138th Year... and still on the job!	Wednesday May 03, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Senate passed a $109 billion bill to pay for the war in Iraq and hurricane aid for the Gulf Coast on Thursday, but without an amendment to force the Army to set a schedule for destroying mustard agent weapons at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.

The budget bill passed on a 78-20 vote, with Colorado's senators splitting on the measure. Sen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, voted for it while Sen. Wayne Allard, a Republican, called it too expensive because it was $17 billion over the White House request.

If President Bush vetoes the spending bill, it would be the first veto of his presidency.

‘‘He calls on Congress to fund our troops and fund the rebuilding efforts along the Gulf Coast, and then hold the line on spending elsewhere. That means don’t put unnecessary spending into this emergency legislation,’’ said White House press secretary Scott McClellan. ‘‘The president has made it very clear. He would veto legislation that goes above and beyond what he called for.’’

The measure contains $65.7 billion for war operations and $28.8 billion for hurricane relief, including grants to states to build and repair housing and $3.9 billion for levees and flood control projects in Louisiana.

Allard and Salazar co-sponsored the Pueblo Chemical Depot amendment, but it was discarded Thursday in the press to finish the spending measure. Salazar was successful in adding several amendments to the bill, including $30 million to help fight wildfires and bark beetle infestation in Colorado, and a requirement that the Pentagon report to Congress on how it is training U.S. personnel to deal with roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices in Iraq.

Allard had tried to add an amendment last week to prevent the Army from condemning private property as part of any expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuvering Site, but that was blocked as well.

"I believe emergency supplemental spending should be for actual emergencies not pork barrel spending and some of the provisions in this bill turned out to be pork barrel at its most egregious," Allard said in a statement.

Salazar countered that the other budget items he included in the bill were also necessary.

"Our troops deserve adequate training before they go into combat, our bark beetle-infested areas deserve emergency attention before they rage with fires that devastate local communities, and our nation's farmers and ranchers face disaster from high gas prices and years of drought," he said.

- Reporter Peter Roper contributed to this story