House OKs Stopgap Bill on Spending
WASHINGTON — The House approved a stopgap bill Monday to keep the government running through Oct. 23, in a debate that lacked the partisan combat that marked the end of the last two fiscal years.
The measure, approved 355 to 57, lets government agencies operate temporarily beginning Wednesday, when fiscal 1998 begins. It is needed because, so far, Congress has sent President Clinton just three of the 13 annual bills required to keep federal employees at work.
Conservative California Republicans complained about a provision for a three-week extension of a law that allows thousands of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States while seeking legal residence.
The Senate is expected to send the stopgap measure to Clinton today. The bill temporarily finances programs at 1997 levels, except for those that lawmakers and the president have agreed to cut.
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