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WASHINGTON, May 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The US House and
Senate conferees agreed Tuesday to an 82-billion-US-dollar supplemental spending
bill for the wars and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A vote on the bill is expected in the House on Thursday and in the Senate next week.
Most of the money, 75.9 billion dollars, is slated
for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, nearly 1 billion dollars more
than what President George W. Bush wanted.
The bill also contains 4.2 billion dollars in other
international spending, including 592 million dollars to build a new US Embassy
in Baghdad; 680 million dollars for peacekeeping in Sudan, Haiti, and elsewhere;
1.7 billion dollars for anti-terror and anti-narcotic programs in Afghanistan;
more than 250 million dollars for economic assistance in the Palestinian
territories andIsrael; and 250 million dollars in military assistance for
Pakistan and Jordan.
The bill, which provides 656 million dollars for
tsunami relief,and 635 million for increased border security and enforcement in
the United States, also includes provisions to prevent states from issuing
driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and stiffen asylum laws.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the
Congress has previously approved 228 billion dollars for US military and
reconstruction operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks. The latest bill would push the overall cost of combat and
reconstruction efforts in the two countries, and the Pentagon's anti-terrorism
operations worldwide, past 300 billion dollars. Enditem |