About two-thirds of the bill would pay for nutrition programs such as food stamps and emergency food aid for the needy. An additional $40 billion is for farm subsidies, while almost $30 billion would go to farmers to idle their land and to other environmental programs.
The Senate was to vote on the bill today. Rejecting a Bush veto would be even easier in the Senate because farm states have greater representation than they do in the House. Congress has overridden only one veto, on a water projects bill, during Bush's two terms.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said the measure "will drastically increase nutrition initiatives that will help 38 million American families put healthy food on their table."
She made it clear that she would have preferred smaller farm subsidies, but deferred to some Democratic colleagues looking ahead to the fall campaign.
Only 91 Republicans voted against the bill. Bush was abandoned by 100 GOP lawmakers one day after the party lost its third straight special election this year for filling House vacancies. All three districts - one each in Illinois, Louisiana, and Mississippi - include rural farm areas and now have Democrats in seats long held by Republicans.
Some Republicans criticized the mostly bipartisan and popular bill because a few home-state pet causes, including tax breaks for Kentucky racehorse owners and additional aid for salmon fishermen in the Pacific Northwest.
"This bill has been under consideration for a long, long time, and yet still we have earmarks that have been 'air dropped' into the legislation," complained Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican.
The bill would boost nutrition programs, including food stamps and emergency domestic food aid, by $10 billion over 10 years.
