US President George W. Bush signed on Thursday a spending bill of 397.4 billion US dollars for the budget year that began from Oct. 1, 2002.
Signing the bill in Crawford, Texas, Bush complained that the US Congress was spending too much in areas such as drought relief for farmers and not enough on his priorities.
"I am very concerned that the Congress failed to provide over 1 billion dollars in funds that my administration requested for state and local law enforcement and emergency personnel," Bush said in a statement.
"Much of the funding that the Congress did provide is heavily earmarked for lower-priority programs that are not best designed to protect Americans against terrorism," he said.
The spending bill pays for every government agency except the US Defense Department for the 2003 budget year that ends on Sept. 30, 2003.
With his signature, the US president ended a bitter stalemate that began last year when he demanded lower spending than many in the Congress wanted.
The spending bill was opposed by Democrats who contended it shortchanged education, domestic security and park lands. Conservative Republicans in the Congress were also angry that it spent too much on lawmakers' projects that were widely criticized.