Homeland security action shifts to House floor, Senate panel

House leaders hope to bring the homeland security legislation to the floor Wednesday for a day or two of debate. The Homeland Security Committee approved the House bill on Friday.

But the real fight could take place earlier in the week at the Rules Committee, as Democrats and standing committee leaders work to ensure that they can offer favored amendments on the House floor. The House Republican leadership has not yet decided how many amendments it will permit during the debate on the floor.

Several committee chairmen&$151;Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska; Government Reform Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind.; and Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.; among others&$151;plan to offer amendments to change important parts of the bill.

Meanwhile, a handful of House Democrats plan to offer amendments defeated Friday by Republicans in a markup of the legislation tinted by partisanship.

On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is scheduled Wednesday to consider its version of the legislation.

The Senate bill, drafted by Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., generally follows the White House proposal. However, Lieberman includes in his bill several of the changes requested by House Democrats and committee chairmen.