House, Senate panels approve nearly $80 billion for war

WASHINGTON -- The House and Senate Appropriations committees approved similar bills Tuesday containing nearly $80 billion for initial costs of the war with Iraq and other anti-terrorism efforts, including aid for the nation's struggling airlines.\nBoth measures exceeded the $74.7 billion that President Bush requested last week for the remaining six months of the government's budget year. And both Republican-controlled panels weakened the wide latitude he had sought for spending most of the money without congressional strings, which he had argued was needed to quickly respond to the uncertainties of war.\nOther, smaller funds giving agencies like the Justice and Homeland Security departments broad control of money were also dismantled or trimmed. That reflected a long-standing bipartisan legislative resentment of executive branch efforts to usurp Congress' power of the purse.\n"We didn't just create huge slush funds to be used at the discretion of an agency," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla.\nThe overwhelming votes of approval -- 59-0 in the House committee, 29-0 by the Senate panel -- underscored lawmakers' desires to quickly approve the aid while U.S. troops shoot their way toward Baghdad. Bush has requested the funds by April 11, and GOP leaders hope the full House and Senate will approve initial versions of the bills this week.\nBut a series of votes and remarks also spotlighted the pressures many lawmakers feel to increase spending for local law enforcement and emergency agencies.\nBy a party-line 35-28, the House panel rejected a Democratic effort to add $2.5 billion to the $4.2 billion that measure contains for domestic security initiatives, the same as Bush requested.\nRep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said limiting the funds was necessary to avoid signaling to the states "that there's a bottomless pit in Washington for anything labeled homeland security."\nThough Democratic senators offered no amendments to the $4.6 billion in the Senate version, they spoke of trying to add up to $9 billion when the full Senate debates the measure, perhaps beginning today.