WASHINGTON (December 10, 2009)--The U.S. House passed a massive year-end spending bill Thursday that awards generous funding boosts to domestic programs despite massive budget deficits.

The measure totals $1.1 trillion, combining six spending bills for 10 Cabinet departments into a 1,088-page bundle packed with more than 5,000 hometown projects sought by lawmakers.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, successfully sought $650,000 for upgrades in law enforcement communications in Waco, $100,000 for security around McGregor’s industrial park, $400,000 for carbon fiber compose materials research at Baylor, $100,000 for a career paths program for veterans at Waco’s Technical College and $100,000 for the AVANCE Early Childhood Intervention and Support Program in Waco, which serves low-income and at-risk families.

The 221-202 party line vote sends the House-Senate compromise measure to the U.S. Senate, which may vote on it this weekend before sending it to President Barack Obama.

The bill combines $447 billion in operating budgets for 10 Cabinet departments with more than $600 billion for federal benefit programs such as Medicare and Medicaid

The bill also includes $109.6 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs and $24.7 billion for military construction projects and what Edwards described as an historic $48.2 billion advance appropriation for fiscal year 2011 for veterans medical services, medical support and compliance, and medical facilities.

The measure is advancing as the government registered a $1.4 trillion deficit for the 2009 budget year.

Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, said the House “spiraled into outright fiscal madness” with the approval of the spending bill.

“Jobs and the value of the dollar are reeling from the bone-crushing debt that Nancy Pelosi and the Obama Administration have already piled on,” Carter said.

“Obama’s ratings are in the tank as a result of this crazed spending spree, and yet that hasn’t slowed them down one iota. They have obviously decided that what the American public thinks about any issue just doesn’t matter.”