The September 11th attack
$40 billion OK'd for recovery, military
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A unanimous Congress gave rapid-fire approval yesterday to a $40 billion down payment to help the nation recover from this week's terror attacks and retaliate against the people and governments responsible.
With a solitary California congresswoman voting in opposition, Congress also voted to let President Bush exercise "all necessary and appropriate force" against the terrorists, their sponsors and their protectors. Legislators hoped their speed and solidarity would signal the country's resolve to rebuild and retaliate.
"I am gratified that the Congress has united so powerfully by taking this action," President Bush said after the vote. "It sends a clear message — our people are together and we will prevail."
"The charred rubble and thousands of dead Americans lying just blocks from my office in Manhattan, and hundreds more a stone's throw from this very building, demonstrate we have no choice," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., whose district includes the toppled World Trade Center towers. "We must wage the war that has been thrust upon us."
The sheer size of the emergency bill spotlighted the magnitude of Tuesday's devastation in New York and at the Pentagon and the looming costs of cleaning up, helping victims or their survivors, reinforcing domestic security and striking back. The final package was twice Bush's request and two-thirds what it cost to wage the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Yet, it was seen by most as just the beginning.
"This body will provide whatever resources are needed to respond to this challenge, not just today, not just tomorrow, but for as long as it takes," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.
The $40 billion will come from projected budget surpluses, most of it probably from money designated for Social Security. Gone was talk of the sanctity of that program's surpluses that had dominated Capitol Hill until Tuesday.
The spending measure was approved 96-0 by the Senate and 422-0 by the House.
Bush will be able to spend half the $40 billion package with virtually no congressional restrictions. At least half the money must be used for recovery and assistance efforts and will go mostly to New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, site of the crash of the fourth hijacked plane.
The resolution authorizing the use of military force was swiftly approved 98-0 by the Senate. The House's 420-1 vote came after nearly five hours of debate. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., voted against the measure, asking her colleagues to "think through the implications of our actions today so that it does not spin out of control."
The measure also reaffirms the War Powers Act's requirement that Congress must give its approval if Bush wants to escalate the U.S. action to a declaration of war.
