Iraq funding bill has plenty of local fund

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WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- Democrats in the U.S. Congress are using big domestic spending to push through an Iraq funding bill that would get U.S. troops out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2008.

Some Republican lawmakers who would have opposed the bill remained undecided as they faced an Iraq spending plan that included billions in federal funds for local projects, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

"She hates the games the Democrats are playing," Guy Short, chief of staff to Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., told the Post, of the bill, which includes billions of dollars for drought relief and agriculture spending. "But Representative Musgrave was just down in southeastern Colorado talking to ranchers and farmers and they desperately need this assistance."

Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on the $124 billion bill Thursday.

The White House issued a formal veto statement about the legislation Monday night, criticizing its "excessive and extraneous non-emergency spending," the Post reported.

The legislation "would place freedom and democracy in Iraq at grave risk" and "embolden our enemies," the veto statement said.