WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) -- The Bush administration's $92.2 billion spending bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Hurricane Katrina relief has been fattened with pork.
Debate in the Senate began on the bill Monday, pitting the administration against members of the Senate Appropriations Committee who have attached dozens of local items sought by individual lawmakers.
The value of the bill has now risen to $106 billion, USA Today reported.
Among the new items is $700 million to relocate a freight railroad line from a section of Mississippi's Gulf Coast that developers want for casinos, and $600 million for highways in states from Alabama to Alaska affected by natural disasters, some as long as seven years ago.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Thad Cochrane, R-Miss., said the senator is determined to see Mississippi get its share of hurricane relief funding. Jenny Manley said the Bush administration "does not have the sole authority to say what needs remain in the Gulf Coast. Members of Congress have more direct accountability to their constituents and know well what needs remain."
