Senate may give up on homeland security bill

With time running out before a scheduled pre-election adjournment, Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., hinted Thursday that he may halt debate on homeland security legislation next week in order to move to other issues, including the Iraq resolution and pension reform legislation.

Minutes later, Minority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., said Republicans would oppose the move until GOP senators get a vote they are seeking on controversial personnel rules for the proposed Homeland Security Department.

The Democratic and Republican procedural moves-combined with GOP plans to defeat a pair of cloture motions Thursday and Friday-further jeopardizes the prospects for the bill as the session draws to a close. "We are going to get a vote on our amendment or we are not going to get a bill," Nickles threatened. Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., responded that the Republican tactics are "only an effort to stall" the legislation.

In dueling news conferences, Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the downfall of the bill. Daschle charged that Republicans have in effect launched a "filibuster" by repeatedly defeating procedural motions to end debate on the bill. "They are stopping work on this bill," Daschle said.

Republicans have defeated two cloture motions and are expected to block two more Thursday afternoon and Friday. If Republicans follow through on their threats, Daschle said he "would consider setting aside" the homeland bill in order to move to the Iraq resolution or, perhaps, pension-reform legislation. The majority leader said he "hope[s] to finish" homeland security, but called the chamber's four-week debate on the issue "ridiculous."

After Daschle spoke, Nickles said Republicans would not allow Democrats to move to other bills. Instead, Republicans would continue to insist on a vote on an amendment offered by Sens. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, and Zell Miller, D-Ga., that would give the president the flexibility that he wants over the personnel rules for the department's 170,000 employees. Voting for the cloture motion, Nickles said, would be "ridiculous" because it "would deny us a vote on our amendment."

In response to Daschle's charge, Nickles said: "Not one Republican is filibustering this bill. We want to pass the president's bill." Added Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., "We are going to insist that we get a vote on the floor."