Democrats plan to defy Bush's veto threat on Defense spending bill

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., is pressing ahead with Democrats' push to secure another $15 billion in emergency funding this year beyond the $40 billion provided immediately after Sept. 11, even though President Bush reiterated his veto threat against the extra money again Wednesday at a breakfast meeting with congressional leaders. "The president made it plain as day that if the Senate will send the president a bill that complicates our nation's defense needs, he will veto it," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said. Fleischer charged that, since Republicans believe they can sustain the veto, Democrats continuing to seek the new money would amount to trying to "delay America's national defense needs." Daschle argued that the additional funds, which would be split evenly between domestic recovery aid for New York and homeland defense initiatives, is needed now, despite Bush's position that it can wait until next spring. Daschle said he will seek unanimous consent to move off the farm bill Thursday and take up the $317 billion fiscal 2002 Defense appropriations bill, and that he intends to stay on it until it is finished--although early indications from Republican sources are that it may not take long. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, said he and other Republicans favor raising a budget point of order against the entire bill for exceeding the statutory spending cap, which has yet to be raised from the current level of $550 billion; in contrast, the Defense spending bill will bring the total FY02 spending tab to $686 billion. If Democrats lack the 60 votes to waive the point of order, Gramm explained, both the Senate version of the bill and the underlying House bill would be wiped out, since both exceed the statutory cap. The result, Gramm said, would be to send the bill back to the Appropriations Committee. Republicans are expected to meet at 4 p.m. today to map out their strategy. But when asked about Gramm's scenario, Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., responded, "I don't think there is much danger of it going back to committee." Reid added that Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, are working on a strategy to get their bill to conference--although Reid did not say whether it would include the extra $15 billion that Republicans oppose. Reid said it makes no sense to have a fight on the Senate floor, and then another fight over the same issues again in conference. Also on Wednesday, the House passed a sixth continuing resolution to provide current-year funding through Dec. 15 for federal agencies that do not have final FY02 budgets. House action on the $408 million District of Columbia appropriations conference report, the 10th FY02 conference report completed this year, is expected Thursday. The Rules Committee plans to meet on the conference report today. Still unfinished are conference reports on the Foreign Operations, Labor-HHS and Defense bills.