U.S. spending bill to boost border security, election safeguards: source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress' massive federal government spending deal includes additional funding to boost border security, protect the upcoming elections in November and rebuild aging infrastructure, a source familiar with the negotiations said on Wednesday.

While the source said a final overall spending agreement had not been reached, other Republican and Democratic congressional aides have told Reuters that leaders plan to unveil their agreement on the $1.3 trillion spending bill later on Wednesday.

So far, the package earmarks $1.6 billion for some fencing along the U.S. border with Mexico and other technological border security efforts, the source said.

It includes a further $307 million that the Trump administration had requested for the FBI to counter Russian cyberattacks this year, and $380 million for U.S. states to improve their technology ahead of November's congressional election, according to the source.

 

The planned measure allocates $10 billion of infrastructure spending for highways, airports and railroads, as well as an increase of $2.8 billion to fund treatment, prevention and research into opioid addiction, the source said.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Susan Heavey, Lisa Lambert; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Bernadette Baum)