Senate to take up supplemental spending bill

With the House having passed a $28.8 billion fiscal 2002 supplemental spending bill just before the Memorial Day recess, the focus this week shifts to the Senate, which will take up its $31 billion supplemental package as soon as Congress reconvenes.

While debate on the bill's various spending components could be relatively free of controversy, legislative add-ons could slow its consideration on the floor.

Chief among the time-consuming extras would be a "deeming resolution" that would set an overall budget target for fiscal 2003 in the absence of a budget resolution, which has been held up in the Senate since April.

After deflecting questions for weeks about his party's inability to secure passage of the budget resolution produced under Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., indicated before the recess that coming up with language to lock in a spending target for the upcoming budget season would signify "real progress."

Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., has signaled that he is willing to accept the $768 billion included in Conrad's resolution. But that number does not sit well with Republican conservatives, who believe it is too high.

The House supplemental includes a deeming resolution setting the figure at $759 billion, which includes a $10 billion contingency fund for defense. It remains unclear if the chambers would attempt to conference a deeming resolution--the preference of appropriators and many senators--or whether each chamber would declare a stalemate and begin writing appropriations bills with substantially different spending allocations.

Daschle also has dismissed the idea of attaching debt-limit language to the supplemental, saying he prefers to see the issue move separately. But the House supplemental bill contains placeholder language to raise the debt ceiling, and Senate Republicans probably will raise the issue--a top priority for the White House.

Also, Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., are likely to try to add language setting up multiyear spending caps and strict budget enforcement language.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has indicated that he may try to add language to the supplemental setting up an independent commission to investigate how the government handled the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.