Senate sends omnibus spending measure to Obama's desk
Package contains six appropriations bills that Congress ran out of time to pass individually.
The Senate Sunday sent President Obama a nearly $450 billion fiscal 2010 spending package that includes six fiscal 2010 appropriations bills Congress has not yet passed, passing the end-of-the-year measure 57-35.
Action on the package came after the Senate voted Saturday 60-34 to cut off debate on the measure.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., demanded Obama veto the measure, saying it spends too much -- a 14 percent increase in nondefense discretionary programs over fiscal 2009 -- and because it includes nearly 5,000 pet projects, many of which McCain believes are wasteful and total almost $4 billion.
One example he cited was $655,000 for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for equipment and supplies for the center's Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., requested the funds, telling the Appropriations Committee in her initial request for $1 million that, "This is a valuable use of taxpayer funds because as many as 20 percent of the adult population, or one in five Americans, have symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, making it one of the most common disorders diagnosed by doctors."
On the floor, McCain joked that, "The only thing I can say is that problem will not be reduced when people read this bill, so there may be a need for it."
Democrats have argued that the increase in domestic programs is needed because they were ignored when the government was controlled by Republicans. They also have blamed Republicans for delaying work in the Senate as the primary reason the fiscal 2010 appropriations process had to be completed by combining six of the seven remaining spending bills.
The package includes the $67.9 billion Transportation-HUD bill, which is the underlying legislative vehicle; the $64.4 billion Commerce-Justice-Science bill; the $24.2 billion Financial Services bill; the $163.6 billion Labor-HHS bill; the $78 billion Military Construction-VA bill, and the $48.7 billion State-Foreign Operations bill.
Democratic leaders hope to pass a second spending package that would finish the fiscal 2010 appropriation process this coming week. That measure will include the fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations bill, an increase in the $12.1 trillion debt limit of up to $1.9 trillion and possibly jobs creation legislation.