Deal Reached for $29 Billion More in Storm Aid

Congressional Republicans agreed Saturday on $29 billion in additional aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the other powerful storms that lashed the United States this year, far more than the Bush administration proposed this fall.

“We have a good agreement,” said Mississippi’s Republican governor, Haley Barbour, who has patrolled the Capitol for days trying to coax money from lawmakers eager to adjourn for the year.

Officials emphasized that the additional funds would not add to federal deficits, a priority for conservative lawmakers. They said the hurricane relief as well as an additional $3.8 billion to help prepare for avian flu would be offset, in part, by a 1% cut across a wide swath of federal programs.

The cut would affect domestic programs, including security, as well as the military, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands). Federal support for veterans, whose ranks are swelling as the result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, would not be affected, he said.

The accord cleared an obstacle to adjournment, but more remain. The House and Senate, which wrapped up their Saturday work by early evening, each scheduled sessions for today.

GOP leaders neared agreement on legislation to trim deficits by about $40 billion over the next several years. Savings would come from several programs, including student loans, Medicare and Medicaid.

Legislation to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, long a GOP priority, hung in the balance.

A fresh controversy flared when Republican House members, in a move designed to hinder Democratic-aligned political groups, pressed a last-minute bid to pass legislation limiting individual donations to independent groups.

Democrats objected, saying the GOP was holding up passage of a military spending bill to seek partisan gain.