Senate set to approve Obama war funding request

[May 21, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is likely to get a sweeping bipartisan endorsement when the Senate votes on his request for continuing military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The $91.3 billion measure being taken up by the Senate on Thursday closely tracks Obama's request for war funds, although the $80 million he was seeking to close the U.S. naval prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was dropped Wednesday.

A vote to limit debate was scheduled for Thursday. It was expected to succeed easily and pave the way for a final vote later in the day. A final House-Senate compromise is likely when Congress returns in June from a weeklong Memorial Day recess.

Senate debate has featured none of the angst over the situation in Afghanistan that permeated debate in the House last week on companion legislation. Obama is sending more than 20,000 thousand additional troops there and, for the first time next year, the annual cost of the war in Afghanistan is projected to exceed the cost of fighting in Iraq.

The Senate bill includes $1.5 billion as cautionary funding to fight a possible flu pandemic, including the current outbreak of H1N1 swine flu. It also provides a $100 billion line of credit to the International Monetary Fund to shore up the ability of countries around the globe to cope with financial crisis, as well as $8 billion for existing commitments to the IMF.

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., promised to try to strike the IMF funding from the bill on Thursday. The funding is estimated to cost taxpayers $5 billion since the U.S. government is given interest-bearing assets in return.

The underlying war funding measure has gotten relatively little attention, even though it would boost total approved spending for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars above $900 billion.

The Pentagon would receive $73 billion under the legislation, including $4.6 billion to train and equip Afghan and Iraqi security forces, $400 million to train and equip Pakistan's security forces, and $21.9 billion to procure new mine-resistant vehicles, aircraft, weapons and ammunition.

The House version adds $11.8 billion to Obama's request, including almost $4 billion for new weapons and military equipment such as eight C-17 cargo planes, mine-resistant vehicles, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Stryker armored vehicles. The measure adds $2.2 billion to Obama's request for foreign aid -- much of which appears to be designed to get around spending limits for 2010.

The Senate measure also contains $350 million for various security programs along the U.S.-Mexico border.

[Associated Press; By ANDREW TAYLOR]

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