Senate passes military spending bill

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate approved $60 billion for Afghanistan and Iraq after rejecting a Republican plan to send the National Guard to the Mexican border.

The military appropriations bill passed 67-28 late Thursday, The New York Times reported. The Senate also voted down 80-8 an amendment by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., that would have set up a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The bill includes money to pay for 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan. In addition to $33.5 million for the Defense Department, another $13 billion goes to aid for Vietnam veterans injured by Agent Orange, $5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $1 billion for Haitian earthquake relief.

A Republican amendment would have appropriated funding to deploy 6,000 National Guard members on the border, five times the number President Obama has requested, The Washington Times reported. While 12 Democrats joined Republicans to give the amendment 51 votes, it needed 60 to be adopted.

A more costly appropriations bill is not expected to pass the House until some time after the Memorial Day recess. That measure includes domestic spending not in the Senate bill.