House, Bush reach deal on war supplemental

The House will vote on an emergency supplemental spending bill Thursday after Republican and Democratic leaders struck a deal with the White House late Wednesday, aides said.

The deal did not include the Senate, but House leaders were to present the deal to Senate leaders later Thursday night, aides said.

{mosads}The compromise bill will include about $165 billion in funding for the Iraq war with no conditions, such as banning torture or blocking a “status of forces agreement” between the Bush administration and the Iraqi government.

It will include a new program, called the “new GI Bill,” to pay the college tuition of Iraq and Afghan war veterans, which will be transferable to family members. The cost of the program will be added to the federal deficit, because there will be no offsetting tax increase.

It will extend unemployment benefits by three months, but will require recipients to have worked at least 20 weeks, a requirement Democrats had sought to shorten.

It is also to include $2.6 billion to address flood damage in Iowa.

The bill will require significant Republican support to pass because fiscally-conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog coalition are likely to object to loading the cost of the GI Bill onto the deficit, and ardent opponents of the Iraq war are likely to object to funding combat operations with no restrictions.

“This legislation shows that when Democrats are actually willing to reach out and work with Republicans, we can get things done for the American people,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement.