The legislation still faces a veto threat from the Bush administration, which along with some Republicans considers the Senate measure far too expensive. But under pressure from Democrats to approve the popular package quickly, GOP leaders decided to let the bill pass as early as week's end and count on upcoming negotiations on a final version to pare its size.

"Clearly the bill has gotten out of control," said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss, shortly before the Senate voted 87-10 to limit debate. But "to just drag this out into next week would not be a positive thing."

Democrats chided GOP critics of the bill, which mostly contains funds for the military, FBI, efforts to thwart cyber- and bioterrorism, and other responses to the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Tell your people back home they don't need this protection," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. "Tell them, don't tell us."

Sens. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and John McCain, R-Ariz., unsuccessfully offered a series of amendments to underline their point that piggybacked onto the bill were pet projects and other items that were not dire emergencies. They also argued that the Appropriations panel included projects that were scheduled for next year to ease a budget crunch expected then.

Even so, the Senate time and again refused to strip items from the legislation, underlining the Appropriations Committee's power and Congress' long tradition of attaching parochial items to must-pass bills.

By 65-31, the Senate refused to remove language providing $2.5 million for mapping Hawaiian coral reefs. Supporters of the funds said the provision steered money approved last year to an effort to protect endangered ocean life, but Gramm and McCain said the provision showed how some lawmakers were using the bill.

"I do not know of any disruption of coral reefs in Hawaii associated with the terrorist attacks," McCain said.

The Senate also rebuffed by 66-30 an effort to remove $2 million to help the Smithsonian Museum plan a storage facility for its animal specimens preserved in 730,000 gallons of flammable alcohol.

McCain said the expenditure could wait until next year as President Bush has proposed. But he was trumped by arguments that the vast collection ­ stored less than a mile from the Capitol ­ could become a "conflagration" if ignited by terrorists, as Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., argued.

Gramm also blocked inclusion of a bipartisan deal reached among some top senators that would have set a cap on next year's spending and set procedures for enforcing that limit. The figure ­ which excludes benefits such as Social Security ­ was $768 billion, $9 billion more than Bush proposed and $29 billion higher than is to be spent this year.

Many lawmakers want such an agreement because bipartisan fights have blocked passage of a congressional budget this year that would limit spending. But Gramm and other conservatives want to hold out for a lower figure.

The anti-terror bill contains $5.5 billion to help New York's recovery from the World Trade Center destruction; $200 million for Israel and $50 million for humanitarian aid to Palestinians; and $100 million to fight AIDS in poor nations.

But highlighting how the measure would also help local interests, it has $2.5 million for research in Greenport, N.Y., on foot and mouth disease; $73 million for relief from floods in Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky; and language directing the Agriculture Department to not carry out Bush's budget proposal to eliminate federal honey bee research.

Bush proposed a $27.1 billion anti-terror package in March, and the House approved a $29 billion bill in May. The spending is for the remaining months of the federal budget year that ends Oct. 1.