(June 13, 2006)—The U.S. House passed a $94.5 billion emergency spending bill Tuesday to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, hurricane relief, bird flu preparations and border security.

The House-Senate compromise measure includes $66 billion for the two wars, driving the price tag for the war in Iraq to about $320 billion and for the war in Afghanistan to about $89 billion.

The bill also provides nearly $20 billion to help the Gulf Coast recover from last year's hurricane damage.

A big chunk of the money goes to Louisiana for housing aid, flood control and a new veterans hospital in New Orleans.

The Senate is expected to clear the measure for President Bush's signature this week.

Slow action on the measure led to cuts at military posts around the country including Fort Hood and Fort Bliss as the Pentagon scrambled to reduce spending while Congress debated the bill.

The bill passed Tuesday includes vital funds for Fort Hood, Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco said.

“It is wrong that Congress has taken this long to pass this bill because it has already caused forced cutbacks in installation operations,” Edwards said, “but I am very hopeful that the bill will be on the president’s desk this week and the Army should receive a substantial influx of cash immediately.”

Edwards was a member of the House-Senate conference committee that hammered out the compromise version of the spending bill.

Rep. John Carter, R-Georgetown, whose district includes Fort Hood, also praised passage.

“I am very pleased that the House has passed a bill that provides our military with the funding needed to sustain critical operations,” Carter said.

“This bill is crucial to the success of operations at Fort Hood and throughout the military," he said.

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