The House also passed a $453.5 billion Defense spending bill early this morning, as well as the the FY06 defense authorization conference report. The Defense appropriations bill was passed with a bipartisan 308 - 106 vote, even though the bill includes the contentious ANWR language. The bill also includes $29 billion in Gulf Coast rebuilding aid and $3.8 billion for flu preparedness. The bill also includes a much-anticipated one-percent across-the-board cut to discretionary spending outside of Veteran's Affairs. It is still unknown how the Senate will vote on this bill. If the Senate does reject the bill - most likely due to the inclusion of ANWR - the House would have to reconvene to solve the impasse, because the current continuing resolution funding government operations expires December 31.