The committee, dominated by Bush's Republican Party, should pass the request on Tuesday, but several amendments were beind discussed, including one which would add another 3.5 billion dollars to help US airlines absorb the impact of the Iraq conflict on their operations, lawmakers said.

There was also a debate over whether to give the president all of the leeway he sought to spend the money requested. Bush had wanted a lot of the money put in a special fund to be used at his discretion.

SPACE.WIRE