Despite repeated veto threats from President George W. Bush, both the House and Senate have approved enormous war supplemental bills that contain a schedule for eventual withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq. At approximately $124 billion, these bills are the largest supplemental funding legislation in history. On March 23, the House approved its version (H.R. 1591) of the supplemental bill in a 218-212 vote, with two Republicans joining all but 14 Democrats to pass the bill. The entire debate in the House hinged on the timetable for withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq, as House leaders worked for weeks to balance the demands of liberals who were seeking a fast withdrawal with those of conservative Democrats, who were hesitant to set any timetable for commanders in the field. In the end, they were able to find the right balance and likely eased the concerns of many members who supported the bill with an additional $20 billion in funding outside the scope of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate approved its version of the supplemental bill on March 29 by a vote of 51-47, making a few small changes to the committee mark that was approved the week before. Two Republicans, Sens. Gordon Smith (OR) and Chuck Hagel (NE), joined with Democrats to pass the bill, despite language specifying a "goal" of withdrawing troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The bill approved $123.2 billion, with the vast majority — $96 billion — going to the Defense Department, mostly to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also included a $1 billion increase for the National Guard and Reserve and $1.1 billion for improvements to military housing. The bill also has $5.75 billion for programs overseen by the State Department, with $3.2 billion of that for Iraq. Like the House bill, the Senate version includes an additional $20 billion in spending, including an extra $4.3 billion for veterans' health care, $6.7 billion in hurricane relief funds, $745 million for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, $2 billion for homeland security upgrades, and $4.2 billion for agriculture disaster relief. Despite a number of Republican amendments to strip parts of this additional spending from the bill, mostly offered by Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC), only one was successful — a DeMint amendment to strip payments to spinach growers. It passed 97-0. The Senate did approve a few amendments that added funding to the bill, including for the Secure Rural Schools And Community Self-Determination Program (approved 74-23), the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act of 2006 (approved 93-0), and $1.5 billion for additional mine-resistance vehicles in Iraq (approved 98-0). Those amendments were offered by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), John Ensign (R-NV), and Joseph Biden (D-DE), respectively. During Congress' work on the supplemental, Bush issued numerous firm veto threats against both the House and Senate versions, citing "the excessive and extraneous non-emergency spending." In addition, the president vowed to veto any bill that sets deadlines or schedules for withdrawal of soldiers from Iraq. Because each chamber's bill refers to specific dates (a "deadline" in the House's version and a "goal" in the Senate), both houses of Congress have now called for complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from a war that has lasted longer than World War II and has been this nation's most expensive ever. The House and Senate versions of the bill have slight variations in the specific dates for withdrawal to begin and end, and in how much pressure they put on the president to withdraw U.S. forces. The Senate language calls for the first withdrawals to begin within 120 days of enactment of the supplemental bill, but does not force a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces. With the standoff between Congress and the president continuing, it is unclear how soon the supplemental bill could be signed into law. This uncertainty has led to very different estimates as to how long current funding for the wars can last. The president has repeatedly stated the supplemental funding bill needs to be approved by mid-April in order to avoid funding shortfalls for the military, but a recently released report by the Congressional Research Service states the military will have sufficient funding through the end of May. With minor accounting changes, CRS believes current funding can last well into the summer. The Senate has appointed conferees but the House has not, so a conference on the bills will not begin until after the current congressional recess ends in mid-April. Congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) want to work with President Bush during the conference to avoid a veto of the bill but will need to stay close to the intent of the current language in the bills to maintain support in each chamber.