A compromise was made Friday as the Senate and House majority, followed by President Bush, passed a $120 billion Iraq spending bill with riders. The bill will fund the war through the end of September and provide additional money to be directed toward domestic affairs.

Earlier in the week, President Bush had vetoed the original bill, which proposed a set timeline for the withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq back to their own soil. Democratic leaders, in efforts to compromise, negotiated to fund the Iraq war while also including such matters as enhanced health care, minimum wage increases, hurricane relief aid and much more to the bill.

Approximately $95 billion will be directed toward funding the Iraq war, according to CNN. The additional funds will be split between a handful of domestic issues. Hurricane Katrina relief will be getting part of the extra, pulling out $6 billion. About $3 billion will be put toward farm disaster aid and $2 billion will be deposited to veterans’ medical care.

Other issues, such as a boost in health care for American troops, money to expand troop alacrity and money to purchase military vehicles less susceptible to explosive devices were also implemented. National minimum wage will also be gradually raised from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour.

James McCormick, professor and chairman of political science, said bills such as this are not unusual. Many times, issues of no relevance to the specific proposal are attached in an effort to pass many items at once, saving time and decreasing the number of bills pushed through the process. This process works as a compromise between the two parties to pass what matters most to them in one swing.

Riders included in the Iraq spending bill are issues that seem to be important to the Democratic party. Tyler Platt, freshman in engineering and vice president of ISU Democrats, said such issues as a raise in the minimum wage and more environmental awareness are very important domestic affairs. Although he is glad such matters are being addressed and have been included with the spending bill, he was a little unhappy the issues couldn’t be tackled in a stronger light.

Platt also said he felt let down by congressional Democrats who were not more firm in their pursuit to end the war. Although he realizes the war will have to be funded regardless, he was “ticked off” the Democratic Party did not fully stand behind their hopes for the war’s end, but instead caved in to a bill that wasn’t what they wanted.

“I hope that the leadership of the Democrats will be more aggressive,” he said. “Democrats need to get their act together, be aggressive and not take things for granted.”

Don McDowell, senior in political science and co-chairman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans, said he believes the war is the overriding issue in today’s world, with immigration concerns and gas prices next in line. He did say he is pleased the minimum wage will be increased and that more aid will be given to Hurricane Katrina relief.

Supportive of the war since the beginning, McDowell said that while war is expensive and bloody, he believes it is necessary. To perform to the maximum capacity, he said troops need to be funded and supported, which the bill works to make possible.

“We need to put necessary economic infrastructures in place for a reason to live and not a reason to die and kill others,” he said of the war in Iraq.

McDowell said he thought the war has been mishandled at some points, possibly because of poor communication. When compared to former presidents Clinton and Reagan, McDowell said President Bush is not nearly as effective of a communicator to the country, making a lot of people blame war problems on him alone.

McDowell said he hopes the Republican Party will be successful soon, saying the last year has been a wake-up call for the party, and they have taken a beating and realized their mistakes.