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WASHINGTON IN BRIEF
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Under a complicated formula, the increase translates to 2 percent for members of Congress. For the second year in a row, Matheson led a drive to block the raise.
"I do not think that it is appropriate to let this bill go through without an up-or-down vote on whether or not Congress should have an increase in its own pay," Matheson told his colleagues. But by a 249 to 167 vote, the House rejected holding a direct vote on the raise.
House Approves $94.5 Billion for Wars
The House passed a $94.5 billion bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, hurricane relief, bird flu preparations and U.S.-Mexico border security.
The package contains $66 billion for the two wars, bringing the cost of the three-year-old war in Iraq to about $320 billion. Operations in Afghanistan have cost about $89 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The bill, approved 351 to 67, also includes almost $20 billion in funds for storm recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast.
The Senate is to vote on the measure as early as today.
-- Staff writer Shailagh Murray and news reports
