Congress passed a $630 billion spending bill Wednesday that includes a record Pentagon budget, aid for automakers, increased health-care funding for veterans and aid for natural disaster victims.

The year-end budget measure also would lift a quarter-century ban on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The legislation, which senators are expected to approve and send to President Bush for his signature, is flying under the political radar compared with the White House's contentious plan to bail out Wall Street.

"We're doing our best to get our fair share," Rep. Dave Loebsack said during a telephone interview between House votes.

"The Second District was hit hard," Loebsack said, stressing that the disaster relief was folded into a continuing resolution so there would be no competition for money -- no small feat given hits to the federal government that includes funding two wars and stanching an economic meltdown on Wall Street.

"I'm going to do all I can to bring money into our district to get homeowners back into their homes and to get small businesses to open their doors."

Meeting unmet needs

Twenty-three billion dollars was set aside for disaster aid, which includes money for victims of the Midwest floods, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, and California wildfires. Of that, $85 million has been allocated to Iowa to help the state recover from its epic storms and flooding over the summer.

"This is based on a lot of unmet needs in our district," Loebsack said. "The Second District was the hardest hit (of the flooding)."

The freshman congressman showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi damage earlier this month in Cedar Rapids. They were joined by Oakville Mayor Benita Grooms, whose entire community was drowned June 14 by the Iowa River. The aid package includes $182 million to accelerate construction on an already planned federal courthouse to replace the Northern District Courthouse on May's Island in Cedar Rapids damaged by high water by the Cedar River.

Disaster plan OK'd

Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development signed off on Iowa's disaster recovery plan, which was folded into the budget.

"As we continue our rebuilding efforts, this $85 million in Community Development Block Grant funding will provide vital resources to communities large and small," Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said in a statement. "I appreciate HUD accepting our plan and look forward to these dollars quickly being released to our state. As governor, I will continue to work with HUD and all of our federal partners as we rebuild the great state of Iowa stronger and safer than before."

The CDBG funds will be used to:

* Rehabilitate homes damaged by the floods;

* Finance construction of new multi-family housing units to provide permanent housing for those displaced by the floods;

* Provide infrastructure for new housing construction sites;

* Make infrastructure improvements to lessen the impact of future flooding; and

* Subsidize community housing buy-out programs, enabling families to seek other housing options.

HUD grants also include millions of dollars to help Iowa small businesses reopen their doors, and nearly $11 million to repair and rebuild public infrastructure, such as roads and utilities.

The HUD grant is intended to complement the Jumpstart Iowa Programs, Culver announced three days after Pelosi's visit to the state. The $40 million housing and small-business assistance plan will bring immediate relief to Iowans still feeling the effects of this year's natural disaster and will bridge the gap until the $85 million in CDBG funds arrive in the state.

Since May 25, Iowa has pursued several federal government reimbursement for public assistance projects.

In June, Congress passed and President Bush signed legislation that included $300 million in supplemental CDBG funding to help Iowa, Illinois and other Midwest states affected by the flood. Last month, HUD allocated $100 million of these funds, with $85 million for Iowa to support the state's long-term disaster recovery and critical infrastructure needs.

The state submitted its final action plan Friday, following HUD's announcement of available funds Sept. 11 and the federally required seven-day comment period.

Down payment

Loebsack predicted more aid would be forthcoming.

"This is second package," he said. "There were seven separate packages for (Hurricane) Katrina victims, this is just a down payment."

Gulf Coast residents have been promised $110 billion in aid after the 2005 storm. Damage in the Midwest states stricken by floods in June and July is estimated at about $10 billion.

The spending bill, which passed 370-58, is fueled by a need to keep the government running past the Oct. 1 start of the new budget year. Passage also was greased by 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6 billion.

The measure also includes sections from the Midwest Schools Disaster Recovery Act, legislation Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., wrote to help flood-affected schools. It provides $15 million to schools that are enrolling displaced students and grants the education secretary discretion to grant those schools flexibility under No Child Left Behind rules. It contains an additional $15 million for colleges and universities recovering from the disaster.

"It is absolutely critical that our students continue to receive a quality education in the aftermath of this flooding," said Hare, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee.

"Congressman Hare's leadership in putting forth this bill will ensure that our school district, its students and staff will see minimal negative impact from this flooding," said Ralph Grimm, superintendent of the West Central School District in Henderson County. "With the provisions of this bill, we can continue doing what we do best and that is educating our students."

The Federal spending measure is dominated by $488 billion for the Pentagon, $40 billion for the Homeland Security Department and $73 billion for veterans' programs and military base construction projects -- amounting to about 60 percent of the budget work Congress must pass each year.

Earlier this year, Congress provided $70 billion for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; more will be needed by mid-2009.

Political food fight

The budget legislation is the result of months of wrangling between Democrats who control Congress and the lame-duck Bush administration and its allies on Capitol Hill. The administration won approval of the defense budget while Democrats wrested concessions from the White House on disaster aid, heating subsidies for the poor and smaller spending items.

In a major victory for Republicans in this election season, Democrats capitulated and agreed to lift the offshore drilling ban. The move does not mean drilling is imminent. But it could set the stage for the government to offer leases in some Atlantic federal waters as early as 2011.

The administration also succeeded in blocking Democrats' efforts to extend unemployment insurance, increase food stamp payments and help states deal with shortfalls in their Medicaid budgets.

Democrats doubled the money for heating subsidies for the poor and successfully pressed the White House for a generous $23 billion aid plan for disaster-ravaged states. The measure would avert a shortfall in Pell college aid grants and address problems in the Women, Infants and Children program, which delivers healthy foods to the poor.

Bush had threatened to veto bills that did not cut the number and cost of pet projects in half or cause agency operating budgets to exceed his request. Democrats ignored the edict as they drafted the plan, and the White House has apparently backed down. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., suggested additional progress on the budget could have been made had Bush signaled such flexibility earlier.

The legislation includes an increase for the census as well as money to cover transition costs for the incoming administration. It provides money for 20 F-22 fighter planes over and above the Pentagon request, and additional dollars for armored vehicles, body armor and combating roadside bombs.

Retooling money

After hard lobbying, automakers won up to $25 billion in low-interest loans to help them develop technologies and retool factories to meet new standards for cleaner, more fuel efficient cars.

The bill would pay, until March, for agencies whose budgets have not passed. This would eliminate the need for a much-dreaded, lame-duck session after the Nov. 4 election to deal with unfinished work.

The legislation came together in a remarkably secret process that concentrated decision-making power in the hands of a few lawmakers. They include House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., and Pelosi.

Republicans blasted the process by which the measure came before the House. Lawmakers had just a few hours to scrutinize the 357-page measure -- along with 752 pages of accompanying explanations and tables of previously secret pet projects -- before the vote. Debate lasted less than one hour.

The rush also ran counter to Democratic promises for more open disclosure of billions of dollars worth of home-state pet projects sought by most lawmakers.

Pet projects

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, discovered 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6 billion. That included 2,025 in the defense portion alone that cost a total of $4.9 billion. Among them was the request for the courthouse in Cedar Rapids.

House Republicans had started a major campaign this year to add further reforms to the pet project process. But Republican protests Wednesday over such projects were limited at best. Instead, Republicans crowed over their success in lifting the drilling freeze.