"The U.S. Senate's appropriations committee voted Thursday to increase spending for biomedical and physical-sciences research by $1.2-billion for the remainder of 2008 and expand tuition benefits for veterans," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "The money was contained in a bill to finance the Iraq war. The veterans' benefits are identical to those in the version of the bill approved Thursday by the House of Representatives. Unlike the House, however, the Senate committee did not offset the cost of the tuition benefits - $52-billion over 10 years - with a tax increase on wealthy individuals. (It's unclear whether that offset, which is required under House rules, would survive a vote in the full Senate, where several lawmakers oppose a tax increase.)"