Senate panel approves supplemental, floor fights await

The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved a $59 billion supplemental spending package including $33.5 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and $68 million in aid to address the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The bill -- approved 30-0 -- could be on the Senate floor as soon as next week, although Senate Democratic leaders might instead decide to consider a package of tax break extensions, according to one party aide.

Passage of the bill comes as the White House Thursday came out in support of an amendment Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he plans to offer on the floor that would provide $23 billion for education jobs to reduce teacher layoffs due to recession-related state and local budget cuts.

In a letter to House and Senate Democratic leaders, Education Secretary Arne Duncan asked that Harkin's amendment be included as well as another $2 billion for first responders and $1 billion for early childhood education jobs.

White House support would likely boost the prospects of the amendment's passage. It would also significantly increase the cost of the package and raise the ire of Republicans who have called for a war supplemental with no extraneous provisions.

Harkin, who is also Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chairman, said that "as many as 300,000 teachers may be laid off in the months ahead. This is a crisis of the first order. Not since the Great Depression have our public schools faced the prospect of such massive layoffs. I believe the federal government has a responsibility to prevent or at least mitigate the destructive consequences of such massive job cuts."

Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, asked members to refrain from offering amendments during the markup because many, including Harkin's, are controversial. He said he supports many of the proposals, but in a nod to growing rhetoric against government spending, noted that "this bill is neither a bailout nor a stimulus." He added that "the nation still has legitimate needs and responsibility to act."

Among other amendments expected to be offered when the bill is on the floor is a proposal from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to add six unmanned aerial vehicles for border security and a proposal for more National Guard troops on the border.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., will offer an amendment that requires the companies responsible for the April 20 Gulf oil spill to reimburse the federal government for funds spent on oil spill-related response.

The committee did adopt an amendment offered by Inouye and Appropriations Committee ranking member Thad Cochran, of Mississippi, providing $68 million of the $118 million in discretionary funding requested by the White House Wednesday to help respond to the spill.

The amendment provided $29 million for the Interior Department for increased inspections of offshore rigs and platforms in the Outer Continental Shelf; comprehensive evaluation of policies, procedures and other actions that may be needed in response to the oil spill, and for environmental studies in the Gulf of Mexico and on lands and waters affected by the spill and responses to it.

The amendment also includes $13 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operations, research and facilities, for responding to economic impacts on fishers and fishery-dependent businesses; and $2 million for the EPA to study long-term risks and impacts from crude oil releases and the uses of chemical dispersants.

Under the package, $33.45 billion would fund the addition of 30,000 military personnel in Afghanistan, and includes $24.6 billion for operations and maintenance. The figure includes $4.9 billion for equipment, such as five MC-12 Liberty surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for the Air Force.

While the panel voted unanimously in favor of the measure, some members raised concerns about the wars and their cost.

"I have some grave concerns about what we are spending in Afghanistan and Iraq," State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said, adding he intends to hold oversight hearings.

The measure provided $6.1 billion for State Department and foreign aid, including $1.32 billion for State operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and aid for Haiti, which is less than the $1.87 billion requested by the White House.

The bill provided $5.1 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund and $13 billion in mandatory funding for Agent Orange victims exposed to the chemical defoliant during the Vietnam War.

The measure also included a provision championed by Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., requiring airlines to check the no-fly list of suspected or potential terrorists within 30 minutes of receiving updates to the list from the Transportation Security Administration.

The language comes after the arrest of Faisal Shahzad -- who is accused of trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square on May 1. He almost evaded arrest by leaving the country because at the time airlines were only required to check for updates to the no-fly list every 24 hours.