Senate OKs $87.5 billion Iraq request

The Senate yesterday approved President Bush’s request for an additional $87.5 billion to fund military operations and rebuilding efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The only remaining hurdle is Mr. Bush’s own signature.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike had initially bridled at the price tag — particularly the $21.8 billion in rebuilding funds — and demanded that the money be at least partially repaid with Iraqi oil.

Mr. Bush thwarted those efforts by threatening a veto, saying that Iraq should not be saddled with more debt.

Final congressional approval came yesterday with the Senate’s voice vote, meaning no roll call tally was taken of individual senators’ positions.

Leaders of both parties agreed to skip the roll call to protect Republicans from openly voting against their president and Democrats from public knowledge of a vote against funds for soldiers.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, has been a vocal critic of Mr. Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq argued that at least some of the spending should be converted to loans.

“As much as I believe that this war was begun in a wrong fashion with a policy that can no longer be defended,” Mr. Durbin said, “I have to say that as long as 120,000 of our best and brightest soldiers are over there risking their lives every single day, we have to stand by them.”

Mr. Durbin was not in the chamber for the voice vote.

The bill passed less than two months after Mr. Bush made his request — a period much shorter than more-routine appropriations bills often take — and included nearly everything Mr. Bush requested along with about $500 million in additional spending.

While passage of the bill is a huge legislative victory, Mr. Bush will still get sharp criticism from members of both parties over the issue of war spending.

Many, including some members of his own party, want to see Mr. Bush make good on his promise to get other nations to join American taxpayers in ponying up for the war and rebuilding effort.

Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, said she is “very disappointed” that provisions to make Iraq repay the United States were stripped from the bill.

“Both the Senate and the House expressed strong bipartisan support for this approach and I continue to strongly believe that there are ways to structure our reconstruction assistance that would provide the Iraqi people with the assistance they need when they need it while lessening the long-term impact on the American taxpayers,” she said.

“We should make Iraq a partner in this rebuilding venture, not simply the recipient of our good will.”

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