WASHINGTON — President Bush would win $162 billion in long-overdue funding to carry out military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into next year under a bipartisan agreement sealed on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
The agreement reached between House Democrats and Republicans and the White House would finally put to rest Bush’s long-standing battles with congressional Democrats over war funding.
House passage of the bill, expected today, would also pave the way for a quick infusion of emergency flood relief for the Midwest, a 13-week extension of unemployment payments for the longtime jobless and a big boost in GI Bill college funds for veterans.
The measure would provide $2.6 billion in additional disaster aid to replenish accounts already being tapped to deal with the flooding across the Midwest. It also contains $5.8 billion sought by Bush for next year to build levees and other flood-control projects around New Orleans.
