U.S. Senate rebuffs Bush on war budgeting (no more "emergency funding") [View All]

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-06-14T224216Z_01_N14267878_RTRIDST_0_IRAQ-CONGRESS-USA.XML

WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted unanimously on Wednesday to force President George W. Bush to submit a budget for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars instead of financing them in emergency bills that are pushed through Congress with minimal scrutiny.

As Congress prepared to pass an emergency bill with $65.8 billion the Pentagon urgently wanted for the wars, the Senate voted 98-0 to end the practice and make the administration lay out the wars' expected costs in its annual budget submitted to Congress in February.

The vote came on an amendment to legislation spelling out defense policies for next year that is expected to trigger a broader debate on Iraq. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said he would push an amendment calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops by the end of this year, while other Democrats are considering measures calling for a phased withdrawal.

Including the latest emergency bill, the wars' cost will reach $420 billion, said Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who sponsored the amendment.

"We're adding hundreds of billions to conveniently named emergency expenditures" that do not have to be accounted for in the budget, he said.

...more...