• At the end of March, lawmakers took a spring break that ended in mid-April, leaving in a holding pattern approval of House and Senate supplemental emergency spending bills totaling $124 billion for the Iraq war. On their return, they
were to resolve differences in the House and Senate bills, hammering out the details of how money would be authorized and when to withdraw troops from the war zone. Although military leaders have indicated they will run out of money for the war effort sometime between the end of April and June, lawmakers saw little need to rush toward a final bill.
When Democrats took over Congressional majorities, they pledged to eliminate earmarked amendments added to bills funding government agencies. However, the pending House and Senate Iraq war bills contain “pork” amendments. The House added more than $9.9 billion for non-military spending, including provisions for $1 billion for vaccines to stem a major bird-flu epidemic, $750 million for state children’s health insurance programs, $500 million for wildfire suppression, $400 million for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and $100 million for food aid in Africa.
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