The vote on the 2004 Defense Authorization Bill, was 98-1.

The annual spending bill also contains a provision to improve living conditions for men and women in uniform, for the fiscal year starting on October 1.

The Senate bill must now be reconciled with similar legislation wending its way through the House of Representatives.

A vote on the House bill, which differs only slightly from the senate measure, was expected later Thursday. Votes in both chamebrs on final passage of the legislation were expected Friday.

The lone "no" vote was cast by Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who issued a scathing attack from the senate floor Thursday lambasting an ever-expanding US military budget at a time when the United States unchallenged as the is the sole world superpower.

Both the House and Senate narrowly defeated amendments Thursday that would have allowed enlisted women seeking abortions to do so on military bases, although they would have been required to pay for the procedures out of their own pockets.

In another contentious issue, the senate earlier in the week rejected an amendment by Califorina Senator Dianne Feinstein that would have maintained a decade-old ban on low-yield nuclear weapons in place -- a development that unleashed both heated defense and furious denunciations of the administration's defense and security policies from the Senate floor.

Opponents warned Wednesday that introducing low-yield nuclear weapons could trigger a dangerous new arms race.

Supporters called for allowing at very least, research into the use of such devices, which they said may one day prove to be an important weapon in combatting new security threats around the world.

WAR.WIRE