Congress gives final OK for reconstruction funding

? Congress voted its final approval Monday for $87.5 billion for U.S. military operations and aid in Iraq and Afghanistan, a day after Americans in Iraq endured their worst casualties since March.

In an anticlimactic moment for which only a handful of senators appeared, the Senate approved the bill by voice and handed a legislative victory to President Bush, who had requested a similar package two months ago. The voice vote — in which Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., was the only one to shout “Nay” — let lawmakers sidestep the roll call that usually accompanies major legislation.

“As the president said time and time again, we will not walk away from Iraq,” said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a leading author of the bill. “We will not leave the Iraqi people in chaos, and we will not create a vacuum for terrorist groups to fill.”

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the money, coupled with assistance from international donors, would help make Iraq more secure and help the transition to self-government for Iraqis. The money also will help Afghanistan become a peaceful, democratic and stable nation, he said.