Congress Won’t Consider Defense Spending Separately, Durbin Says

Richard Durbin, the U.S. Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, said the Defense Department spending bill for 2011 won’t be passed separately from a larger package funding the government.

Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who serves as assistant majority leader, said that including the defense spending bill is critical to passage of the overall spending package funding the government through Sept. 30, when fiscal year 2011 ends.