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US increases funding for Africa
01/02/2007 07:29 - (SA)
Washington - A must-pass bill covering about one-sixth of the United States government's budget swept through the House of Representatives.
A sizeable chunk of Republicans joined virtually all democrats in approving spending increases for education, veterans and the Aids battle in Africa.
The 286-140 vote on Wednesday - with 57 republicans voting in favour - was a pleasant surprise for democrats, who expected far less republican support.
The $463.5bn spending bill had much to please the rank and file, including republican moderates, even though it contained no pet projects for their districts.
The chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee, democratic congressman David Obey, said: "The content is a heck of a lot better than most expected we'd come up with."
He worked with his senate counterpart, democratic senator Robert Byrd, to add money for initiatives popular with both democrats and republicans.
The White House had signalled that President George W Bush would sign the bill despite cuts to his requests for NASA, foreign aid and communities affected by the latest round of military base closings.
Democrats provided increases for underperforming schools, health research, and grants to state and local law enforcement agencies.
They were especially pleased with a 40% increase, to $4.5bn, for fighting Aids, malaria and tuberculosis overseas.
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