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US government haggles over cost of the Iraq war

Senate Democrats worked on Wednesday to add billions of dollars for anti-terror measures to a spending bill that already neared US$80 billion as Congress hurried to send President George W. Bush money to finance the war in Iraq.

Republicans who lead the Senate and the House of Representatives predicted the bill for the military and to reward allies would emerge largely as the White House wanted, although Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it did not give him enough freedom to respond quickly to war needs.

The full Senate started debate on the emergency spending package which it and the House of Representatives were slated to pass on Thursday, before a conference to reconcile differences in the measures next week. Bush wants the final bill before Congress breaks for its Easter recess on April 11.

"I think this is essentially the bill that will go to the president's desk," said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican.

However the White House signaled it wants at least one sizable change, criticizing as too expensive a more than US$3 billion relief package for airlines that have lost business because of the war.

At the urging of Republican leaders, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees added the airline aid to the war bill that originally cost about US$75 billion.

By voice vote, the Senate approved about another US$700 million, agreeing to increase combat pay for troops from US$150 per month to US$225, and the family separation allowance for military families from US$100 per month to US$500. Both would be retroactive to Oct. 1, 2002.

Reflecting lawmakers' anger at the US Air Force's handling of complaints that a number of women cadets were raped by classmates at its academy, the Senate voted to establish a panel to determine "who was responsible for the atmosphere" at the academy that led to sexual misconduct.

The White House wanted most of the bill -- US$60 billion -- to be in a war contingency that the Pentagon could tap with minimal consultation with Congress. But lawmakers from both parties balked, and the Senate bill shrunk the war fund to US$11 billion while the House bill offers US$25 billion, with requirements to consult Congress.

"I wonder if they've read the constitution lately," said Senator Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat. "They seem to think it is a monarchy and they have a king."
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