Intel conferees still working, but no agreement in sight yet

House-Senate conferees continued to labor Thursday on legislation to overhaul intelligence operations, with their biggest enemy the dwindling number of days remaining in this session.

A spokeswoman for Senate Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said a deal is "very close." Asked how he would rate the chances of completing a bill, Governmental Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said, "We're moving up to 55-45 [percent]."

Collins and House Intelligence Chairman Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., along with other conferees, leadership staff and the White House, resumed talks earlier Thursday after a marathon session that lasted late into Wednesday night. Aides said negotiators turned their focus to items that House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., is most concerned about, provisions that were not in the Senate measure and which appear to have dragged out negotiations this week. Sensenbrenner is holding his ground on immigration, border security and law enforcement provisions that he believes must be included in an intelligence overhaul package. Hoekstra said Wednesday the two sides were a "day or two away" from having a deal or admitting failure.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert's, R-Ill., spokesman concurred Thursday that the "deadline is approaching, but it is unclear when the deadline is." He said lawmakers would have to be ready with an intelligence bill by the time an fiscal 2005 omnibus appropriations bill comes to the floor because lawmakers would want to leave town quickly after that vote.

Conferees have toiled daily over the last month on the package, mostly discussing the key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission for creating a national intelligence director with strong authority over funding for the 15 intelligence agencies. The White House had publicly backed the Senate language that closely reflected the Commission's recommendation, but the Pentagon threw a wrench in the talks by endorsing the House version to retain the Defense secretary's authority over its intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency. Aides said Thursday the two sides were completing a deal on the proposed director's authority, but any compromise hinges on reaching consensus on the Sensenbrenner items.

One House GOP aide said Wednesday night's negotiations coasted along until Senate conferees offered the "wrong" language on the remaining sticking points. Aides said House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who has held his ground on the Pentagon's authority to control its intelligence assets, was called in Wednesday night to review a Senate proposal but rejected it when it became clear the language was off the mark. Other outstanding issues were limiting asylum for suspected terrorists, narrowing the authority of a civil liberties board, establishing national standards for driver's licenses and birth certificates, and prohibiting the use of Mexican "matricular consular" cards.