Senate approves war supplemental, conferees appointed

The Senate Thursday voted 86-3 to approve a $91.3 billion war supplemental spending bill, setting the stage for conference negotiations to reconcile differences with a $96.7 billion House-passed version after the weeklong Memorial Day recess.

"There are very few things that need to be worked out in conference," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., before the measure was passed. "We've checked with the Pentagon, and they are satisfied that if we complete this when we get back, there will be adequate time to fund everything that out troops need." The chamber appointed the entire Senate Appropriations Committee to be conferees.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., anticipates a conference occurring after recess, Democratic aides said.

Senate action on the bill comes after the Senate Thursday voted 94-1 to cut off debate on the supplemental. Action on the bill also came after Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, received assurances from Chrysler LLC, which is undergoing bankruptcy restructuring, that their dealers will "receive a fair and equitable value for virtually all of their outstanding vehicle and parts inventory," she said.

Hutchison held up passage on the supplemental until she was assured by the car company. "Auto dealers are some of the biggest and best employers in our nation," Hutchison said. "In small towns across Texas, many of them are the largest employers in their entire county."

She had sought to attach an amendment, which was ruled not germane, to the bill that would have withheld bailout funds to automakers that do not give dealerships at least 60 days to wind down their operations and sell their inventory. Chrysler had given their dealerships until June 9 to close.

Earlier Thursday, the Senate defeated, 64-30, an amendment by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., seeking to cut $5 billion in the bill to boost International Monetary Fund lending. The funding would finance a $100 billion increase to an existing IMF line of credit.

"Enough is enough," said DeMint. "We've spent more than we can pay back already. It is wrong to attach this type of spending to a bill that supports our troops."

He added that the funds could be spent on priorities at home.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., spoke in favor of the $5 billion.

"This is for American workers," Kerry said. "We've got a lot of people in America whose jobs depend on their ability to export goods. And the fact is, if those emerging markets start to fade, not only do we lose the economic side of those markets, but we also run the risk that governments fail."

He cited a May 20 letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urging the Senate to include the IMF funding in the supplemental to help mitigate effects of the worldwide financial crisis.

"It is squarely in the U.S. national interest to support efforts to help these countries as they confront the financial crisis," the group said.

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Judd Gregg, R-N.H., urged the Senate to reject the DeMint amendment because funding the IMF represents strengthening an important economic backstop in the case of the financial collapse of a nation.

"For my opinion, this is an amendment which is not constructive either for our economy or for the international situation," Gregg said.

The Senate approved roughly eight amendments en bloc by voice vote before final passage, including one by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that would mandate consultation and reports to Congress regarding the IMF and an amendment by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, that would require the United States Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund to oppose loans and other programs of the IMF that do not exempt education, health care and other safety-net spending by the governments of heavily indebted countries from certain budget caps and restraints.

An amendment by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., was also included. It would require the administration to submit a clear statement of objectives on Afghanistan and Pakistan and the benchmarks that would be used to quantify progress toward achieving those objectives.

About 11 amendments were ruled not to be germane, including Hutchison's and one from Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., clarifying existing legislation that allows the Army's official end strength to grow to 547,400 soldiers this year and gives the Defense Department flexibility to go as much as 3 percent above that figure.

The Army has around 549,000 troops but has been concerned that it has the authority to grow to only 548,372 soldiers. The amendment also adds $400 million to personnel and operations and maintenance accounts to pay for the additional troops.

Megan Scully contributed to this report.