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Published: 3/17/2006

Congress OKs new spending as debt ceiling nears $9 trillion


WASHINGTON - Congress pushed the ceiling on the national debt to nearly $9 trillion yesterday, and the House and Senate promptly voted for major spending initiatives for the war in Iraq, hurricane relief, and education.

The House approved $92 billion in new money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for relief along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.


The Senate's measure would break Mr. Bush's proposed caps on spending for programs such as education, low-income heating subsidies, and health research. All told, senators endorsed more than $16 billion in increases above Mr. Bush's proposed $873 billion cap on spending appropriated by Congress each year.

Senators earlier voted 52-48 to send Mr. Bush a measure that would allow the government to borrow an additional $781 billion and prevent a first-ever default on Treasury notes.




The Senate votes set up a confrontation with the House, which is certain to oppose the additional spending.

House Republicans will not release their budget until after next week's recess.

On a 348-71 vote, meanwhile, House Republicans and Democrats joined to pass the $92 billion measure for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Hurricane Katrina cleanup.

"Concerns about the deficit and spending are overridden by the urgent issues before us - supporting our troops and helping the hurricane victims," said Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.).

Nineteen Republicans, mostly fiscal conservatives, and 52 Democrats voted against the measure. "Not one more dime for this administration's ill-conceived, ill-advised, misguided and failed Iraq policy," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio).



However, Congress did not even vote on an amendment offered by U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) that would have set up a special commission to review how previous money has been spent.

Republican leadership in the House of Representatives "would not allow a vote on the amendment, ruling that it was not germane to the debate," according to a statement Miss Kaptur's office issued yesterday afternoon.

Miss Kaptur likened the proposed commission to the Truman Committee, also known as the Select Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, which between 1941 and 1948 held 432 public hearings and 300 executive sessions to review government contracts and spending during World War II.

"This amendment would have allowed Congress to oversee exactly how the billions in taxpayer dollars are being spent in Iraq and in the Gulf Coast," Miss Kaptur said in the statement. "It remains critical that Congress curtail the opportunities for waste, fraud, and abuse in federal contracting."


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