US Congress moves toward OK for financing war on IS jihadists: US congressional negotiators late Tuesday approved an emergency funding package to pay for military operations against the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq and Syria, and a vote is expected in the coming days.
A plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels, proposed by President Barack Obama, is also expected to be extended. Lawmakers in September had approved it to last only until December 11.
The armed services committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate late Tuesday released the final text of the defense authorization act for the 2015 budget year, which runs from October 2014 to September 2015, after months of negotiations.
The House should adopt the bill by the end of the week, said Democratic Senator Carl Levin and his Republican counterpart James Inhofe. It then goes to the Senate.
The text includes $3.4 billion for the deployment of US forces as part of operation "Absolute Determination" and $1.6 billion for a program to equip and train Iraqi Kurd forces for two years.
