Dems support war-funding bill

WASHINGTON — House leaders Wednesday worked to rally rank-and-file Democrats behind a $195 billion measure to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through next spring, provide education help to veterans and provide relief for the jobless.

Democratic leaders hoped to vote on the bill today, but a revolt by Republicans upset with Democrats' handling of the war-funding measure left the House schedule in chaos. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday that stalling tactics by Republicans may result in the measure not coming up until next week.

Republicans are angry that they have been excluded from participating in the crafting of the bill; in response, they forced dozens of procedural votes in the past three days in protest.

Pelosi also is working to overcome rebellion by some of her own members. Moderate to conservative Democrats are upset that the war-funding bill is carrying new benefit programs without paying for them with offsetting cuts to other programs.

Republicans said Pelosi had devised a strategy to try to jam the bill past Republicans and President Bush in a form that he might have to sign.

Pelosi's plan is to advance the bill in an unusual process where it is broken into three separate pieces for votes in the House and Senate: war funding, anti-war policy provisions and domestic funding.

The idea is to allow anti-war Democrats to vote against the war funding while ensuring the money goes out to support troops overseas. Democrats also get to vote for restrictions on the war, but the provisions would never pass the Senate to face a veto.

Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and fellow Democrats on the panel revealed a more ambitious list of domestic add-ons to the war-funding measure.

The additional money in the $205 billion Senate bill includes $8.7 billion for continuing recovery efforts from hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Senate bill contains $9 billion more than the House in nonwar add-ons, which would run into a Bush veto threat and are likely to be rejected by Pelosi.