Government Executive - Authors - April Fulton

FBI lauds watch list but still lacks access

April Fulton — Thu, 20 May 2004 00:00:00 -0400

"We have one list," Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The next step is making that list accessible directly online."

Mueller said it would be accessible by the end of the year. Several federal officials have offered different dates for when the list would be completed.

The organization of the list has been under the purview of the FBI's new Terrorist Screening Center and includes cooperation from the CIA, military intelligence and several other government entities. Democratic lawmakers repeatedly have raised concerns about how the multiple agencies are cooperating on the list.

Under questioning, Mueller also acknowledged that the integration of new technology into the everyday business of FBI officials has cost more and has gone slower than expected. Despite problems with contractors on the oft-delayed project known as Trilogy, the agency has been able to implement a local-area network and a wide-area network, and install thousands of new computers, Mueller said.

Mueller said the Virtual Case File, an electronic system to replace the agency's heavy reliance on paper files, would be ready by December. "By the end of the year, we will have the foundation for cutting-edge technology for an agency of our size," Mueller predicted.

Vermont's Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on Senate Judiciary, was not impressed. The fact that FBI agents now can e-mail each other is "not a thrilling accomplishment," he said.

Panel Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, praised Mueller for the work to implement the agency's new technology and for his efforts to prevent another catastrophic event like Sept. 11, 2001. "As many as a hundred terrorist attacks or plots have been broken up worldwide," Hatch noted.

]]>

White House presses Senate to approve omnibus bill

Peter Cohn, Keith Koffler, and April Fulton — Fri, 05 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0500

A White House official, asked Friday about the administration's push, said, "The administration feels that the omnibus budget bill should be done this year and is working with the Senate to make that happen."

But thus far Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is not budging. "The leader is not inclined to change his commitment to colleagues about the schedule, but will continue to consult with members about the president's request and, if there is to be any change, will indicate that when the Senate is in session next week," said Eric Ueland, Frist's deputy chief of staff.

The House is expected to approve the spending bill measure Monday, but objections are likely to be raised to a unanimous consent request in the Senate Tuesday, delaying enactment by more than a month. Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., has already announced he will object to any unanimous consent. Despite bringing home $262 million in the omnibus -- including $82.6 million alone for upgrades to federal prisons in Beckley and Glenville -- Byrd has issued no news releases trumpeting the bill. He has not said whether he will vote against the omnibus.

]]>

Senate budget chief pushes for vote on omnibus spending bill

Peter Cohn and April Fulton — Thu, 04 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who is currently overseas, "certainly wants us to come back" for a roll call vote on the omnibus, a spokeswoman said.

Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said Wednesday he would object to a unanimous consent request to pass the bill, arguing it was too important not to debate and vote, and that several objectionable last-minute changes -- including provisions governing agency efforts to put federal jobs up for competition from private firms -- demonstrated "we are being force-fed a bad piece of legislation dictated to the Congress by the Bush administration."

"The administration's policies encourage unfair treatment of dedicated public servants, many of whom are being forced into early retirement or the prospect of reduced benefits and lower pay," Byrd said.

OMB spokesman J.T. Young said concerns over job competitions should not hold up the spending bill. "Competitive sourcing is a policy that is fair to the American taxpayer, service recipients and to the federal worker," he said. "It would be very regrettable if misperceptions about this beneficial policy slowed Congress from finishing its appropriations work."

A Frist spokeswoman said the plan remains to ask for a unanimous consent agreement Tuesday and that senators would not be asked to return for a roll call vote next week, but she noted that could still change. Aides have said Frist is opposed to asking senators to return after a marathon November that stretched into Thanksgiving week.

That means Frist may have to wait until Jan. 20 at the earliest, when the Senate reconvenes, for approval of projects in his home state such as $2.5 million for the Enterprise Center in Chattanooga for the Chattanooga Fuel Cell Demonstration Project, and $500,000 for the Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, among others. The current continuing resolution funding the government at fiscal 2003 levels expires Jan. 31.

Meanwhile, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities appropriations analyst Richard Kogan said Thursday that with inclusion of the omnibus -- at about $325 billion in discretionary spending after a 0.59 percent across-the-board cut in non-defense programs -- spending in real terms has gone up about 1.1 percent this year over last year. That compares with about 17.2 percent between fiscal 2001 and fiscal 2002 with increased homeland security spending. Kogan also said the $1.8 billion rescission in previously obligated Pentagon funds really amounts to just $90 million because the Pentagon can pick and choose where those cuts are made next September, an assertion disputed by appropriators.

Jason Peckenpaugh contributed to this report.

]]>

Senate unlikely to get consent for omnibus spending bill

Peter Cohn and April Fulton — Wed, 03 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Barring a unanimous consent agreement, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will seek an agreement with Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., for a date to consider the measure. If no deal is struck, Frist then would be forced to file a cloture motion on the measure that would ripen as early as Jan. 20 when the Senate reconvenes, GOP aides said. President Bush is expected to deliver his State of the Union speech that day, although protocol details are still being worked out.

Frist was expected to meet with Daschle Wednesday to discuss plans for handling the omnibus. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, Wednesday urged colleagues not to object to a unanimous consent request on the omnibus, citing the negative effects on veterans' health care and other priorities.

But the measure faces continuing objections from GOP budget hawks, including Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., as well as Democrats livid about concessions to the White House on media ownership and overtime compensation rules, and to the gun lobby on a provision that would require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to destroy firearms sales records within 24 hours.

House Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf, R-Va., signed the conference report -- except for the firearms provision. Among Democrats, only House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member John Murtha of Pennsylvania and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Daniel Inouye of Hawaii signed the conference report, as did Senate Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Tom Harkin of Iowa, despite his outspoken opposition to the overtime changes. Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., also signed the report despite the provision's removal, which he fought vigorously.

Iowa would receive $7 million in so-called "Harkin grants" for school repairs and $1 million for free fruits and vegetables to decrease junk food consumption in schools, among other earmarks. Harkin had to weigh "the good, bad and outrageous," a spokeswoman said.

The measure also contains $3 million for the Hawaii Hydrogen Center for Development and Deployment of Distributed Energy Systems -- sought by Inouye and Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, for inclusion in the stalled energy bill. They voted to support the filibuster on that measure.

Meanwhile, several House Republicans, led by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., are calling on Bush to veto the omnibus. Musgrave is circulating a letter to send to Bush early next week which a spokesman said has attracted interest from a few other offices. The spokesman cited earmarks such as $200,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and $90,000 for Olive Fruit Fly Research in Montpellier, France, as items that should be removed.

"There's a lot of stuff in here that Republicans who support lower taxes and less government have real problems with," the spokesman said.

]]>

Fate of omnibus bill unclear as House, Senate plan brief return

Molly M. Peterson and April Fulton — Mon, 01 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Objections are expected from both sides of the aisle, according to a spokeswoman for Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., meaning final action on the remaining seven appropriations bills that were wrapped into the omnibus will be delayed until early next year.

The omnibus bill includes the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill, which contains language granting white-collar federal employees a 4.1 percent average pay raise in 2004.

There are no scheduled roll call votes in the Senate and it is unlikely efforts will be made to seek agreements on floor time for either class action reform or pension legislation, said a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. Agreements were made in the waning hours of last week on these two items, but much work remains, aides said.

Frist will be giving a speeches in Tennessee this week, and will also travel to New York to participate in a Christmas charity program, a spokesman said. Daschle will be in New York Tuesday to promote his new book on the "Charlie Rose Show" and Comedy Central's "Daily Show," his spokeswoman said. He will be in South Dakota the rest of the week for book signings and fundraisers.

Besides voting on the omnibus, the House is expected next Monday to cast a final vote on a bipartisan bill to combat unsolicited commercial e-mail, a spokesman for Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said Monday. A compromise version of the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act" passed the House last month on a 392-5 vote.

The Senate, which had unanimously approved its version of the bill in October, signed off on the House changes last Tuesday. But the Senate made minor technical changes that require another House vote before Congress can send the bill to President Bush, according to a spokeswoman for Senate Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Conrad Burns, R-Mont.

]]>

Senate inaction on huge spending bill could delay pay raise

Peter Cohn and April Fulton — Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is seeking unanimous consent to bring up the $328.1 billion omnibus bill by voice vote Dec. 9, but on Tuesday it appeared that Democratic opposition would block that effort and push the issue over into late January.

The omnibus bill encompasses several spending bills, including the fiscal 2004 Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill, which contains language granting white-collar federal employees a 4.1 percent average pay raise in 2004.

The Bush administration has until Nov. 30 to propose an alternative to pay levels set under procedures laid out in the 1990 Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act. Absent such a proposal or the passage of the omnibus, federal employees would at least temporarily receive a 2 percent across-the-board pay raise proposed by President Bush in late August. Last year, Congress delayed passing a fiscal 2003 omnibus bill, which also included a 4.1 percent raise, until late January. As a result, federal employees received only a 3.1 percent across-the-board pay raise and no locality-based pay increase at the beginning of the year. Even after the bill passed, it was a month before the president signed it and several more weeks before the Bush administration announced how the higher raise would be divided up. Some employees didn't see the retroactive portion of the pay raise until mid-summer.

Republicans hope to pressure Democrats to approve the omnibus in December because of the impact on home state projects and unfunded programs. The House plans to reconvene Monday, Dec. 8 for a single day to pass the omnibus regardless of the Senate's plans, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Tuesday.

"We need to move forward. It doesn't make any difference to us," the DeLay spokesman said of the Senate's failure to finish appropriations bills. Appropriators filed the omnibus bill in the House Tuesday. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said he and Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., would review their options in early December.

Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday that due to the inclusion of several controversial provisions in the omnibus bill, it was currently "dead" and should not be revived until January.

"I'm sitting here today and I can't find a better way to describe it," he told reporters. "A legislator who would vote for that would have to have rocks in his head."

Reid suggested the White House was trying to "eliminate Congress" by insisting on removing provisions protecting some workers' overtime pay and providing flexibility in federal job competitions. But if lawmakers do not clear the measure until January, many programs will be forced to operate at last year's levels under the current continuing resolution, affecting agencies' budget planning. The White House would face delays in implementing its global AIDS and Millennium Challenge Account initiatives.

As drafted, the omnibus covers seven appropriations bills. Together, they adhere to the top-line figure negotiated by lawmakers and the White House of $785.6 billion overall in fiscal 2004 discretionary spending.

Appropriators paid for about $4.6 billion in additions above the top-line number by rescinding about $1.8 billion in unspent defense funds, although the Pentagon could choose where the rescissions are made, and an across-the-board 0.6 percent cut to other programs, resulting in an additional $2.8 billion in savings.

The additions include $1.65 billion for education; $1.3 billion for veterans' health care; $1 billion for election overhaul; $350 million for the Millennium Challenge Account; and about $300 million for "miscellaneous" projects, such as $50 million for security at next year's Democratic convention in Boston and the Republican gathering in New York ($25 million each) and $50 million for an Iowa City, Iowa, environmental education facility.

Tanya N. Ballard contributed to this report.

]]>

Senate session may drag on into December

April Fulton — Tue, 11 Nov 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said because of the "extraordinary mismanagement" of the schedule this week, the Senate might not go out for the year until well after Thanksgiving.

"It could be closer to Christmas," Daschle said Tuesday.

Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., held a one-man filibuster on the floor Monday, taking up nearly nine hours of floor time and preventing work on appropriations bills, to protest Frist's plans, although Republicans defended the schedule as necessary and blamed Democrats for not caring enough about the judicial system. Daschle said Democrats relished the 30-hour judicial nominations debate because they would have 15 hours to talk about job losses.

"My only wish is that we had 30 hours to do something to affect those jobs," Daschle said. He also said Democrats would object to committees meeting Thursday during the judicial nominations debate.

Even though the Senate planned to hold votes Tuesday on a Syria accountability bill and potentially on the Military Construction appropriations conference report, some senators were far from the Capitol, honoring veterans in their home states.

"He's got a full schedule," Mike Buttry, communications director for Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said when asked about his boss' plans. Hagel is a Vietnam veteran, co-chairs the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Corporate Council and served as deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration under President Reagan. Hagel was not in Washington Monday and was not expected to be in town Tuesday. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, a World War II veteran who lost his right arm in combat, told CongressDaily last week that he was planning to spend the holiday in his state. "They're only talking about judgeships anyway," he said.

Senate Commerce Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, spent some time Monday in his home state of Arizona but was back in Washington Tuesday, according to a spokesman. Daschle, also a veteran, held a news conference today with other Senate Democrats to highlight their agenda for veterans. Other senators are concerned about the scheduling, but said they saw it as part of the job.

"We need to follow the leader's schedule," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who acknowledged that she would rather be in Maine. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said most Republicans were in Washington for the holiday. "I'm not saying they're not grumbling," he joked.

A spokesman for Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said, "Every senator under the sun had plans-but that's the way it is."

]]>

House stalls, Senate plows on through budget bills

Mark Wegner and April Fulton — Mon, 10 Nov 2003 00:00:00 -0500

One GOP aide noted Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., had promised to give 48-hour notice before a tentatively scheduled energy bill conference committee meeting would convene. However, the aide said Domenici, Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and House Energy and Commerce Chairman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin each have outstanding issues that have forced a delay. "It just wasn't going to work out with the House schedule this week," the GOP aide said.

Congressional Republicans hope to adjourn this session on or near Nov. 21. Next week's House schedule has not been set, but the delay would mean an even more compressed floor calendar next week if the House is to wrap up work before Thanksgiving on energy, fiscal 2004 appropriations and a Medicare prescription drug bill.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, made good on their threat to protest a decision by Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., to keep the chamber in session Veterans Day and to schedule a 30-hour debate on judges later in the week by slowing consideration of appropriations bills.

Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., threatened to talk about job creation and the fiscal 2004 Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill for "four or five hours" as part of a "one-man show" to draw attention to what Democrats say is unfair treatment by the majority. Senate GOP leaders had originally indicated votes on the Commerce-Justice-State spending bill could be held early Monday afternoon, but it seemed unlikely any votes would be held until at least 6 p.m. because of Reid's actions.

"It's inappropriate that we are not going to be able to work through this week," Reid said, adding that he had been told the judicial nominations debate was scheduled to deliver a message to the GOP base. "This is being done for reasons that I don't think are the focus of the Senate," Reid charged. When a visibly angry Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., tried to get Reid to yield for a question, Reid declined.

Defending the decision to spend debate time on judicial nominations, Frist said Democrats "minimize the importance of our judiciary system." He also said Republicans have many options to explore once Reid stops talking today, including pulling the Commerce-Justice-State bill and moving to pass relatively less controversial legislation like the defense authorization bill, the Military Construction spending conference report, VA-HUD spending bill or the Syria accountability bill.

Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the floor to react to comments Reid made Friday calling the GOP leadership's scheduling of the judicial debate an "amateur" move. McConnell noted Democrats failed to pass a fiscal 2003 budget when they were in the majority and held over nearly all of the appropriations bills until this year. "That's what's amateur-not doing your job and blaming someone else," said McConnell.

]]>

House and Senate face full plate of spending bills next week

Mark Wegner and April Fulton — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Speaking about the schedule earlier this week, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the House would reconvene Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business, including a series of bills on the suspension calendar. Any roll call votes would be postponed until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

DeLay said the House Wednesday and the rest of the week would take up the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act, and expected conference reports for an energy package and the Defense Department authorization bill.

He also noted the House could take up the four pending appropriations conference reports, including the Military Construction, Energy and Water, Interior and Labor-HHS spending bills.

The House will likely have to pass another continuing resolution next week to fund the federal government after the current CR expires Oct. 31. Although the House Tuesday passed a CR until Nov. 7, it includes "placeholder" language that will serve as the vehicle for a conference on an omnibus appropriations package.

A decision about the length of the next CR has not been made, one source said today. DeLay cautioned members to expect votes next Friday, which is Halloween. "And hopefully, even if we work on that day, we can let members out in time to go trick or treating," he said.

After the expected passage of the Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill tonight, the Senate will attempt to tackle the remaining spending bills either separately or as a package next week.

Senate GOP leaders did not file cloture Wednesday on the District of Columbia appropriations bill, as they had earlier considered, leaving work on that bill until at least next week. GOP leaders would have been unlikely to shut off debate on that bill while it contained language on school vouchers, and so will put off its efforts for now.

"There's not really a big advantage to doing it [filing cloture]," said a spokeswoman for Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. "Democrats will spin it as a process vote, not a D.C. vote," she said.

The GOP leadership is also optimistic they will have an energy conference report in hand by the end of next week, and vote on a judicial nomination and possibly an omnibus spending bill or a new continuing resolution to keep the government open past Oct. 31.

They still must pass VA-HUD, Commerce-Justice-State, Agriculture, and foreign aid spending bills, some of which are trickier than others, aides acknowledged. Senate GOP leaders may also file cloture on President Bush's "healthy forests initiative," as Democrats have objected to agreements to bring it to the floor so far.

]]>

Justice Department launches probe of CIA leak

Keith Koffler, Lisa Caruso, and April Fulton — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 00:00:00 -0400

In a message sent to all White House aides, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales said the Justice Department has opened an investigation into the matter, and that the department would soon send a letter to the White House indicating with greater specificity the materials it may want to see.

"In the meantime, you must preserve all materials that might in any way be related to the department's investigation," Gonzales' message stated. "The president has directed full cooperation with this investigation."

The CIA agent is the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, who said this summer that during an earlier trip to Niger he found no basis for President Bush's State of the Union speech claim that Saddam Hussein was seeking uranium in Africa.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan declined to say whether Bush has spoken with any of his staff about the matter. But McClellan said nothing has come to the attention of the White House that might indicate a White House aide had leaked the information.

Meanwhile, efforts by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to offer an amendment to the fiscal 2004 District of Columbia appropriations bill regarding the CIA leak today complicated plans to bring the floor. The Schumer amendment would be a nonbinding "sense of the Senate" resolution calling on Attorney General John Ashcroft to appoint a special counsel to investigate who leaked the name of the CIA agent.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the two sides had agreed to two hours of debate on the Schumer amendment, at which point Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., would lodge a point of order.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., questioned the ability of Ashcroft to direct a Justice Department investigation into the leak. "If he won't even go after [Enron CEO] Ken Lay, why would he go after someone who appointed him?" Daschle said of Aschroft.

The rhetoric was equally charged on the House side. Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., asserted that if a similar leak occurred during the Clinton administration, Republicans would be issuing subpoenas and launching an investigation, and "[former Government Reform Committee Chairman] Dan Burton [R-Ill.] would be in high dudgeon."

Hoyer called the preliminary probe launched by the Justice Department "a step in the right direction," but said the appointment of an independent counsel "would be well-advised. John Ashcroft is a very political attorney general ...very partisan."

But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, today said Democrats' call for an independent counsel "makes no sense," pointing out that the White House is very upset about the matter and is "trying to get to the bottom of this-nobody's covering anything up-no one is obstructing anything."

As for whether Ashcroft is too partisan to conduct a credible independent investigation, DeLay remarked, "I imagine those charges are coming from partisan people."

]]>

Senate approves month-long funding measure

Peter Cohn, John Stanton, and April Fulton — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 00:00:00 -0400

The Senate approved a month-long continuing resolution Thursday by voice vote, clearing it for the president's signature after House passage, 407-8, earlier in the day.

But before getting the measure through, Senate leaders huddled late Thursday to resolve concerns voiced by Budget Chairman Don Nickles, R-Okla., over the measure, which would fund government programs past the end of the fiscal year next Tuesday and keep the government running through Oct. 31.

Nickles objected to the CR because complicated budget details would enable slightly higher rates of spending than under the fiscal 2004 budget resolution. In the end, Nickles secured a commitment from Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, that the problem would be fixed in the event of future CRs, aides said. OMB Director Josh Bolten is also drafting a letter to Nickles, making assurances that "one-time" funding will not go forth for the duration of the CR.

The spending rate problem stems from details of the CR, which would continue annualized, discretionary spending at a fiscal 2003 rate of $789 billion. That is just slightly higher than the level approved in the fiscal 2004 budget resolution of $784.7 billion, allowing spending to proceed at a slightly higher rate. The extra money, $400 million in spending, would come from October's slice of $10 billion in fiscal 2003 nondefense supplemental funds, including foreign aid, Iraq reconstruction, airline assistance and disaster relief.

Because the fiscal 2004 Defense conference report cleared Thursday, fiscal 2003 supplemental defense funds would not factor into the CR. Congress passed a $79 billion fiscal 2003 supplemental this spring, the lion's share of which went to defense.

But Nickles argued that the extra $10 billion appropriated in fiscal 2003 amounted to "one-time" spending, and spending at the higher rate should not be continued through October.

The CR will keep the government running in the absence of the regular fiscal 2004 appropriations bills. Congress cleared three fiscal 2004 conference reports this week-Homeland Security, Legislative Branch and Defense-leaving 10 to go.

The House has completed work on all 13 bills; the Senate only six. The Senate is debating the fiscal 2004 District of Columbia bill but is currently tied up in a debate over school vouchers.

The Senate had planned to finish action Thursday on the District of Columbia bill, but leaders announced that no more roll call votes would take place this week. Discussions over the District of Columbia school voucher program continued to bog down, as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., offered a new version of the program that would increase some school accountability measures. A two-day effort by Sens. Thomas Carper, D-Del., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., to broker a compromise with Republicans on their voucher amendment appeared to falter Thursday, but all sides said they would continue to discuss the issue.

A temporary extension of the highway program-which expires Tuesday-could be passed today by voice vote, Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said.

In addition, while the CR extends FAA funding to prevent the furlough of federal workers, it does not resolve the larger issue of FAA reauthorization.

House sources said conferees on the aviation reauthorization package are expected to reopen conference talks next week to work through issues that have stalled completion of the four-year, $60 billion bill, including the thorny issue of whether to allow the Bush administration to move ahead with a plan to privatize the air traffic control system.

Appropriations conference agreements are possible next week on the fiscal 2004 Military Construction and Energy and Water measures.

When the Senate reconvenes Oct. 14 after a weeklong recess, remaining fiscal 2004 appropriations bills could be wrapped into a catch-all, omnibus measure, while leaders focus on enactment of the administration's request for an $87 billion Iraq supplemental spending bill.

Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., again raised his objections Thursday night to a tentative deal to mark up the Iraq supplemental Tuesday and bring it to the floor by Wednesday.

"We don't need to rush the bill through," said Byrd on the floor. "This is being ramrodded through the Senate."

But Frist defended the supplemental as an emergency, saying it is imperative to get it done quickly.

"We're at war," he declared.

Discussions on the issue are expected to continue this week.

]]>

Senate to take up Iraq supplemental Tuesday

Peter Cohn, Keith Koffler, and April Fulton — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., remains furious at the fast pace at which Republicans are seeking to move the bill, however, and he may seek to delay its consideration, although a spokeswoman said no decision has been made.

Senate Republican leaders are aiming for approval of the bill by the end of next week, before the chamber recesses until Oct. 14. The Senate was expected Friday to clear a five-month highway program extension and a six-month welfare extension, and leaders are still trying to broker a deal on the fiscal 2004 District of Columbia spending bill before turning to the supplemental spending bill.

The House may act during the week of Oct. 6 while the Senate is gone on its recess, although a markup has not yet been scheduled. A House delegation led by Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., is touring Iraq this weekend, and additional hearings are scheduled next week.

In an interview with CongressDaily Friday, Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took an optimistic view that the supplemental package would remain intact and very close to what President Bush has requested after the Senate passes it next week.

"We're going to begin that debate next week. We'll have a number of amendments to show that the package should really be together," he said.

McConnell acknowledged that Democrats might force Republicans to take some tough votes, such as one that would pay for the supplemental by deferring tax cuts for the top-tier income earners. "I think we'll just have those votes and move on. Our goal is to get it to conference," he said.

Meanwhile, the White House today rejected suggestions that it agree to pare back or split its $87 billion supplemental request, saying all of the funds are needed for U.S. military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We view this as a package," said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. "This is the amount of resources needed."

But while asserting that the administration will fight for the proposal as written and that it should be passed in "the form of a supplemental," McClellan did not rule out allowing offsets to the proposed spending or allowing funding grants to Iraq to be given instead as loans. "We recognize that there is a congressional process," McClellan. "We obviously work very closely with Congress as we move through this process."

McClellan emphasized that the supplemental was drawn up based on recommendations from administration officials in the field, particularly L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator for Iraq. Bremer met with the president Friday at the White House to discuss the reconstruction effort.

]]>

Senators take aim at no-bid Iraq reconstruction contracts

Peter Cohn and April Fulton — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 00:00:00 -0400

The measure would require agencies awarding sole-source or limited-bid contracts to publish detailed justifications in the Federal Register for the lack of competition or forfeit funding under the supplemental. A no-bid contract awarded earlier in the year to Halliburton Corp., formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, has come under scrutiny from Collins' panel and other lawmakers.

The $79 billion Iraq supplemental passed earlier this year earmarked $2.5 billion for reconstruction contracts. Iraq's chief civil administrator, L. Paul Bremer, testified this week that he would ensure contracts are competitively bid. But the Collins-Wyden amendment is aimed at closing a loophole in the Competition in Contracting Act that enables no-bid contracting in certain circumstances without proper justification, Collins said.

Collins and Wyden successfully offered a similar amendment by voice vote to the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill, which is currently in conference. The latest amendment, which would be offered on the floor, "will show the American people we're really squeezing to get every bit of value out of this astounding, eye-popping sum of money," Wyden said.

Collins added she was pushing to refashion $15 billion earmarked for Iraq infrastructure projects into a long-term loan. While the idea has some support from conservatives, it has little traction otherwise and the White House and GOP leaders have been lobbying heavily for a direct appropriation.

]]>

Senate passes amendment blocking overtime pay change

Emily Heil and April Fulton — Wed, 10 Sep 2003 00:00:00 -0400

The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, would effectively prevent the Labor Department from issuing a proposed regulation that would make it easier for employers to classify workers as exempt from overtime eligibility. Harkin said he "saw a lot of arm-twisting" among Republicans during the vote, but praised the six Republicans for having "stepped up" despite the pressure.

GOP Sens. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Ted Stevens of Alaska voted with Democrats to block the rule, while Democratic Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia voted with Republicans to support it.

Despite a threat by President Bush to veto the massive Labor-HHS spending bill if it includes the provision blocking the overtime rules, Democrats said they hope to preserve it in conference.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said Democrats have a "good shot" at winning a motion to instruct House conferees to adopt the Senate's stance on the overtime rule. House staffers, however, said the timing for a motion to instruct is unclear.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said if the measure is not included in the final conference report, critics of the Labor Department rules could pass a resolution of disapproval once the department issues them.

The Labor Department's proposed rules could have an impact on overtime pay for federal employees. The Office of Personnel Management is in charge of overseeing overtime rules in the federal sector. OPM's current criteria for deciding if an employee is exempt or nonexempt are based on the Labor Department's criteria.

OPM was not involved in the Labor Department's revision efforts, but because its rules are so similar to Labor's, it's possible that OPM will follow Labor's suit. OPM would have to propose its own regulatory changes for federal agencies to be affected.

Business groups, which overwhelmingly support the proposed Labor Department rules, blasted the Senate vote, saying that Democratic estimates about the number of workers who would lose overtime are inflated.

The Labor Department said the rule change will cause 644,000 workers to lose overtime pay, but the Economic Policy Institute estimates that 8 million will lose eligibility for overtime.

In a statement, the National Retail Federation said the Senate "squandered" the chance to modernize the overtime rules. The National Federation of Independent Business said it would include the vote in a scorecard sent to members.

"Updating overtime regulations is essential to our members because it will clarify which workers are eligible for overtime and which are not," said NFIB Senior Vice President Dan Danner. "Making this determination easier for small business owners will cut down on the number of costly litigation between employers and employees."

]]>

Supporters predict quick confirmation for Leavitt at EPA

John Stanton and April Fulton — Tue, 12 Aug 2003 00:00:00 -0400

In hopes of quickly filling the political leadership void at EPA, Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., likely will hold confirmation hearings during the first two weeks of September on the nomination of Republican Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt to head EPA, sources said Tuesday.

GOP sources predicted President Bush's choice to replace former EPA Administrator Christie Whitman would be confirmed with little controversy. Although these sources said Democrats are expected to use Leavitt's nomination as a chance to attack the Bush administration's environmental policies, at this point there does not appear to be much in the way of substantive roadblocks to his confirmation.

One source noted that while environmentalists oppose Leavitt for his states' rights stance on environmental regulations, conservatives have also been critical of his opposition to a nuclear waste dump in the state and his efforts to set aside some lands for monuments and parks.

Although environmentalists quickly went on the offensive, charging Leavitt will gut federal environmental rules, Democrats stopped short of saying they will undertake a major effort to block his nomination. When asked whether Democrats would fight the nomination, a spokeswoman for Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., demurred. "We don't weigh in this early," the spokeswoman said.

Likewise, in a prepared statement, Environment and Public Works ranking member James Jeffords, I-Vt., said: "I look forward to learning more about Gov. Leavitt and his environmental record during the upcoming confirmation hearing. One area I will explore is how we can work together to ease the backlog of information requests that my committee has had pending with the EPA for far too long."

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., both contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, are among those who have charged Leavitt's choice highlights Bush's disregard for the environment.

Leavitt is most well known on environmental issues for his work with the Western Governors Association promoting his "Enlibra Principles," which aim to devolve regulatory and enforcement authority to the state, regional and local level as much as possible. Enlibra also has a heavy emphasis on the use of market forces and "flexible" enforcement and regulation, all of which have become centerpieces of the Bush administration's approach to environmental issues.

]]>

Deal will allow Dems to offer amendments to Defense bill

April Fulton — Fri, 30 May 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Senate Democrats say they have cut a deal with Republicans giving them another crack at a handful of amendments they claimed were rejected incorrectly by the parliamentarian as irrelevant to the fiscal 2004 defense reauthorization bill last week.

When the House version of the bill comes to the Senate floor in June, Democrats will be allowed to offer amendments to repeal 2005 base closings and allow veterans to collect both disability and retirement pay that were ruled irrelevant last week. Democrats said they were baffled as to why the amendments were considered irrelevant since they related to the bill's subject, and the parliamentarian's office did not return phone calls asking for clarification.

The dustup over the amendments' relevancy, which occurred during floor debate on the bill last Tuesday and Wednesday, resulted in Democrats vowing to never again agree to a unanimous consent request from the majority to make all amendments be relevant to a bill.

"There'll be no more UCs. I have a standing order in the cloakroom that I object to a UC that prohibits anything on relevant amendments. We were prohibited from offering amendments that are clearly relevant," Senate Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan of North Dakota told CongressDaily last week. Dorgan was one of the chief senators who took issue with the relevancy rulings.

The result of this vow may be that bills take longer to pass the Senate, where legislation already bogs down on a routine basis. The House Defense authorization bill is expected to come to the Senate in the next two weeks. A total of five amendments will be offered on base closings, veterans' benefits and immigration. Each amendment has at least one Republican cosponsor.

The Senate also is expected to take up the energy bill next week, followed by a prescription drug bill, on which no agreements have been made to require amendments to be relevant.

]]>

Senate Dems unveil plan to boost homeland spending

Mark Wegner, William New, and April Fulton — Tue, 01 Apr 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Republican aides said chances were good that some of the amendments would prevail at a Senate Appropriations Committee markup scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and others have expressed support for boosting funds to first responders, but Collins said this afternoon it would be premature to do so in the supplemental right now, adding that she will hold hearings in her committee in the next few weeks.

Senate Democrats say not enough is being done to help fight the war against terrorism at home. "We don't need any more rhetoric. We don't need any more photo-ops. We need dollars," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the main sponsors of a $4.3 billion amendment to ensure that firefighters, police and emergency medical personnel can meet new post-Sept. 11, 2001, challenges.

Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is the key sponsor of a $400 million amendment to boost nuclear security, said he was "terribly disappointed" that nuclear risks have not been addressed. Senate Democrats also plan to offer an amendment by Senate Commerce ranking member Ernest (Fritz) Hollings, D-S.C., to boost port security by $1 billion, $600 million of which would be in the form of grants and $400 million would be for screening vessels for nuclear material.

Democratic amendments would also provide $2.9 billion for border and transportation security improvements and $340 million for smallpox vaccine administration. Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., will also offer an amendment to boost chemical plant security, and there may be a handful of other amendments, including one to provide funds to bail out the airlines and help displaced airline workers.

But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, Tuesday dismissed Democratic criticism that the supplemental does not adequately fund homeland security. "They have no credibility," he told reporters. "They can criticize all they want, but they have no substance."

At a news conference with British Home Secretary David Blunkett, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge noted that states and localities would receive as much as $8 billion to $9 billion in financial support this year, if Congress acts in a timely fashion on White House proposals. "I think that's an enormous investment," Ridge said.

]]>

White House, lawmakers discuss supplemental request

April Fulton, David Morris, and Bill Ghent — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Congressional leaders and appropriators headed to the White House Monday afternoon for a meeting with President Bush and White House staff about the contents of the administration's imminent fiscal 2003 supplemental spending request to pay for the military campaign in Iraq.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer would not say how much the president will seek to pay for the war with Iraq and for homeland security. But he cautioned that the $80 billion figure reported in several news outlets was not accurate, while suggesting the amount would be closer to between $70 billion and $75 billion.

Sources said the bill will include $62 billion for the Defense Department for the war and terrorism-related expenses, and about $3.5 billion for domestic security programs. It also will include between $5 billion to $8 billion in humanitarian aid for Iraq, increased security for U.S. diplomats, and assistance to Israel, Egypt and Jordan. Fleischer said the request will only cover military and homeland security concerns, but did not rule out the possibility of financial assistance for U.S. airlines being included.

Bush sidestepped offering a dollar figure last week, when the House and Senate considered his tax cut proposal. Fleischer said the White House needed to gauge the early stages of the fighting so the supplemental appropriations bill could be expressed "with the greatest precision." Both House Appropriations Chairman C.W. (Bill) Young, R-Fla., and Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, have said they would like to complete work on the supplemental by April 11.

Meanwhile, Senate leaders are trying to whittle down the number of amendments left to be considered on the fiscal 2004 budget resolution. Under an agreement reached last week, Republicans and Democrats can offer just 40 amendments each-and must have filed the list of those amendments by 4 p.m. Monday. All votes are expected to be finished by Wednesday afternoon.

Senate Democrats said they are wary Republicans will try to reconsider an amendment that passed Friday that devoted $100 billion of the $726 billion growth package to cover the cost of the war in Iraq. "Their intention is to take it out," said Budget ranking member Kent Conrad, D-N.D., emerging from a late-night meeting Friday. But with the supplemental request pending, Senate GOP leadership aides said Monday it was unlikely Republicans would try to restore the full $100 billion.

During Friday's session, the Senate passed 51-49 an amendment by Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to double Amtrak funding to $1.8 billion, although it would be offset with money from the $1.3 trillion overall tax cut, not the now-$626 billion growth package ordered under reconciliation.

The Senate also passed an amendment by Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Mo., that Senate Budget Committee GOP staff said would boost highway spending by about $63 billion over the next six years, adding about $10 billion to the budget for fiscal 2004. But the Senate defeated, 62-38, a much-touted moderates' amendment to reduce the tax package down to $350 billion.

]]>

With Iraq war looming, Hill leaders head to White House

April Fulton and Bill Ghent — Mon, 17 Mar 2003 00:00:00 -0500

A bipartisan group of congressional leaders met with President Bush Monday afternoon. They were expected to discuss not just Iraq but also how a war might affect the timing of congressional action on President Bush's domestic priorities.

The administration has assured Congress that it would send an emergency fiscal 2003 supplemental spending request to cover the cost of the war within days of the start of military action. That proposal could be offered as soon as this week, complicating efforts to pass an already contentious budget resolution.

The war effort "may put it off a little bit," Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said of the budget resolution. "I would not be surprised if people get up and talk about it."

Debate on the 2004 resolution began Monday afternoon in the Senate, and GOP leaders are insisting that they will continue to push for the administration's $726 billion in new tax cuts, despite opposition from Democrats and the concerns of moderate Republicans who say the tax cuts are more than twice as large as needed.

"The president's proposal for stimulating the economy is really what we need for spurring long term growth," said a Senate GOP leadership aide. The aide said leadership would continue to reach out to moderates through a series of meetings this week to convince them to support the full tax-cut package.

At the same time, Senate Republican and Democratic moderates are looking to amend the budget resolution to reduce the tax cuts to $350 billion. But a spokeswoman for Sen. John Breaux, D-La., one of the leaders of the effort, said it is unclear whether they have the votes to win. Key swing votes-including Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, John McCain, R-Ariz., Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and others-have not committed to voting against the budget resolution should the total tax cut number be $726 billion. Breaux aides, who are drafting the $350 billion amendment, are "hounding them," the spokeswoman said. An aide to Collins said the senator would still vote for the $726 billion in a budget resolution, even though she has concerns about the tax package.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are looking to offer a series of amendments that would further their message about taking a "patriotic pause," a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said. "The business of Congress will have to continue," the spokesman said, and Republicans will have to explain their votes.

Likely Democratic amendments include delaying tax cuts and new spending-except for homeland security, defense and a one-year stimulus package-until the cost for a war with Iraq is known. They also plan amendments to boost assistance to states, increase spending on education and prescription drugs, and strike a provision calling for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In the House, leaders are currently trying to "grow votes" for the 2004 resolution, which is scheduled for floor action Thursday, a GOP leadership aide said. That timetable probably will push back action in the Ways and Means Committee on the tax cut proposals until next week, sources said.

Republican moderates and various committee chairmen have raised objections to the resolution's spending cuts, both in discretionary but particularly in mandatory programs. Under reconciliation, the resolution orders committees to come up with about $470 billion to mandatory programs, but lawmakers have said the resolution would force steep and politically unsustainable cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and government pension benefits.

As for reports that the resolution is undergoing drastic change to accommodate such concerns, a spokesman for the House Budget Committee said the primary focus right now remains on teaching legislators about the resolution. He said interests groups are drumming opposition based on inaccurate information, particularly about possible Medicare cuts.

]]>

White House planning to delay war spending request

April Fulton and Bill Ghent — Fri, 14 Mar 2003 00:00:00 -0500

The Bush administration has assured congressional leaders that they would receive an emergency supplemental spending request to cover the cost of the war within days of the start of possible military action in Iraq, congressional aides said Friday.

However, it is still unclear when or if the action will begin and whether a supplemental request would complicate efforts by the Senate and the House to pass their fiscal 2004 budget resolutions, which are targeted for completion by the end of next week, aides said. Vice President Cheney met with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Thursday to discuss, among other things, the timing of a spending request on military action in Iraq.

It is not expected that such a request would come until after the House and Senate complete floor action on the budget resolution, a key aide said. However, having a supplemental that could total somewhere between $65 billion and $95 billion come up while the tax cuts in the budget resolution are being debated could threaten the Republicans' economic agenda. House leaders have also said they want the supplemental war request delayed as long as possible to provide breathing room between the tax cuts and war spending.

Plans to finish the budget resolution by Friday could be hampered by Democrats' plans for offering amendments to draw attention to their spending priorities, and moderate Democrats' and Republicans' plan to try to scale back the $726 billion tax cut. Democratic leaders have said all tax cuts should be put off until the costs of a potential war with Iraq are known.

"What reasonable meaning can a budget resolution have if we can't say within hundreds of billions of dollars what the budget will be?" Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., asked earlier this week. And four moderates-Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, George Voinovich, R-Ohio, John Breaux, D-La., and Finance ranking member Max Baucus, D-Mont.-sent a letter to Senate leaders Thursday night, warning that they would oppose any new tax cuts over $350 billion that are not offset.

"We continue to believe that no tax cuts should be passed in light of pressing needs at both the federal and state levels, looming deficits and the possible conflict in Iraq. We will continue to work with like-minded members of Congress in both Houses to oppose any tax cuts," said Chuck Loveless, legislative director of American Federation of State County Municipal Employees, on behalf of the Fair Taxes for All Coalition.

But a spokesman for Frist said that it does not make sense to wait. "We're under statutory deadlines on which we have to act on the budget. They have been soft deadlines, but deadlines nonetheless," he said.

The budget resolutions introduced by both House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, and Senate Budget Chairman Don Nickles, R-Okla., require that the tax cuts be completed by mid-April, which could also be affected by a war supplemental request, but Senate leaders are confident. "We'll be in a position to switch over," said a GOP leadership aide.

]]>

Provision to reinstate immigrant fees tucked into omnibus

April Fulton — Tue, 28 Jan 2003 00:00:00 -0500

The massive spending bill approved by the Senate last week contains a little-noticed provision that could have major implications for how immigration applications are processed and how expensive they will be.

At issue is a provision in the Senate omnibus spending bill to re-establish old requirements that immigrants applying for visas, citizenship or adjustment of family status pay a surcharge to subsidize the processing of applications by asylum seekers and refugees.

Immigration advocates say this policy unfairly pits certain immigrants against others, and they are pushing for federal appropriations to cover the cost of processing asylum seekers and refugees.

The Homeland Security Department bill passed in November removed the surcharge on applicants-which immigration groups say adds about $80 to a citizenship application. However, it did not authorize any appropriations for asylum seekers and refugees, leaving them without funds.

Then the omnibus bill the Senate passed last week put the surcharge back in, re-establishing the previous system that requires some immigrants in effect to pay for others.

The moving-target nature of the policy has put immigration advocates in a difficult position.

"We are stuck between feeling very supportive and not," said Rosalind Gold, senior director of policy research and advocacy for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.

"If we aren't going to charge a fee for asylum seekers and refugees, then we as a humane nation shouldn't be charging other immigrants," she added, but vowed to continue pressing for appropriations to replace the surcharge.

It remains to be seen what will happen when the bill goes to conference with the House, but congressional aides said the House is unlikely to alter the Senate's surcharge provision.

Meanwhile, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which processes these applications, lost money during the time the surcharge was not in place and now will have to scramble to find funds and rewrite regulations.

"It's just creating chaos in the immigration community. Nobody knows what to pay," said a spokeswoman for Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who is working on the fee issue.

The INS also will struggle in the coming months with being split and folded into the new Homeland Security Department.

"This is one of a multitude of things," said Theresa Brown, director of immigration policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She says slow processing at the INS is a chronic issue that could become even more complex as it moves into homeland security.

"For us, it's simply a matter of backlog. If appropriated money would keep them from falling into a backlog, then we're all for it," Brown said.

]]>

OSHA reports rise in inspections, fines

April Fulton — Fri, 06 Dec 2002 00:00:00 -0500

But labor union officials skeptical of the Bush administration's emphasis on voluntary compliance programs over inspections expressed doubts today about OSHA's statistics, saying they plan to conduct their own analysis next month.

OSHA reported inspections of 37,493 workplaces and an increase of its average penalty for serious violations from $930 in fiscal 2001 to $977 in 2002. The rising average penalty means that the violations were more serious, the agency said. Serious violations of workplace safety and health laws accounted for 70 percent of all OSHA violations.

"One of my priorities has been and will continue to be strong, fair, effective enforcement, and these figures bear that out," Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said Thursday. In his fiscal 2003 budget proposal, President Bush cut OSHA's budget by $9 million.

AFL-CIO Occupational Safety and Health Specialist Deborah Weinstock said today it was unusual for the Labor Department to release the enforcement data so prominently.

"Because they are so heavily reliant on their voluntary programs and alliances, we are very concerned that the enforcement level be maintained," she said.

Weinstock is responsible for the AFL-CIO's annual report, "Death on the Job," which presents the union's statistical analysis of workplace injuries and deaths, inspections and fines. She will begin compiling fiscal 2002 next month, with publication slated for April.

]]>

Senators blast homeland bill provisions, but expect approval

April Fulton and Brody Mullins — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 00:00:00 -0500

Most senators said while they opposed many of the superfluous measures added to the bill (H.R. 5710) in recent days by House Republicans, the Senate should pass the House-approved legislation before leaving Washington for the year.

"The question at the end of the day is: Is this bill so bad that you're going to vote against it just to make it clear you have very serious misgivings and then hope that it passes?" said outgoing Majority Leader Daschle, who plans to vote for the legislation on final passage. "I think perhaps it will pass in any case."

Still, Daschle and other senators said the country "is paying a high price for the way with which this legislation has been handled and the way the Republicans, especially in the House, have treated some of these egregious provisions."

A few senators on the other side of the aisle echoed Daschle's criticism. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who was blocked from proposing three amendments to the bill, blamed House Republicans for "put[ting] us in a take-it-or-leave-it situation" by approving their own homeland bill before adjourning. But Specter said the Senate should "take it, even though I think the legislation could be much better with amendments."

Added Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine: "I support homeland security. But I fear that under the name of homeland security, we are being asked to vote on special-interest provisions that have not seen the light of day."

In a series of speeches that stretched into the evening, a number of senators took issue with a host of last-minute changes, such as a provision that limits the liability of pharmaceutical firms that produce vaccine additives and a measure that permits U.S. companies that move offshore to secure government contracts from the new department.

"How serious are they about coming up with a good bill if they're going to protect companies who declare that they don't want to do business in the United States of America, to avoid paying taxes?" Daschle asked.

Senators took particular aim at the vaccine provision, which would be a boon to Eli Lilly & Co., a leading manufacturer of vaccine preservatives.

"It is still stunning that in the midst of a debate about how to protect ourselves we're going to protect our pharmaceutical companies from what may or may not be a fair question about liability," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who noted that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had been working on a bipartisan compromise on that issue.

"Why is this provision being rushed through now in the context of homeland security legislation?" asked Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who wrote the Democrats' version of the homeland bill.

Daschle also condemned House Republicans for stripping language that would have created an independent panel to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, although it later appeared that a separate deal had been reached between the White House and key senators to create such a panel.

"The president strongly supports a bipartisan commission to expand on the work that has already been done by our intelligence committees and look at a broad range of issues," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan.

But McClellan did not say whether President Bush would seek to include a provision for such a commission in the homeland security bill.

Keith Koffler contributed to this report.

]]>

House votes to prevent mandatory spending cuts

Mark Wegner and April Fulton — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 00:00:00 -0500

The move would eliminate the need for a "sequestration" of funds in mandatory programs, such as Medicare, veterans benefits, agriculture and student loans.

Thanks to previously enacted legislation, including last year's tax cut, the federal government faces a shortfall for fiscal 2002 of more than $125 billion under so-called pay-go rules, which require offsets for spending over prescribed limits.

Under budget rules, the failure to offset that spending triggers an automatic sequestration, or cut. However, because much of mandatory spending is exempted from such sequestration, most of the $125 billion would not be eliminated. The Congressional Budget Office indicates that as much as $60 billion would get the axe, while the Office of Management and Budget, which manages sequestration, claims only $31 billion would be targeted.

However, Congress has never allowed sequestration of such popular mandatory spending since pay-go rules were revised in 1990, and the Senate is likely to take up and pass the bill waiving the pay-go rules before it exits for the year.

Democrats complained Thursday that even though pay-go rules technically expired at the end of fiscal 2002, the bill still would extend the sequestration waiver through 2006. This is because pay-go has a five-year window that applies to legislation enacted before 2002, including the 2001 tax cut.

Bill Ghent and Pamela Barnett contributed to this report.

]]>

Controversial provisions could delay Senate homeland vote

April Fulton and Brody Mullins — Thu, 14 Nov 2002 00:00:00 -0500

Senate leaders, determined to create the Homeland Security Department before the year's end, are likely to accept most of the provisions. Still, the new debates could push a final vote on the underlying bill into next week.

Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who wrote the Democrats' version of the bill, said he is "especially concerned" about the latest GOP bill, because it contains "a number of special-interest provisions that are being sprung on the Senate without prior warning or consideration. This is really not the time for that."

"We all ought to be focusing on the terrorist threat, the need to create a Department of Homeland Security to meet that threat, and not on using a vehicle that is moving, probably to passage, to put into it a host of pet personal projects," Lieberman said.

Chief among the concerns of Lieberman and others are provisions to eliminate or reduce a manufacturer's product liability, two of which relate to vaccines. According to the new bill, a broad range of items, from drugs to life preservers, could escape liability lawsuits if the head of the homeland security department designated them as "necessary for security purposes."

Limited liability protections already in place for vaccines would be expanded to include vaccine components, such as the preservative Thimerosal, manufactured by Eli Lilly & Co. and already the subject of several class-action lawsuits by parents who claim the product's high mercury levels have caused their children's autism.

An aide to Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who had included a similar provision in a vaccine bill he introduced earlier in the year, said the senator did not press House GOP leaders to include the Thimerosal provision in the homeland bill.

The aide said the language essentially codifies a recommendation an independent vaccine advisory committee made to the Clinton administration.

"There is a concern about liability destabilizing the vaccine system," he said.

But Democratic aides point out that Thimerosal is a preservative unnecessary for the production of the vaccines and suggest that the language is an effort to cut back on the lawsuits.

Yet another provision in the bill would require liability claims against smallpox vaccine manufacturers to go through the federal tort system. The federal government would pay the damages, and punitive damages would be banned.

The new bill also would limit liabilities for airport screening companies and high-tech firms that develop equipment essential to ensure domestic security.

It would aid the airline industry further by extending aviation war-risk insurance for a year and giving airports another year to install baggage-screening equipment. It would also allow pilots to carry handguns in airline cockpits.

The latest version of the homeland bill strips several provisions that were top priorities to key members of Congress.

Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lieberman were enraged to find out that the new bill removes language calling for an independent commission to examine the roots of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Without an investigation by such an independent commission, Daschle said, "we will never fully have an objective evaluation."

Daschle also said the bill guts congressional oversight over a critical part of the federal government.

The bill does not include $1.2 billion to increase passenger rail and tunnel security, though the funds were in the earlier Senate version.

"We're very disappointed," said Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., a rail advocate and former member of the Amtrak board of directors. "Our failure to act to improve security of our rail travel is an Achilles heel in our nation's efforts to secure our transportation system," Carper said.

The bill also drops provisions that would have applied Davis-Bacon protections to workers contracting with the Homeland Security Department and a provision that would have safeguarded the public's ability to use the Freedom of Information Act to find out information about the department.

Mark Wegner contributed to this report.

]]>