WASHINGTON - Money earmarked by Congress for the International Peace Garden along the North Dakota-Canada border has survived an attack by an Oklahoma senator who says the U.S. government should get its priorities straight.

The Senate on Wednesday turned back an attempt to block $450,000 in federal funding for the Peace Garden. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., had offered an amendment to strip the earmark, along with a few others, from a transportation spending bill.

The Senate voted 63-32 to reject Coburn's amendment and to keep the money in the bill.

Coburn, a frequent critic of funding for local projects inserted into legislation, argued the money would be better spent on road repairs. He called it "morally wrong" to spend money on such projects as the border park when thousands of people are dying on the country's roads.

"We've got to fix what's wrong with our country," he said.

North Dakota's two Democratic senators said the attempt was partisan and angrily fought the amendment.

Sen. Byron Dorgan said on the Senate floor that the garden north of Dunseith, N.D., is a "wonderful and remarkable place" that has received federal money in the past.

The 2,300-acre garden was dedicated more than 70 years ago as a symbol of peace between the two countries. It now has thousands of flowers and is home to numerous attractions, including a memorial built from steel girders from the World Trade Center that was destroyed by terrorists. Hundreds gathered there Tuesday for a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The garden's buildings are in disrepair, and Canada has agreed to pitch in money to help renovate and expand the park.

"We would not want to invest in this national treasure? Is that what we've come to? This makes no sense at all," Dorgan said.

Sen. Kent Conrad said Coburn's amendment was "completely unreasonable."

"There doesn't seem to be any sound basis for his critique," he said.

The phrase "Peace Garden State" is printed on the bottom of North Dakota license plates.

Coburn's amendment also would have struck funding for a baseball field in Billings, Mont., and other projects.

The senator denied his attempt was partisan, saying he has gone after Republican earmarks, even one that would have benefited his own state.

"It's about priorities," he said.