Congress has approved nearly $100 billion in war spending through September without a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Thursday’s vote capped months of wrangling that saw President Bush veto an earlier bill setting a nonbinding timetable for withdrawal. In the House, the final vote was 280 to 142. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among Democrats voting against the measure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “We have lost thousands of Americans. The number is hard to measure, but everyone agrees easily over 100,000 Iraqis. The cost to our reputation and our military readiness is incalculable, but it is huge. We think there needs to be a new direction. We think what we should be talking about here today is a different vision for stability in the Middle East and how our role in Iraq contributes to that.”

Across the aisle, Republican Minority Leader John Boehner broke down as he called on lawmakers to fund the war.

Rep. John Boehner: “I came here to do something, and I think at the top of our list is providing for the safety and security of the American people. That’s at the top of our list. And after 3,000 of our fellow Americans died at the hands of these terrorists, when are we going to stand up and take them on? When are we going to defeat them? Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you, if we don’t do it now, if we don’t have the courage to defeat this enemy, we will long, long regret it.”

The final Senate vote was 80 to 14. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama both voted against the bill.