Passed by the Senate by voice vote, the bill now goes to the White House. The House of Representatives approved the bill on Tuesday evening.

The blueprint for military spending by the Pentagon and nuclear weapons related programs at the Energy Department roughly matches President George W. Bush's request. The bill would provide an increase of about 50 billion dollars, or 15 percent, over the defense programs authorized for 2002.

It included a 4.1 percent pay raise for military personnel, 10 billion dollars for fighting the war on terrorism and some of the biggest funding increases for the military in decades.

"This bill will provide our men and women in uniform with the tools they need and the pay and benefits they deserve," said Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

The bill was passed in the Senate one day after House and Senate negotiators reached a compromise over retirement benefits for disabled veterans, ending a month-long dispute.

The compromise would limit the benefits to certain groups of veterans. The White House had threatened to veto earlier versions passed by the House and the Senate which would give disabled veterans their full benefits, saying they were too costly.

The bill also authorized 7.6 billion dollars for missile defense programs, and gave the President the option to use 814 million dollars of this sum for military counter-terrorism programs.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2002)