Conferees pass spending bill with softened troop provisions

House and Senate negotiators approved a $124.2 billion war supplemental spending bill Monday that includes a "goal" of withdrawing combat troops from Iraq by April 1, 2008, and troop readiness standards that could be waived by the president.

Despite the watered-down Iraq provisions and the decision by conferees to drop several ridiculed spending provisions, such as money for spinach handlers and sugarcane growers, President Bush is likely to veto the measure when it reaches his desk later this week.

Conferees signed off on the measure Monday evening and it will be filed today for floor consideration, with floor action in the House likely Wednesday and the Senate the following day.

Democrats said they had already compromised on the Iraq language, but Republicans argued it still amounts to "micro-managing" the war against the better judgment of commanders on the ground.

House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member C.W. (Bill) Young, R-Fla., said it could be akin to the "disaster" which befell the 1980 botched Desert One mission to rescue hostages in Iran, as well as the outcome of U.S. intervention in Somalia in 1993, which Young claimed both stemmed from civilian involvement.

But Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, a World War II veteran, said "stay the course isn't working. And I for one, am not convinced it ever will."

The underlying bill provides $95.5 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, $4 billion more than Bush requested. Appropriators made cuts in a number of areas, such as support for coalition partners and some procurement items like a new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter.

But they included $1.2 billion over the request for mine-resistant vehicles; $1 billion extra for National Guard and reserve equipment and another $1 billion to improve troop readiness at home; $750 million above Bush's request to help prosecute the war in Afghanistan, and $2.1 billion more for soldiers' health care.

Conferees also included an extra $1.8 billion for veterans' health, $2.25 billion for homeland security, and added nearly $200 million for economic aid to Afghanistan, redirecting money intended for Iraq. They also fenced off 50 percent of certain Iraq reconstruction funds until specific political benchmarks are met.

The measure provides numerous increases for domestic programs, including $6.9 billion to help victims recover from the 2005 hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. That is more than double the Bush request. Nearly $5 billion of that will go toward Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster-relief accounts.

While dropping some provisions, conferees still agreed to include $3.5 billion for agriculture disaster relief for farmers and ranchers. To help prepare for a possible avian flu pandemic, conferees included a scaled-back $663 million. They also added $400 million for low-income home energy assistance and $500 million for wildfire suppression. Based on new funding estimates, conferees included $650 million to help address a children's health insurance shortfall in 14 states.

On the policy front, conferees made a number of changes, including language intended to delay a Transportation Department pilot program allowing Mexican trucks across the U.S. border.

They also delayed for one year -- down from two years -- proposed Medicaid rules limiting certain hospital reimbursements. But they dropped a controversial offset that would have raised rebates Medicaid collects on certain brand-name drugs.