WASHINGTON, May 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The US Congress on Tuesday approved the final version of a bill providing an additional 82 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, sending it to President George W. Bush for his signature.

    The Senate approved the legislation by a 100-0 vote. The House of Representatives approved the measure last week.

    Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican from Tennessee,said the bill was "absolutely critical to winning the war on terror."

    The bulk of the money, 75.9 billion dollars, is allocated for US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of the 2005 fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

    The bill, the fifth emergency spending package Congress has approved since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, pushed the overall costof combat and reconstruction efforts in the two countries and the Pentagon's anti-terrorism operations worldwide since 2001 past 300billion dollars.

    It contains 4.2 billion dollars for foreign aid and other international relations programs, including 592 million dollars tobuild a new US Embassy in Baghdad, 680 million dollars for peacekeeping in Sudan, Haiti, and elsewhere, and 230 million dollars for US allies in the war on terror.

    The legislation requires states to start issuing more uniform driver's licenses and verify the citizenship or legal status of people getting them. It also boosts the one-time benefit for survivors of troops killed in combat zones from 12,000 dollars to 100,000 dollars, a nearly tenfold increase. Enditem