Senate rejects Bush call for smaller funding bill
Posted on: Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 16:04 CDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday, ignoring a veto threat from President George W. Bush, blocked an effort to pare back an emergency funding bill for the Iraq war and U.S. hurricane rebuilding.
By a procedural vote of 72-26, the Senate stopped further debate of an amendment that would have cut the $106.5 billion spending bill to $94.5 billion, which would have brought it in line with Bush's request.
The vote came less than 24 hours after the White House, in unusually blunt language, warned the Senate that Bush would veto any bill that spends more than the $94.5 billion he has requested.
Bush was responding to conservative Republicans in Congress, who are trying to scale back a spending bill that originally was intended to maintain U.S. war efforts abroad and Hurricane Katrina-related redevelopment in southern states.
The Senate began debate on Monday of a much broader "emergency" spending bill, one that gives new federal disaster aid to farmers and spends money on military programs that critics claim are not essential to the war.
The Senate bill also has come under attack for funding special-interest development projects in Gulf Coast states and other regions.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican whose state was hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina, challenged the White House and its veto threat.
"Do we want to ignore ... the needs that are clear and important and serious that are addressed by the funding in this legislation?" Cochran said.
The lopsided result indicated there could be enough support in the Senate to override a possible Bush veto.
Even if the Senate, possibly next week, passes a much larger than requested spending bill, it could be downsized by House-Senate negotiators before being sent to Bush for his signature or veto. The House backed Bush's request.
Source: REUTERS
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