Iraq Bill Includes Billions for Construction, Plus Tax Breaks
After months of battling between the White House and congressional Democrats, Congress has approved a $120-billion Iraq war spending measure that also would provide up to $8.4 billion in construction funds, most of it for projects in the U.S. The measure, which won final congressional passage on May 24, also would increase the federal minimum wage and provide $4.8 billion in tax breaks for small businesses. President Bush signed the bill May 25.
The legislation was tied up for months because Democrats wanted to include language setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and the White House opposed it. Bush vetoed an earlier version of the bill that had those provisions and lawmakers dropped the benchmarks from the final measure.