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| Politics
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| War funds budget clears US Senate |
| The US Senate has approved a huge $555bn (£277bn) federal budget that includes an extra $70bn for US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 19-December-2007
9:6:36 AM |
| Faced with a veto threat from President George W Bush, Democrats dropped efforts to tie the funds to a timetable for a US troop withdrawal from Iraq.
The House of Representatives could vote on the Iraq funds later in the day.
The approval of the budget, after months of argument, comes as a Pentagon report has hailed "progress" in Iraq
The quarterly report for Congress said US forces had made "significant progress" in Iraq over the past three months, with the country becoming safer.
But the report cautioned that despite the progress on the security front, the handover to Iraqis was lagging, with Iraqi forces still dependent on US troops for logistics and training.
'Omnibus' bill
The half-a-trillion-dollar appropriations bill, passed late on Tuesday, combines funding for all government departments except defence, and covers areas including housing, law enforcement and transport
Senators voted 70-25 to back the war funds measure, and then by 76-17 to pass the spending bill for the fiscal year that began on 1 October.
The Democrats, who won majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in November 2006, had tried time and again to impose a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq.
"When is enough enough? I urge my colleagues to vote against this gigantic blank cheque," said Democratic Sen Edward Kennedy.
The counter-argument was put by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell: "We need to pass this spending bill, with troop funds, without any strings and without further delay."
With Mr Bush standing firm and threatening to veto the entire budget - a move that could have paralysed federal agencies - the Democrats ended their attempts to impose conditions on money for Iraq
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