Veteran lawmaker Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, had progressives' backing for an amendment to the fiscal year 2005 budget resolution (S.Con.Res. 95) to boost funding for education, veterans, homeland security, and other critical domestic priorities education, but his proposal failed to win over conservatives. Byrd's amendment was voted down 43-53, with three Democrats defecting and Republicans presenting a united front against the measure. Byrd's amendment would have created a reserve fund that would allow up to $11.2 billion in additional spending in fiscal 2005 for law enforcement and first responder grants, education, veterans' medical care, global HIV/AIDS, surface transportation, medical research and Homeland Security Department programs, with the cost fully offset, progressives argued, by closing corporate tax loopholes, improving tax enforcement and reducing tax breaks for certain individuals. Citing their desire to maintain current tax breaks, conservatives rejected the funding mechanism Byrd proposed, meaning those corporate tax loopholes were preserved.