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Congress Approves War Funds

Measure doesn't tie funds to Iraq withdrawals, making Bush veto less likely

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 14, 2007 5:41 PM CST

(Newser) – The Senate today authorized a defense bill providing $506.9 billion for Pentagon programs and $189.4 billion in funding for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars—but no timetables on troop withdrawals, which brought vetoes on earlier efforts. The bill, approved 90-3 by the Senate, expands the army by 13,000 and enhances veterans care programs, with special regard to brain injuries and psychological disorders.

The bill would not fund the war past February, and Senate Republicans are expected to push for $70 billion in appropriations legislation to continue well into 2008—another bill Democrats are expected to fight but eventually support. Today’s measure also authorized $10 billion for European missile defense, but ties the project to parliamentary approval by the countries involved.

U.S. Army soldiers from Task Force 4-64 Armor watch as medics tend to their seriously wounded colleague at Ibn Sina Hospital in the Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) (Associated Press)

Iraqi men shout slogans during a demonstration following Friday prayers in the Shiite enclave of Sadr city in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday, Dec. 14, 2007. Thousands of followers of radical cleric Muqtada... (Associated Press)

U.S. Army Capt. Mike Berriman, left, 1st Lt. Matt Lynes, second left, Command Sgt. Maj. Rodney L. Greene, second right, and Lt. Col. Johnnie Johnson, right, of Task Force 4-64 Armor salute a seriously-wounded... (Associated Press)

Men react next to a house hit by an artillery round in the village of Shakarat, in the volatile Diyala province, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. The U.S.... (Associated Press)

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Congress Approves War Funds

Measure doesn't tie funds to Iraq withdrawals, making Bush veto less likely

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