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Democrats controlling the House are promising to freeze the budgets of most Cabinet departments in a massive measure wrapping Congress' unfinished annual spending bills into a single, catchall measure.

The 423-page bill, unveiled overnight, would cap agency operating budgets passed each year by Congress at the $1.2 trillion level of the budget year that ended Sept. 30. That's about 4% less than the amount requested by President Barack Obama.

There are many exceptions to the freeze. Health care programs for veterans and the military would get a boost, as would the Pell Grant education program for low-income college students.

The bill also would provide $159 billion to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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