Democratic leaders in Congress have sent President Bush a veto-proof bill to authorize spending $23 billion in water projects, having waited more than a month to request his signature on a measure he has threatened to veto. Democrats have more than the two-thirds majority votes in both chambers of Congress needed to override Bush if he vetoes the bill. The Senate passed it on Sept. 24 by a vote of 81-12; the House passed it Aug. 1 by a vote of 381-40. "This congressionally approved bill authorizes more than 200 projects to protect lives and livelihoods in our communities from the devastating impacts of flooding by building and repairing floodwalls and levees, as well as by restoring wetlands that absorb floodwaters,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and four other top House Democrats wrote Bush in a letter Friday urging him to sign the bill they sent to him on Tuesday.

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