "After 3,000 of our fellow citizens died at the hands of these terrorists, when are we going to take them on? When are we going to defeat them ?"

The legislation includes nearly $95 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30.

In addition to jettisoning their plan for a troop withdrawal timeline, Democrats abandoned attempts to require the Pentagon to adhere to troop training, readiness and rest requirements unless Bush waived them.

The bill establishes a series of goals for the Iraqi government to meet as it strives to build a democratic country able to defend its own borders. Continued U.S. reconstruction aid would be conditioned on progress toward the benchmarks, although Bush retains the authority to order that the money be spent regardless of how the Baghdad government performs.

In exchange for providing the war money on Bush's terms, Democrats won White House approval for about $17 billion in spending above what the administration originally sought. Roughly $8 billion of that was for domestic programs from hurricane relief to farm aid to low-income children's health coverage.

Republican concern about the war was evident, although the rank and file voted with few exceptions for the money.

"It seems to me it's time for them to show what is their ability and professionalism to step up," Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said of the Iraqis. He said if conditions do not improve by mid-July, the president should reconsider his strategy.

Democratic divisions were on display, vividly so when Reid voted for the war money after Pelosi opposed it.

Presidential politics played a role, as Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, then Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, cast votes against the legislation strongly opposed by anti-war activists.

In a highly unusual maneuver, House Democratic leaders crafted a procedure that allowed their rank and file to oppose money for the war, then step aside so Republicans could advance it. There were 194 Republicans in favor, as well as 86 Democrats, three members of the leadership among them. Pelosi and 139 other Democrats voted against the measure, as did two Republicans.

Moments earlier, the House voted 348-73 to include a separate package of domestic spending that Bush had once resisted.

Reflecting unhappiness among conservatives in his own party, Bush said he would have preferred less domestic spending in the bill. "But, still, by voting for this bill, members of both parties can show our troops and the Iraqis and the enemy that our country will support our servicemen and women in harm's way," he said at a Rose Garden news conference.

One of the most vocal war critics in Congress readily agreed. "This is not a game. They run out of money next week," said Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, whose speech opposing Bush's Iraq policy more than a year ago was a turning point in the debate.

This article was compiled from reports by The Associated Press and The New York Times.

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