WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The Senate on Thursday handed President Bush his first veto override -- authorizing $ 23 billion in new water projects . The Army Corps of Engineers works on levee improvements in New Orleans , Louisiana . The vote was 79-14 . Approval by two-thirds of the Senate , 67 members , was required for passage . Bush spiked the measure Friday despite its overwhelming bipartisan support , calling it too costly and complaining that the 900 projects it authorized would overtax the Army Corps of Engineers . But the House of Representatives passed it again Tuesday on a 361-54 vote -- well beyond the two-thirds margin needed for an override -- and the White House said it was resigned to seeing the bill become law . See a chart of recent and historical vetoes » . Supporters said the projects authorized under the Water Resources Development Act are necessary to rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina , restore the Everglades and Great Lakes fisheries and build flood-control projects nationwide . They said it has been more than seven years since Congress passed a major water resources bill . Sen. Barbara Boxer , a Democrat from California who was responsible for shepherding the bill through the Senate , said the Senate was sending the president a message . `` You should respect the Senate , the House , the Congress and American people because we are elected , too , '' Boxer said . `` We are close to the people . We know what their needs are . '' Florida Sens . Bill Nelson , a Democrat , and Mel Martinez , a Republican , said they also decided to vote to override the veto , noting that the bill authorizes nearly $ 2 billion for Florida projects , most of it related to the Everglades . Watch Senate override Bush 's veto » . `` It 's time for us to save one of the great natural wonders of the world , '' Nelson said at a news conference . Before Thursday 's vote , two senators from states hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina -- a Republican and a Democrat -- urged their peers to override the veto . `` This is about flood protection , this is about water and sewer projects , it is about doing something about water and the proper salinity in the Gulf of Mexico . `` These are good , deserved , justified projects that should go forward , '' said Sen. Trent Lott , R-Mississippi , whose home in Pascagoula was wiped out by the storm . `` A quarter of the state probably would n't even exist if we did n't have flood control projects , '' Lott said . Nearly every president has had trouble with water resource programs , and Bush was `` just trying to hold the line on spending . '' Sen. Mary Landrieu , D-Louisiana , said the bill has overwhelming support from both sides . Landrieu said the bill will lay a foundation for reconstruction after the storm , which killed more than 1,800 people in Louisiana and Mississippi . The measure will fund projects including the reconstruction of levees around New Orleans , Louisiana , and closing off the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet -- a manmade channel blamed for funneling Katrina 's storm surge into the city 's Lower 9th Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish . In his veto message , Bush complained that Congress added about $ 8 billion in projects to the bill in committee after each house had passed its own version . `` American taxpayers should not be asked to support a pork-barrel system of federal authorization and funding where a project 's merit is an afterthought , '' he said . In a statement issued after Thursday 's vote , the White House said , '' No one is surprised that this veto was overridden . '' But , White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said in the statement , `` It 's obvious that the bill does n't make difficult choices and does n't set spending priorities . We do n't believe it 's a responsible way to budget . '' Bush 's veto of the water projects bill was the fifth veto of his presidency . All of those came in his second term , according to Senate data . Bush has vetoed fewer bills than any president since James A. Garfield , who issued no vetoes during his seven months in office in 1881 . Congress unsuccessfully attempted to override three of the president 's previous four vetoes . E-mail to a friend .
Senate negates veto of bill that helps Gulf Coast , Everglades , Great Lakes . White House says `` no one is surprised that this veto was overridden '' Bill funds projects including the reconstruction of levees around New Orleans . Score: 6