WASHINGTON —  The House took up its first spending bill Thursday after weeks of delays that have left efforts to pass next year's Cabinet budgets in shambles. The bill is slated to pass on Friday as the House leaves Washington for a five-week recess.

The measure _ one of just a handful that may become law before Congress adjourns for elections _ awards generous increases for veterans medical care and military base construction and base closures. It is easily the most bipartisan of the 12 annual appropriations bills since it funds politically sacred veterans accounts, despite exceeding President Bush's already generous budget increase for veterans and military construction by $3.4 billion.

The measure calls for increasing spending on Veterans Administration health programs by $3.1 billion over current levels, some 9 percent. A $1.8 billion increase for military base construction is 20 percent above current levels. There's also a $2 billion increase in base closure accounts for items such as improving conditions at bases slated for troop increases and assisting states and localities in preparing closed bases for economic development projects and other uses.

Despite the increases, the White House has not threatened a veto, even though Bush has taken pride in clamping down on domestic spending accounts funded by Congress each year and generally has promised to veto bills that exceed his request.

In fact, at least for the veterans and military projects bill, the White House is retreating from a vow Bush made in January's State of the Union address to veto any bill that does not cut the cost and number of congressionally sponsored pet projects in half. A move by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., to kill 103 pet projects sponsored by lawmakers such as readiness centers, parking garages, fitness centers and chapels was expected to fail Friday morning.

This year, the annual appropriations process has ground to a halt in a bitter dispute over efforts by Republicans to use the annual spending bills to lift a congressional ban on oil exploration in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Rather than permit a vote, the chairmen of the House and Senate appropriations committees have halted work on their panels' bills.

It had already been commonly assumed that Congress wouldn't pass many appropriations bills this year. Democratic leaders signaled they'd rather wait until next year _ when they hope a Democrat will hold the White House _ rather than wage futile battles with Bush.

A stopgap spending bill funding the government into next year will be required before the 2009 budget year begins Oct. 1.

The budget increases for veterans in the bill come on top of major increases in recent years. Congress increasingly has followed the ambitious budget recommendations of a group of veterans service organizations such as Disabled American Veterans as it sets the VA budget.

Medical inflation and higher enrollments in VA medical care are responsible for much of the budget increases. The measure contains money aimed at shortening waits to enroll in the VA system.

Other increases reflect additional costs due to the nature of ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have meant devastating brain injuries, cases of post-traumatic stress disorder and higher costs for prosthetics.

The bill also increases from 28.5 cents per mile to 41.5 cents per mile the reimbursement rate for drives to and from VA medical facilities.

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