- The US House of Representatives approved an 87.5 billion
dollar bill for military upkeep and reconstruction aid for Iraq and Afghanistan
that President George W. Bush was pushing for.
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- Passed by a vote of 298-121 shortly after midnight Thursday,
the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for the Reconstruction of
Iraq and Afghanistan will next move on to the Senate, which is expected
to put it to vote early next week.
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- The House vote came after the House-Senate reconciliation
committee late Wednesday approved a final version of the bill, two versions
of which had been approved two weeks ago by both houses of Congress.
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- The final version calls for 87.5 billion dollars in military
and reconstruction aid, half a million more than Bush had requested for
fiscal 2004 (which began October 1). The additional money was included
for recently declared national disasters, such as the fires in the state
of California.
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- Seen as a victory for Bush, who had been insisting on
urgent financial support for the US-led effort in Iraq, the bill, however,
is mired in controversy. A Newsweek poll earlier this week showed that
58 percent of Americans believed Bush was spending too much in Iraq.
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- The prospect of US taxpayers footing most of the reconstruction
costs in Iraq has raised concerns among lawmakers going up for reelection
in 2004, some of whom wanted part of the money to be in the form of loans
rather than grants.
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- The reconciliation committee on Thursday rejected an
amendment to the bill introduced by the Senate that would have required
half of 18.4 billion dollars in reconstruction aid to have been repaid
by Iraq with its oil revenues.
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- The White House had threatened to veto the entire aid
package for Iraq and Afghanistan if the loan amendment was kept in the
final version of the bill.
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- The bill includes 18.6 billion dollars for Iraq relief
and reconstruction, 1.7 billion less than Bush had requested -- the reconciliation
committee trimmed the bill of expenses deemed unnecessary, including creation
of a postal code system for Iraq and construction of a prison that would
have cost 50,000 dollars per bed.
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- The aid for Iraq includes 5.6 billion dollars for the
electric sector, 4.3 billion for water resources and sanitation, 3.2 billion
for security and law enforcement, and 1.9 billion for oil infrastructure.
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- For Afghanistan, the bill appropriates 1.2 billion dollars,
400 million more than Bush had requested. The additional funds, the House
appropriations committee said on its website were "intended to show
tangible improvement in the security and quality of life of most Afghans
by the summer of 2004."
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- Most of the money, however, will be used for military
expenses in both countries. The bill earmarks 64.7 billion dollars for
national defense, 400 million dollars less than Bush's request.
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- The bill also includes 580 million dollars in diversified
aid, including peacekeeping activities in Liberia (245 million), well over
the 180 million dollars Bush had requested.
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