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WASHINGTON, US - US PRESIDENT George W. Bush signed a more than US$600 billion (S$860 billion) bill late on Tuesday to fund government operations until March 2009, after lawmakers failed to pass a budget for the next year.
'I am disappointed that the Congress passed a long term continuing resolution,' Mr Bush said in a statement announcing he had signed the legislation.
'There is much work to be done, and the Congress should not adjourn for the year without finishing important business on spending, taxes, and free trade agreements,' the US president said.
The legislation leaves a massive bailout of the troubled financial markets, which was being hammered ut over the weekend, as the only issue still to be ackled before lawmakers head home to campaign ahead of the ovember 4 vote.
Mr Bush noted that the legislation, which does not include monies for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, lifts the legislative ban on oil and gas drilling on large portions of the US Outer Continental Shelf.
Funding for the two conflicts has been included in separate measures.
The bill includes US$25 billion in loan guarantees for the auto industry and more than US$6 billion in targeted spending on lawmakers' pet projects, called earmarks. -- AFP
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