–House Approves Bill On 308 to 114 Vote
–Final Bill Does Not Include Domestic Funds In Earlier Versions
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – The House voted Thursday to approve a
scaled-back $59 billion emergency spending bill that provides funds for
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The House approved the bill on a 308 to 114 vote. More than 100
House Democrats voted against the bill because of their opposition to
the wars and because it did not include some domestic funds that were in
earlier versions of the bill.
Since the Senate approved an identical version of the legislation
last week, the bill will go to President Obama for his signature.
The House considered the measure under the suspension calender
which meant the bill was debated for 40 minutes and amendments were
prohibited.
To pass, the bill required a two-thirds majority of House members.
Before the July 4th recess, the House passed an $82 billion
emergency spending bill, which included $37 billion for the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq and $22 billion to prevent a wave of teacher
layoffs.
The Senate approved a $59 billion emergency bill last week that
didn’t include the education funds.
Congressional leaders said that it’s critical to get the emergency
spending funds approved for the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Pentagon leaders said the emergency funds will be needed in the
coming weeks.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said earlier in the day that the
war funding debate should be distinct from future policy debates on
American policy in Afghanistan.
House Democrats are hoping to begin their summer recess this Friday
and are not scheduled to return to Washington until Sept. 14.
Before then, Democrats want to pass two fiscal year 2011 spending
bills: the Military Construction-VA spending bill and the
Transportation-HUD spending bill.
So far, none of the 12 FY’11 spending bills have been approved by
either the House or Senate.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
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