House Approves Boost to GI Bill

WASHINGTON - The House on Thursday passed a Democratic plan sharply boosting education benefits for Iraq-Afghanistan veterans and awarding people whose unemployment benefits have expired with a 13-week extension.

The 266-166 fell short of the two-thirds needed to overcome a promised veto by President Bush.

The Democratic plan would impose a surtax on individual incomes exceeding $500,000 to pay for the 10-year, $52 billion cost of boosting the GI Bill to provide Iraq veterans with college educations. Couples would pay the tax on income exceeding $1 million.

It comes on the heels of the unexpected defeat of a $163 billion bill covering the costs of funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Republicans withheld support for the funding measure in protest of Democratic tactics. That kills the war funding for now, but it'll be revived next week in the Senate.