WASHINGTON, May 11 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bush on Wednesday signed into law a bill that provides an additional 82 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    "This legislation will help America continue to promote freedom and democracy," Bush said in a written statement. "It also will assist in the continuing tsunami recovery efforts."

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

    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 cost of 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 to build 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.

    It provided 907 million dollars for Asian countries struck by December's tsunami.

    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