U.S. House approves bill on funding Iraq, Afghanistan wars

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill Wednesday that will provide 70 billion U.S. dollars to support war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The measure cleared the House by a vote of 272-142 after being passed Tuesday night in the Senate.

Joined onstage by members of Congress, U.S. President George W. Bush speaks during a signing ceremony for the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington Dec. 19, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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    Although attached to the omnibus spending bill that funds many government operations, it stopped short of mentioning any words about how and when to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

    It was viewed as a victory for the Bush administration and the Republicans who have spent much of the year fending off Democrats' attempts to link war funding to a timetable to pull out troops.

    The White House said that President George W. Bush is ready to sign the bill into law.

    The Democrats and the Bush administration have been locked in a fight for war funding for several months.

    The administration wants nearly 190 billion dollars for war efforts in fiscal year 2008 that began on Oct. 1, but Democrats prefer to approve the money in installments.

    A previous bill has already provided 50 billion dollars for the war funding.

    With the newly approved 70 billion dollars, the administration said it will be enough to support war operations through June 2008.