US President George W. Bush is asking the Congress to approve 51.8 billion US dollars as additional funds to support recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the White House said Wednesday.

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan made the announcement, saying the installment will be the first follow-up fund after a 10. 5-billion-dollar-bill was approved on Sept. 2.

He said the new request will arrive in the Congress later in the day and US lawmakers are expected to approve it as early as Thursday.

McClellan noted this will not be the last funding for relief and recovery efforts.

Earlier, US Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that he expected the total funding for relief efforts to be as much as 150 billion dollars.

The new funding request includes 1.4 billion dollars for the military and 400 million dollars for the Army Corps of Engineers, which is working to plug breached levees in the ravaged city of New Orleans, Louisiana.

The rest is earmarked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the country's front-line disaster response body, which will use the new funding to carry out rescue missions, provide victims with drinking water and deal with public health issues caused by the killer storm.

Source: Xinhua