Highlight of war spending bill
AP : May 15 2008
Made Popular May 15 2008

Highlights of a House bill to pay for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next spring. The bill would set aside $183.7 billion and provide an additional $62.9 billion over 10 years to extend unemployment benefits and bolster the GI Bill. Lawmakers will cast separate votes on three components: war money, Iraq war policy restrictions and unrelated domestic add-ons.

The proposed spending would:

_Provide $163 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of this year and several months into 2009, when there is a new president.

_Extend unemployment benefits for workers whose benefits have run out. The extension would cover up to 13 weeks nationwide and an additional 13 weeks in states with unemployment rates of 6 percent or greater, including Michigan, Alaska and California. The cost is estimated at $11.1 billion over 10 years.

_Expand education for active-duty members of the armed forces since Sept. 11, 2001. Under a formula related to years of service, the measure aims to provide the equivalent of a four-year education at a state university. The cost is estimated at $52 billion over the next decade.

_Raise taxes by one-half of a percentage point on adjusted gross incomes exceeding $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for married couples. This would raise $54 billion over 10 years and would finance the new benefit for veterans.

_Require the Pentagon to start withdrawing troops from Iraq within 30 days after the bill becomes law, with a goal of completing withdrawal of combat troops within 18 months.

_Require that U.S. reconstruction aid to Iraq to be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Iraqi government.

_Require that a soldier spend no more than one year in Iraq with at least one year at home. Marines could not be deployed for longer than 210 days, with that same amount of time at home. The president could waive this requirement.

_Require that the president negotiate an agreement with Iraq to subsidize fuel costs of U.S. forces operating in Iraq.

_Prohibit permanent bases in Iraq.

_Require intelligence officials adhere to the Army field manual for interrogations; this requirement essentially would ban waterboarding. In this technique, a prisoner is strapped down and his mouth is covered with plastic or cloth. Water then is poured over his face. The prisoner quickly begins to inhale water, causing the sensation of drowning.

_Block new Bush administration regulations that would cut federal spending on Medicaid health care for the poor and disabled by $13 billion over the next five years.

_Provide $5.8 billion to strengthen New Orleans levees, as requested by the administration.

_Provide $4.6 billion for military construction projects, $2.2 billion over Bush’s request, and include $210 million for child-care centers and $956 million to build military hospitals.

_Provide $1.9 billion, $745 million more than requested by Bush, for international food aid, development assistance and disaster relief.

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