By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer
September 17, 2008
WASHINGTON - The Senate passed a massive defense bill Wednesday
that includes a pay raise for military personnel, despite Republican
objections to billions of dollars in special projects lawmakers
had added.
Seven weeks from Election Day, blocking the measure in wartime
was not a political risk many senators were willing to take.
The measure passed 88-8 after negotiations on amendments failed
at midday.
Retiring Sen. John Warner of Virginia led the negotiating
for Republicans who objected to the added projects, called
earmarks. But he, too, said he could not cast a vote that implied
disrespect for soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Warner said Democrats and Republicans alike objected to parts
of the bill or proposed amendments.
The bill passed Wednesday because it earlier had attained
the support of 61 senators barely clearing the required 60-vote
threshold on a test vote. Following Warner's lead, a dozen
Republicans voted to advance the measure, many of them in tough
re-election bids.
Many more switched from opponents to supporters on the final
vote. Of the eight who voted no, only five were Republicans:
Sens. Wayne Allard of Colorado, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, David
Vitter of Louisiana and Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham of South
Carolina.
Also voting no were Democratic Sens. Robert Byrd of West Virginia
and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, as well as Bernard Sanders,
an Independent from Vermont.
The measure would permit $612.5 billion in spending for national
defense programs in 2009, including $70 billion for operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also includes a 3.9 percent pay
increase for military personnel, half a percentage point more
than President Bush requested. A separate bill will have to
be passed to actually appropriate the money.
The House passed its own version in May, which will have to
be reconciled with the Senate version before the legislation
is sent to the White House for Bush's signature.
Republican opponents objected to $5 billion in pet projects
that Congress added to the bill. But proponents characterized "no" votes
as showing disrespect for military personnel. On Election Day
Nov. 4, voters will choose a new president, all 435 members
of the House and a third of the 100-member Senate.
Those absent included three senators engaged in the presidential
race: Republican nominee John McCain of Arizona and his Democratic
rival, Barack Obama of Illinois, along with Obama's running
mate, Joe Biden of Delaware.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., was absent as he recovers from
treatment for a brain tumor.
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The bill is S. 3001
___
On the Net:
Bill text: http://thomas.loc.gov
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