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The Democrats' removal of funding for a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border from a defense-spending bill Tuesday has Republicans up in arms.

The provision, authored by Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., offered $3 billion in funding to help secure "operational control" of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The funding was intended to pay for 700 miles of fencing to be completed by the end of the 2009 fiscal year. It also would pay for more Border Patrol agents, 300 miles of vehicle barriers, 105 radar and camera towers and enough beds to detain 45,000 illegal entrants daily. Some money was earmarked for states to help them pursue illegal entrants who had overstayed their visas and to help employers comply with employee-verification requirements.

"In removing these funds, Democrats are sending the American people the troubling message that Congress is not serious about securing the border," Kyl said in a news release.

The funding was initially part of President Bush's broad immigration bill that fell apart in June.

Republicans then moved to attach the funding to a Homeland Security measure. It passed in July, 89-1. The vote indicated that the GOP would help override Bush's promised veto of the Democrats' Homeland Security budget .

In September, Senate Republicans added the money to the defense spending bill. Demo-crats stripped the funding from the bill Tuesday in a House-Senate conference committee.

"It's simply unbelievable when you consider that just last month the Senate voted 95 to 1 to approve this crucial funding to secure our border," said Kyl. "One could say that Democrats voted for border-security funding before they were against it."

The provision will likely pass later this year as a part of the Homeland Security Department's spending bill.

The White House has indicated that Bush would allow an extra $3 billion for border security measures, even though it exceeds his budget.