Debate on defense spending measure gridlocked

Senate debate on the fiscal 2006 Defense appropriations bill became gridlocked temporarily Tuesday evening as Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, bristled at attempts by Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., to attach his stalled defense authorization bill as an appropriations amendment.

The two senior Republicans argued over whether the massive authorization measure -- along with several dozen noncontroversial amendments -- could be attached to the Defense appropriations bill, a piece of legislation that typically moves swiftly through the Senate.

After several weeks of discussion with Senate leaders, Warner has failed to convince the leadership to bring the $441.6 billion measure to the floor as a stand-alone bill.

Discussions on the defense authorization bill have "come pretty far," but no agreement had been reached over how many and which amendments would be allowed during floor debate, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., told reporters Tuesday afternoon. Frist added that senators were working on devising a "discrete package of amendments."

On Monday, Warner took the unprecedented step of filing the authorization bill as an amendment to Defense appropriations, along with a package of 81 noncontroversial amendments cleared by both Republicans and Democrats. He followed that up on Tuesday with another package of 16 amendments.

Last week, Stevens said would be amenable to a limited debate on a defense authorization amendment to his spending bill. But after Warner rolled out another 16 amendments without a set timetable for debate on any further secondary amendments, Stevens argued on the floor Tuesday that authorization amendment should not overwhelm the spending bill, and called for a point of order.

"So it means I'm carrying that into conference," Stevens said of the burgeoning authorization amendment, off-mike. He later added to Warner, "That's not what you said you were going to do, senator."

A parliamentarian advised that the authorization amendment -- stripped of military construction and Energy Department provisions -- is germane to Defense appropriations. But if 51 senators vote that Warner's massive amendment is not germane, authorizing legislation might be stalled indefinitely.

Debate on the authorization amendment was set aside Tuesday night, allowing senators to debate other amendments Wednesday. The Senate plans to vote on whether the authorization language is germane to the spending bill after 7:30 p.m.

To curtail debate on the Defense spending bill, Frist filed for cloture Tuesday night, with a vote expected Thursday. The goal, he said, is to finish debate on Defense appropriations before Congress adjourns Friday for the week-long Columbus Day recess.

Meanwhile, Frist and Warner still are working on a unanimous-consent agreement to bring the authorization bill to the floor on its own. A senior aide to Frist said Tuesday night that the majority leader was waiting on a list of 12 Democratic amendments to be considered during debate on the authorization bill.

Warner's two amendment packages did not include a controversial amendment filed by Armed Services Airland Subcommittee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., that would standardize treatment of detainees. Warner has said he continues to support the McCain amendment, despite veto threats from the White House should either defense bill include the language.

Initially intended for the stalled defense authorization bill, McCain has filed his detainee amendment to the appropriations bill. The Arizona Republican has said he will do whatever is necessary to get his amendment passed.

The Frist aide said he expects a unanimous consent agreement Wednesday to set aside time for the McCain amendment, with a vote tonight.

Senators have filed more than 130 amendments to the appropriations bill. They range from language sponsored by Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to pay for current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan out of the regular military budget, to a bipartisan amendment affirming a policy of maintaining a minimum 500-warhead nuclear missile arsenal.

New England Democrats also filed an amendment to the bill that would provide $3.1 billion in emergency funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to address high heating prices expected this winter. If the amendment is approved and combined with the $2 billion requested by President Bush for fiscal 2006, that would equal the $5.1 billion authorized for LIHEAP in energy legislation Bush signed into law this summer.

Darren Goode contributed to this report.