Senate passes $91 billion military supplemental bill
By Ian Swanson
The Hill
Posted: 05/21/09 09:43 PM [ET]
The Senate easily passed a $91.3 billion war spending bill Thursday night after it was untangled from two of its most controversial elements.
Senators voted 86-3 in favor of the supplemental spending bill, which will provide about $85 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through Sept. 30. The measure also includes a $5 billion proposal to increase the borrowing authority of the International Monetary Fund.
Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) were the only ‘no’ votes. The supplemental now moves to a conference with the House.
The vote was the Senate’s last before its week-long Memorial Day recess. The chamber does not reconvene again until Monday, June 1.
The supplemental passed easily after senators resolved the two controversial issues surrounding the bill: The IMF funding, and $80 million to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Guantanamo funding was yanked from the supplemental on Wednesday in a 90-6 vote. Senators on Thursday voted 64-30 to defeat an amendment by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) that would have struck the IMF funding.
Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) issued a statement saying he regretted the distractions of the Guantanamo prison debate.
“Too much of the past week has been dominated by a debate on Guantanamo, when in fact we should have been focusing on the best ways to support our troops in the field,” Inouye said.
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