House OK's Pentagon budget, aid to automakers
Measure would also lift offshore oil drilling ban
WASHINGTON - The House passed a $630 billion-plus spending bill yesterday that wraps together a record Pentagon budget with aid for automakers and natural disaster victims, and increased healthcare funding for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The year-end budget measure would also lift a quarter-century ban on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The legislation, which senators are expected to approve and send to President Bush for his signature, is flying under the political radar compared with the White House's contentious plan to bail out Wall Street.
The spending bill, which passed 370-58, is fueled by a need to keep the government running past the Oct. 1 start of the new budget year. Passage also was greased by 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6 billion.
The measure is dominated by $488 billion for the Pentagon, $40 billion for the Homeland Security Department, and $73 billion for veterans' programs and military base construction projects - amounting to about 60 percent of the budget work Congress must pass each year.
Earlier this year, Congress provided $70 billion for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; more will be needed by mid-2009.
The administration won approval of the defense budget while Democrats wrested concessions from the White House on disaster aid, heating subsidies for the poor, and smaller spending items.
In a major victory for Republicans in this election season, Democrats capitulated and agreed to lift the offshore drilling ban. The move does not mean drilling is imminent, but could set the stage for the government to offer leases in some Atlantic federal waters as early as 2011.
The administration also succeeded in blocking Democrats' efforts to extend unemployment insurance, increase food stamp payments, and help states deal with shortfalls in their Medicaid budgets.
Democrats doubled the money for heating subsidies for the poor and successfully pressed the White House for a generous $23 billion aid plan for disaster-ravaged states.
Bush had threatened to veto bills that did not cut the number and cost of pet projects in half or cause agency operating budgets to exceed his request. Democrats ignored the edict as they drafted the plan and the White House has apparently backed down.
The legislation provides money for 20 F-22 jets over and above the Pentagon's request, and additional dollars for armored vehicles, body armor, and combating roadside bombs.
Veterans' health programs are in line for a 10 percent increase; veterans driving to Veterans Affairs' medical clinics would get an increase in mileage reimbursements; federal firefighting accounts would be replenished; and Georgia would receive $365 million in help to recover from the recent conflict with Russia.
After hard lobbying, automakers won up to $25 billion in low-interest loans to help develop technologies and retool factories to meet new standards for cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars. 