Senate approves bill to fund labor, health, education programs

The Senate approved a $605.5 billion spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education on a 75-19 vote Tuesday, setting up the first round of the endgame appropriations battle with President Bush.

The president has threatened to veto that bill due to what he deems "irresponsible and excessive" spending.

Enough Senate Republicans voted for the bill to potentially override a Bush veto. But House Republicans have proved a bulwark thus far against Democratic-proposed spending increases, perhaps providing cover for some Senate Republicans to vote for the bill knowing it will not be signed into law in its present form.

Most of the funding is for entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid, but Democrats and Bush are not arguing over those parts.

Bush says he will veto the measure over the discretionary portion, which at $152 billion is about a 5 percent increase above the current year, as opposed to Bush's proposed cuts of 2.5 percent.

The increases in the bill for discretionary programs, such as medical research at the National Institutes of Health, early childhood education, community health centers and nutrition services for seniors, total nearly $11 billion above Bush's request.

That is about half of the total spending difference separating the White House and Democrats. And the majority on a daily basis has been comparing that figure to Bush's now-$196.4 billion supplemental funding request for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The president "does not understand that he's asking for almost $200 billion for this war in Iraq, and quibbling and fighting with us over $22 billion so that we can deal with some of the issues we face at home," Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said Tuesday.

Republicans in both chambers have generally supported funding increases for Labor-HHS programs, even above Bush's budget requests.

The GOP-controlled Congress presided over a doubling of the NIH budget over five years through 2003, and increased the Education Department budget by 72 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars.

But 2007 is different, and Republicans are trying to define differences with the Democrats in their quest for electoral gains next year.

Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., facing a tough 2008 re-election fight, was not buying the "guns vs. butter" argument, arguing it was Democrats who would pay a political price if they stalled war funds to try to extract more domestic spending.

"The fact is, liberals here in Washington want to grow the size of government at a much faster rate, at a higher rate than the Republican minority," Sununu said. "I think we managed the growth much more effectively in 2004 and 2005 than we had in 2001 to 2003, and we still funded all our critical services like homeland security, domestic services, housing, and Labor-HHS as well. I think if we're willing to set priorities and be careful about where we're spending money, we can do that this year as well."

Nonetheless, Sununu has supported all of the domestic spending bills to come before the Senate thus far, including the Labor-HHS bill, as has Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., despite their stated opposition to Democratic spending increases.

The measure passed with a few changes, some significant.

On an 88-6 vote, the Senate approved language from Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would boost Social Security Administration funding by $150 million to help alleviate a staffing shortfall and eliminate a backlog of disability claims, with an offset that initially drew opposition from Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. The language was modified to alleviate Grassley's concerns.

The Senate also voted 65-28 to strike language included in the bill by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that would block reductions in formula HIV/AIDS funding proposed by HHS this year for a number of areas, including San Francisco.

Pelosi pledged to restore the provision in conference, charging that Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Michael Enzi, R-Wyo. "misrepresented" that it would actually cut funds from other areas.

She said the overall $23 million increase for the Ryan White program would accommodate other states so they would not see funding reductions.

Democrats are aiming to send the bill to Bush's desk by early next month, calculating they will need time to negotiate a compromise after his veto as the current stopgap budget bill expires Nov. 16.

Despite their opposition to more "blank checks," pressure is also building on Democrats to provide at least a portion of Bush's new war request before leaving town.

And with the wildfires now raging in Southern California, members on both sides of the aisle, including House Appropriations ranking member Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., are calling on Bush to accept additional funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Interior Department and the Forest Service to help cope with the calamity.

Lawmakers in both chambers said additional funds could be attached either to the next continuing resolution or another moving vehicle.