Pre-election vote on intel overhaul bill increasingly unlikely

Prospects for enacting sweeping intelligence overhauls before next Tuesday's election dimmed Tuesday as the top four House and Senate conferees met again behind closed doors after a late night session Monday made little progress.

House Intelligence Chairman Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., who is chairman of the conference, is trying to work out a deal on the main sticking point -- the Senate's proposal to create a national intelligence director with full budget authority.

But negotiations have been hampered by last week's letter from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers urging that the Defense Department maintain its current role in budgeting of intelligence functions. That bolstered House opposition to giving the proposed national intelligence director budget authority over certain defense intelligence resources. The Myers letter also appeared to contradict President Bush's stance on the issue and muddied the waters for conferees.

Congressional aides have said a deal would have to be reached Tuesday if lawmakers were to be brought back to Washington for a vote by the end of the week. One House GOP aide said the two sides are hopeful they could garner a deal soon, but added that "if it does not occur today, conferees will continue working through the week in order to secure an agreement before the election with a full House vote soon thereafter."

Former Rep. Timothy Roemer, D-Ind., a 9/11 Commission member, and some victims' families attempted on Tuesday to keep the heat on conferees to pass the Senate version.

"The time to act is now," said Roemer, adding that if Congress and Bush do not enact a bill before the election, they should be held responsible on Election Day. But the Senate's lead negotiator, Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, left the door open Monday for negotiations to continue throughout this week with legislation then taken up during next month's lame duck session.

"We will continue to work as long as it takes to pass real and comprehensive intelligence reform in Congress with a goal of completing a conference report this week," Collins said in a statement.

Despite the unyielding pressure from the 9/11 Commission and families, House Republicans have barely budged from their core position. A House GOP aide said Republicans have felt buoyed by an internal poll that showed 54 percent of Republicans, 46 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of independents prefer that Congress take the time to reach a consensus to implement the 9/11 Commission's proposals rather than make sure that legislation is enacted before the election. The poll of 800 registered voters, conducted by Amr Group Sept. 27-30, had a 3.5-point error margin. GOP analysts also said the issue is not resonating outside the Beltway.

"Intelligence reform isn't anywhere on the radar screen in our races," a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee said.

Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who served as vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, conceded media and voters are focusing on the looming election, which has not provided an impetus to pass intelligence changes.