House OKs Disaster, Military Spending
By Ann Curley/CNN
WASHINGTON (March 31) -- After testy exchanges between Democrats and
Republicans, the House Tuesday narrowly passed a $2.9 billion emergency
spending measure containing funding for disaster relief and military operations in Bosnia, Iraq and other overseas locations. The vote was 212-208.
Democrats opposed the bill because it is paid for by offsets in Housing
and Urban Development housing reserves, airport grants, the Americorps program,
the Department of Education's bilingual education program and the General
Services Administration's federal buildings fund. They argued offsets are not required for emergency funding.
House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) assailed the bill, calling it "the wrong thing to do." He said the current budget agreement
does not require offsets for emergency spending, arguing against cutting from important domestic programs.
Much of the debate centered on whether or not the measure should be funded by offsetting domestic programs.
The House bill will go to conference with the Senate version after the Easter recess to iron out differences.
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