Government Executive - Authors - John Stanton

Senator seeks to move military pay provision

John Stanton — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., made the request in a Thursday letter to Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, in which he accused Democrats of slowing work on the authorization measure.

Frist charged in the letter that Democrats "seemingly [prefer] to place the needs of our troops beneath their desire for an open-ended debate on partisan issues," and asked Stevens to work with House leaders to attach the troop pay provisions to the Defense spending bill.

In a reply also sent Thursday, Stevens agreed to try to include the language in either the Defense bill or one of the other annual spending measures.

The authorization measure -- and the troop pay increase and benefit provisions in particular -- have been the subject of an intense and increasingly bitter back and forth between Frist and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The offices of both leaders have been involved in a media war for more than week, with each accusing the other of holding up the measure.

While Democrats have complained Frist has put the authorization measure on the back burner in order to address other GOP priorities, Republicans have argued that the only impediment to the authorization bill has been Reid's demand that it be linked to a vote on an independent commission to investigate the Gulf Coast response by the Bush administration.

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Bush unveils steps to help victims with federal benefits

Keith Koffler and John Stanton — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400

The program announced by Bush is designed to ensure that childcare, housing and Medicaid benefits are given to individuals where they are on the ground after fleeing their homes.

Bush said every household would be granted $2,000 in emergency disaster relief. While registering for the $2,000 grant, recipients will begin the process of registering for further assistance that will be provided down the road.

Those who lived in counties declared disaster areas will have "evacuee status" that will lower administrative requirements for receiving benefits. Bush said he would work with Congress to reimburse states that are receiving evacuees. Bush also announced that Sept. 16 will be a national day of prayer and remembrance for the victims of Katrina.

Snow said tax deadlines will be extended until Jan. 3, and that the IRS will forgo any interest or late filing fees that would have applied. According to an IRS release, the relief includes the Sept. 15 due date for estimated taxes and for calendar-year corporate returns with automatic extensions; the Oct. 17 deadline for individuals who received a second extension for filing their individual income tax returns; and the Oct. 31 deadline for filing quarterly federal employment and excise tax returns.

IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said the action applies to devastated portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and to three counties in Florida.

In addition, Snow announced a program that allows employees to donate their vacation, sick or personal leave in exchange for employer cash payments made to qualified tax-exempt organizations providing relief to victims of the disaster. The donation is not counted as income for the employee, and employers can deduct the cash payment.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats formally introduced a package of regulatory changes and spending measures designed to speed the delivery of assistance to evacuees displaced by Hurricane Katrina and bolstered their criticism of GOP and White House efforts to respond to the disaster. The Democratic proposal would increase the availability of Medicare and Medicaid programs for refugees, ease eligibility rules governing disaster relief grants to businesses, and include education incentives and tax breaks for families that have taken in refugees.

At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., harshly criticized the decision by Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., to close Thursday's hearing on the response to the disaster by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I think it's wrong that it's closed, but that's what it is. They had no opportunity to have people come and testify publicly. I think we should go forward in that regard," Reid said.

Similarly, in a floor speech, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the federal response to the disaster "a flat embarrassment to the country."

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Congress to act quickly on Bush's $51.8 billion aid request

Amelia Gruber, Peter Cohn, and John Stanton — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Congress would clear the hurricane aid this week, which would be enough to last the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- which is burning through money at the rate of nearly $2 billion per day -- until the end of this month. The package is to last for five weeks and includes $50 billion for FEMA, $1.4 billion for the Pentagon and $400 million for the Army Corps of Engineers.

At a press briefing late Wednesday afternoon, Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua Bolten said he expects about half of FEMA's allocation to be used for direct payments to Hurricane Katrina victims, to assist them with housing and other immediate needs. The remainder of FEMA's allotment will likely go toward ground logistics, including the removal of debris.

The Pentagon's funds are aimed mainly at repairing Defense facilities damaged by the hurricane, Bolten said.

But one of the supplemental package's strengths is that the funding would be flexible, Bolten said. He also offered assurances that the money is targeted directly to areas affected by the hurricane and said there are mechanisms in place to prevent it from getting diverted to other causes.

The supplemental is the second relief package proposed by the Bush administration and will not be the last, Bolten said. He declined to speculate on the total amount that will be needed.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the request would focus on immediate needs, with more funding to be sought at a later date for longer-term disaster relief projects. The House is expected to take up the measure Thursday, and Frist said the Senate would follow suit before the end of the week. Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., acknowledged that Congress and the White House misjudged when passing a $10.5 billion stopgap last week. "It appears we're going to have to act before two weeks are up," he said.

Estimates of the total cost of Katrina relief and reconstruction keep rising -- to more than $200 billion by some estimates. Immediate deficit concerns appear to be falling by the wayside, though Bolten said he does not expect the relief effort to change the medium- to long-term outlook for deficit reduction efforts.

GOP leaders served notice that the budget reconciliation process and other outstanding issues will remain on track, if delayed by at least two weeks. "This Congress is capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time," Hastert said, mentioning the fiscal 2006 appropriations process, immigration and tax cuts as well as reconciliation as items remaining high on the agenda. House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, said he agreed to delay most non-Katrina related legislation, "but we should not be distracted by this or anything else to continue to our efforts to reform government."

Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg. R-N.H., said that while no formal agreement has been reached, he and Frist have discussed delaying the reconciliation process.

"We all know we're going to have to put this off because of the present intensity of the Katrina issues, but whether it's two weeks, three weeks, I don't know. But the view is we're going to still execute this reconciliation package in a timely manner," Gregg said.

Frist chief of staff Eric Ueland said the majority leader is weighing his options and should announce his decision within the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., said he envisions three separate bills moving, one per week over the next three weeks, beginning with a vote Thursday on freeing up funds under programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and also encouraging charitable donations.

"We're not putting a lot of new money out there; it's freeing up money that's there already," Thomas said. That would then be followed by funds for infrastructure repairs and then bills aimed at longer-term recovery.

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House, Senate set to move hurricane relief packages

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Frist mostly has cleared the floor calendar, pushing off a vote on estate tax repeal to an unspecified date later this fall. GOP aides said over the weekend that aside from Katrina-related bills and the nomination of John Roberts to become the next chief justice of the Supreme Court, nothing on the Senate's agenda before the hurricane is assured of seeing action.

Even the annual appropriations process has been affected, with Frist deciding to bring the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill to the floor Thursday since it will fund a number of key Katrina-related activities.

In a floor speech on Tuesday, Frist said he hopes to quickly move a package of immediate relief measures to provide for the basic necessities of Gulf Coast refugees, as well as for the cleanup.

"The federal government has a major role as we look at health and social services and housing, and when you look at food and we look at shelter," Frist said. Frist also said the chamber will take up mid-range and long-term responses that will help put "the Gulf Coast back on a fast-track to recovery."

With allegations of price-gouging by gasoline retailers, Frist also delivered a stern warning that Congress will not tolerate such practices.

"I do want to call upon the energy industry ... to be responsible corporate actors. If not, there is going to be a real focus placed by this Congress because they absolutely must respond appropriately," Frist warned.

President Bush intends to seek $40 billion to cover the next phase of the recovery, the Associated Press reported.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday called for Congress to commit to spending at least $150 billion for recovery and cleanup projects. Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a statement argued that $150 billion likely will be the minimum needed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies.

Democrats released Monday their set of legislative priorities related to Katrina. According to a summary, Democrats are seeking a package that includes immediate access to Medicaid for evacuees, a waiver of residency and asset proof for Medicaid benefits, eliminating co-payments providing compensation to healthcare workers, and eliminating penalties for failure to sign up for Medicare Part B in time.

It also would authorize emergency housing vouchers to refugees and expedited applications as well as tax incentives for families who house refugees. It targets education to refugee children and would authorize money to refugees to pay for basic needs such as food and clothing and authorize financial relief to victims and the National Guard.

The House will also approve a broad relief package later this week to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters Tuesday. The package will address the "plight of people on the ground" and will not include emergency funding or tax provisions.

DeLay said GOP leaders will meet with committee chairmen Tuesday evening to begin pulling together the package, but said it likely will include provisions on Pell Grants to aid students who withdrew from college because of the hurricane, as well as clarifying the Federal Emergency Management Agency's ability to transfer money to private organizations, suspend certain "red tape" requirements for unemployment and Social Security benefits to help people made homeless by the hurricane, as well as allow broad use of surplus federal unemployment funds to aid victims. "There's just a whole line of lists of those kinds of things," DeLay said.

DeLay did not offer funding estimates for further hurricane relief, but said the $10.5 billion approved Friday was "only initial" spending. DeLay dismissed statements on Tuesday by Senate Minority Leader Reid, who estimated costs of up to $150 billion. "I don't know; I don't think anyone knows," DeLay said, adding that anyone who offers blind estimates is playing "political games."

DeLay also said Congress would conduct oversight hearings on the problems with relief efforts at the federal, state and local level. "We need to determine what happened so we can fix it," he said. "It is my opinion that the whole system broke down."

DeLay, however, said calls for an outside commission to investigate the response, similar to the commission created to investigate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was unnecessary.

DeLay dismissed suggestions that price caps on gasoline or tax increases might blunt the economic impact of the hurricane. "The worst thing we can do in these situations is attack the economy," he said.

DeLay also said it was "way too premature" to decide whether FEMA should be pulled out of the Homeland Security Department's jurisdiction.

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Congress to hold special session on Katrina relief

Richard E. Cohen and John Stanton — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400

The Senate plans to approve the spending in a session tentatively set for 10 p.m. this evening, according to a senior Senate Republican leadership aide. The House will meet at noon Friday, the chief administrative officer said in a notice sent to House offices this afternoon.

Both chambers are expected to approve an initial disbursement of $10.5 billion in hurricane relief by unanimous consent. Although any member of the House or Senate can demand a quorum call or roll-call vote, the proceedings are expected to move expeditiously and with few members in attendance.

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said: "The administration notified the leadership of the Congress earlier today that [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] was running low on funds for immediate assistance and would need funds sooner than the next regularly scheduled session, Sept. 6. Upon this notification, we immediately consulted with [House Minority] Leader [Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Minority] Leader [Harry] Reid and we all agreed to invoke our emergency powers and called the Congress to reconvene."

The top five congressional leaders held a conference call Thursday afternoon with President Bush to discuss the $10.5 billion spending bill, which includes $10 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $500 million for the Pentagon. In a conference call late Thursday afternoon with reporters, Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolten said that the final tab for clean-up and reconstruction will be "almost impossible to determine... until [New Orleans] is basically drained out."

Meanwhile, a GOP leadership aide said today that the Senate would proceed on schedule with the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, and that the additional supplemental spending bills related to Katrina would not have an effect on that process. The first Roberts hearing is slated for next Tuesday afternoon.

The s decision to schedule the special session followed Republican leaders' apparent rejection Wednesday of a request by Pelosi for a special session this week. GOP aides had indicated at the time that Congress could wait to take action following the Labor Day weekend.

Hastert may have prompted some additional political fallout when he told the Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago newspaper that "there are some real tough questions to ask about how you go about rebuilding" New Orleans. "It doesn't make sense to me," he said in the interview posted on the newspaper's Web site -- in an apparent reference to spending billions of dollars for reconstruction of the city.

Hastert's comments prompted sharp criticism from Jim Dean, the head of Democracy for America and brother of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "We will be here to help the people of New Orleans, no matter how long it takes and we hope that the speaker of the United States House will be too," Jim Dean declared.

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Democrats expect to hold firm in opposition to Bolton

John Stanton — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0400

This would likely end the chamber's consideration of the nomination for the foreseeable future, Democratic and Republican Senate aides said Monday.

The Senate was scheduled to vote on invoking cloture on the Bolton nomination Monday evening -- and Democratic leadership aides said Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., controlled enough votes to maintain their weekslong filibuster.

"Mr. Bolton is going to need to work on his own exit strategy," one aide quipped.

A senior Republican aide acknowledged Majority Leader Frist did not appear to have enough votes to push forward with the nomination, and said further action would be unlikely unless Democrats and the White House end their standoff over release of sensitive documents on Bolton to the Senate.

If Monday's cloture vote fails, "the door begins to close on any further Senate floor action, absent a change in the fundamentals," the aide said.

With Senate confirmation unlikely, Bush may opt to appoint Bolton to the job during the July Fourth recess. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice over the weekend held out the possibility of a recess appointment, and Republican aides have hinted that Bush has considered the possibility.

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Senate Dems target SSA official for promoting Bush plan

John Stanton — Thu, 19 May 2005 00:00:00 -0400

Democrats have been investigating SSA's involvement in White House efforts to promote President Bush's Social Security plan for months, including questioning Biggs' role in several town hall-style meetings Bush has held on the issue.

An electronic copy of testimony before a May 12 DPC panel by Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of America's Social Security Executive Director Derrick Max includes edits made by Biggs, who also serves as deputy director of the White House National Economic Council.

Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan of North Dakota sent a letter Wednesday to SSA Commissioner Jo Anne Barnhart demanding to know whether Biggs did in fact edit the testimony and warning that the issue "relates directly to whether SSA is discharging its mandate to administer the Social Security programs in a non-political, non-partisan manner."

A White House spokesman could not be reached for comment. But a White House source familiar with the testimony acknowledged that Biggs provided "minor" editorial assistance to Max.

The White House source, who requested anonymity, argued Democrats are hyping the issue, pointing out that Biggs and Max have a longstanding personal relationship.

Max also acknowledged discussing his testimony with Biggs during the May 12 hearing, telling the committee that, "he certainly was given a copy of this and provided thoughts and insights, but I consider him a friend more than a work colleague."

According to a copy of Max's testimony obtained by CongressDaily, most of the edits appear to be small editorial changes. However, Biggs in one edit says, "I might not use charts that the [White House] put together."

However, at the end of the testimony Biggs advises Max to "include some info from the doc we put out yesterday; it shows that widows and divorced women do better than scheduled and the plan pulls a lot of them out of poverty."

Biggs' relationship with Max and other conservative backers of President Bush's plan to include private savings accounts in Social Security is coming under increasing scrutiny by congressional Democrats, particularly Biggs' work in conservative think tanks in recent years.

Biggs and Max are both former researchers for the Cato Institute, where they worked on Social Security proposals.

Biggs also worked for the Congressional Institute in 1999 as the group's research director, during which time he developed a series of policy and message documents on Social Security.

In 1999, Biggs authored a Congressional Institute white paper titled "Social Security Reform and the New Deal Paradigm."

In that paper, Biggs lays out a strategy that uses personal retirement accounts as the genesis for setting the stage to dismantle New Deal-era social welfare programs.

According to the paper, private accounts similar to those in Bush's Social Security plan would engender the shift by severing the ties of middle-class and wealthy Americans to government assistance programs and diminishing political support for social welfare programs.

"Market investment of payroll taxes sets the stage for a broader rapprochement between labor and capital and a new political culture that rejects government intervention in favor of individual and market freedom. In that way, Social Security reform featuring Personal Retirement Accounts doesn't send just one liberal sacred cow to the slaughterhouse. It sends the whole herd," Biggs wrote in 1999.

Although the White House source stressed that Biggs' position has shifted since his time at the Congressional Institute, Senate Democrats charge the white paper raises serious concerns about Biggs' fitness to set federal retirement policy.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., denounced Biggs' roll in developing Bush's Social Security plan, saying: "It is unconscionable that the president would appoint an avowed enemy of Social Security to help run the program. Mr. Biggs' 1999 manifesto lays out a blueprint of how to destroy Social Security."

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Social Security Administration dipping into politics, report says

Susan Davis, Keith Koffler, and John Stanton — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0500

The report states that SSA has "markedly changed its communications to the public over the last four years," citing language and message changes in informational brochures, news releases, and a communications presentation provided to employees that have grown increasingly negative on the future of Social Security.

"Although the solvency of the Social Security system has improved over the last four years," the report states, "the public communications from the agency have grown more dire."

The report is based on a review of over 4,000 pages of agency documents from the past decade.

"The Bush administration must stop using the SSA as it tries to scare up support for privatizing Social Security," Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee ranking member Sander Levin, D-Mich, said in a statement. "The agency must reassert its independence and promote its goal -- professional, nonpartisan administration of the Social Security programs." At presstime, calls to the agency had not been returned.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, meanwhile, when asked whether President Bush would support new retirement accounts as an add-on to the Social Security system, pointed to Bush's openness to all ideas about changing Social Security, except for raising payroll tax rates.

But McClellan also noted that individuals already have the option of putting their savings into individual retirement accounts, and he reiterated Bush's commitment to his own proposal, which would use payroll taxes to fund retirement accounts.

And Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., launched a pre-emptive strike Monday against a public relations blitz Democrats are planning for next weekend, challenging Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to debate Social Security reform when Reid visits Phoenix as part of a four-state "fly around" planned by the Democratic leader.

In a letter to Reid, Kolbe, who has introduced Social Security legislation with Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., challenges the minority leader to debate the various reform proposals being floated on Capitol Hill, arguing that "is an issue of paramount importance to Americans; and as members of Congress, we have a responsibility to debate our views in public."

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Senate Democrats to challenge Bush promotional efforts

John Stanton — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., earlier this week asked GAO to investigate the Williams contract -- which paid him more than $240,000 in federal funds to promote the law -- to determine whether it is legal.

Lautenberg is also preparing "anti-propaganda" legislation to formally bar federal agencies from engaging in questionable tactics, and the Democratic Policy Committee is planning to make the issue the subject of one its first investigative hearings, Democratic aides said.

According to a summary of the draft Lautenberg bill, the legislation would bar the government from spending federal funds on any materials promoting policies or laws that do not explicitly include a disclaimer that the materials, including press releases, commercials and videos, are government documents.

Although no formal announcement of committee hearings has been made, Democratic aides on Tuesday said Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan of North Dakota would almost certainly launch an investigation, setting up as an early test of Democrats' efforts to beef up the committee's largely dormant oversight functions.

Although the committee cannot subpoena witnesses, federal law does allow it to hold hearings and call witnesses. Reid and Dorgan have vowed to use those investigative powers during the 109th session to bird-dog the Bush administration. Hearings into the Williams case could test the limits of the committee's ability to conduct oversight of the administration.

Given the potentially widespread nature of the issue, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics on Tuesday filed Freedom of Information Act requests with 22 federal agencies to determine whether similar deals have been made.

Last year, the White House came under fire for creating a false news "story" on the benefits of the new Medicare prescription drug plan that featured a public relations executive playing a reporter. The Bush administration recently authored a similar video "news story" on the dangers of marijuana that again included an actor playing a reporter. Numerous television outlets used both spots as is in their news broadcasts.

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House passes intelligence overhaul bill

Greta Wodele and John Stanton — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0500

The measure passed on a 336-75 vote.

The legislation would give the intelligence director exclusive authority over the estimated $40 billion intelligence budget, which was the top recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.

The legislation also creates a national counterterrorism center, an independent civil liberties board, increased security measures for airports, national standards for drivers licenses and other identification cards, increased mandatory sentencing for terrorist-related crimes, more border agents and inspectors, as well as increased detention spaces for terrorists.

"I think we have a significantly better bill than we did 17 days ago," said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

House leaders conducted a head count Tuesday afternoon to ensure the "broadest support possible" among Republicans, one House aide said. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said the meeting was "cordial, collegial, blunt but not hostile."

Sensenbrenner told the House Republican Conference he would oppose the bill, according to two GOP members. Sensenbrenner said Monday night the bill is "woefully" incomplete because it did not include certain immigration provisions.

The White House and GOP leaders have tried to pacify Sensenbrenner and other GOP members in his camp with assurances that the House would take up those items early next year. "We'll find must-pass legislation," Blunt said.

House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., whose panel crafted a "same-day" rule for the agreement Monday night, described the compromise as "the best we could do at this point."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., who chaired the House-Senate conference committee that produced a compromise bill, said there was a "tremendous amount of passion" for the immigration issues Sensenbrenner fought to include in the final bill.

The compromise measure dropped House provisions backed by Sensenbrenner that would have barred states from giving out drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants and set stricter criteria for asylum claims.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a key player in the negotiations, touted language added Sunday by conferees specifying that creation of a director of national intelligence would not interfere with the Pentagon's existing authority to direct the flow of intelligence needed by the armed services.

In the Senate, Republican leaders were debating whether to pass the bill by unanimous consent or roll call vote. It appeared likely the Senate would not consider the measure until Wednesday at the earliest.

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine -- who was extensively praised today by her colleagues for her efforts to finish the bill -- singled out the last-minute efforts by Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., to broker a deal.

"I kept calling Trent and he always gave me wonderful advice and intervened with some of his former colleagues in the House," Collins said.

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House GOP seeks quick lame duck session; Dems may object

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 00:00:00 -0500

House GOP leaders are planning a quick and clean lame duck session after Election Day victories strengthened the Republican majorities in both chambers, aides said Wednesday.

With the concession of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Republicans face significantly less pressure to push through legislation in the remaining days of this session.

The House returns Nov. 16 for reorganization -- the current GOP and Democratic leadership teams are expected to remain intact -- and Congress will address a short list of must-pass legislation that week. Raising the debt limit and addressing the unresolved appropriations bills, either through a continuing resolution or some combination of omnibus spending packages, are the only items Congress must approve before adjourning for the 109th Congress. The current appropriations CR expires Nov. 20.

Conference work on the intelligence overhaul bill continues, although some GOP leadership aides indicated today that Congress could postpone a final vote on the measure until next year if an agreement is not reached quickly. Aides said leadership is still actively pursuing a deal, since postponing the bill would unravel the conference in the next Congress.

Aides also said today the House might again attempt to move the long-stalled highway bill before adjournment. House leaders, particularly House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., are expected to push for a final bill.

But Senate Democrats Wednesday were bracing for a lame-duck showdown with Republicans which they promised would be a politically charged affair after they suffered bruising losses Tuesday. A senior Democratic leadership aide said Democrats were especially incensed that Republicans intended to reduce Democratic committee assignments and staffing levels in the next Congress.

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House Government Reform chairman not among intelligence overhaul conferees

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0400

In a statement Friday, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., officially named House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich. to chair the conference, allowing negotiations to move forward. House GOP aides said that a first meeting will likely be held Wednesday.

"[Hoekstra] will do an excellent job of bringing people together to get a legislative result that will make the country safer," Hastert said in the statement.

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, is leading the Senate negotiating team, but her counterpart -- House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va. -- was not named to the conference.

A spokesman for Hastert added Friday that it remains "a very real possibility" that the House will reconvene before the election to approve a final bill if the conferees move quickly on a conference report. However, several House GOP aides maintained this week that it is unlikely an agreement can be reached in less than two weeks, which would push a final vote on the bill into the lame duck session that begins Nov. 16.

Among several key differences in the two bills is a Senate-passed provision to disclose the top-line budgetary authority for the national intelligence director. The House bill maintains the current law, under which the intelligence budget is classified.

"I don't think [the House] will budge on that," said one House GOP aide.

Senate Democratic aides indicated they have not yet met with their GOP counterparts to begin laying the groundwork for the conference, and bicameral staff discussions have not begun either.

The prospect that the legislation might have to wait until after the election did not sit well with a group of 9/11 families pressuring the White House and Congress to pass the Senate proposal.

"We are here; where are the elected officials?" Donald Goodrich, one of the family members, said Friday at a Capitol Hill news conference. Members of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee Friday also reiterated their unhappiness over Thursday's meeting with White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, who they said downplayed the need to finish the bill before Election Day.

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Turf-conscious senators resist expansion of Governmental Affairs

John Stanton — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0400

Senate leaders late Thursday night remained adamant that the bill would be completed. But as the stand-off between Collins and the Senate's old guard ground on, it was clear the tide had turned against Collins as veteran chairmen picked off pieces of the bill one at a time, weakening the reforms and prompting some speculation the bill could be pulled altogether.

The only two amendments defeated during the day's debate would have strengthened the control of the retooled Governmental Affairs Committee by giving it appropriations powers, while the only affirmative roll call vote as of Thursday evening further limited the resolution's changes.

The reorganization as drafted by Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Whip Harry Reid, R-Nev., would have originally shifted oversight and policy authority from as many as nine committees into the Governmental Affairs Committee, which under the plan would be renamed the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The Reid-McConnell plan clearly ruffled feathers among a number of powerful senators, most of whom used Thursday's debate to attempt to protect their turf.

For instance, Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Max Baucus, D-Mont., successfully wrested back oversight of customs operations, and Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., removed by voice vote a provision shifting immigration issues out of the Judiciary Committee.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also forced a vote to protect their control over the Secret Service, winning by a 54-41 margin.

Earlier in the day, the Senate rejected efforts by several members to include even more sweeping changes.

Lawmakers beat back two attempts by Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., to hand the Intelligence and newly retooled Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees control over federal homeland security and intelligence spending.

Senate Rules Committee Chairman Trent Lott, R-Miss., was also a strong proponent of merging authorizing and spending duties into the two committees, arguing that maintaining the traditional split between the two functions would undermine the reforms.

The McCain proposal was opposed by the reorganization plan's authors McConnell and Reid -- both of whom are members of the Appropriations Committee, as well as Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.

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Problems loom in reconciling House, Senate intelligence overhaul bills

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0400

A Senate GOP leadership aide said Tuesday that Senate leaders are eyeing an Oct. 22 completion date for the conference report, in order to reconvene members for a final vote before Nov. 2.

But significant differences in the two versions could force conferees to punt on a final vote until the lame duck session in mid-November.

House Republican leaders are increasingly under attack for including a number of provisions not included in the Senate version of the bill.

House GOP leaders and committee chairmen will hold a news conference today to criticize what they see as shortcomings in the Senate version of the bill and make the case that their version of the bill will improve national security.

The House leaders also will defend provisions that have drawn a swarm of criticism in recent days over how they would affect civil liberties. The Senate has no similar provisions and has yet to embrace the House position.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a leading critic of immigration provisions included in the House bill, issued a statement Tuesday calling on Congress to remove the provisions.

"A bill meant to implement the bipartisan 9/11 Commission's recommendations should do just that," Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU Washington legislative office, said in a statement.

"Unfortunately," she said, "the House leadership has decided to laden its bill with many provisions not called for by the commission, but long sought by extremists. If the House is serious about intelligence reform, it must reject these unwarranted assaults on immigrants."

Several House GOP aides took issue with critics Tuesday. "The only thing controversial about these provisions is the fact that some people are calling them that," said one aide, arguing that the controversy comes from a "misinformation campaign" by Democrats and outside groups.

However, Senate sources say that chamber is reluctant to take up controversial provisions in a bill that so far has progressed with uncharacteristic bipartisanship.

A Senate GOP leadership aide suggested Tuesday that House Republicans are staking out an isolated position.

"The House Republican leadership has opposed creating, funding, extending and cooperating with the 9/11 Commission," added a Senate Democratic leadership aide. "They have no credibility on the 9/11 reforms."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., downplayed the conflict between the two chambers, telling reporters, "From my standpoint and from the standpoint of the speaker, there is no adversarial position."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, also seemed confident Tuesday. "We're going to go to conference, and those members that have volunteered to be on the conference will be instructed to work and work out the differences between the House and the Senate, and if they get something -- no matter when they get it -- we'll come back and vote on it," he told reporters.

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Senators seek to replace Governmental Affairs with homeland panel

John Stanton — Tue, 05 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0400

Reid called the proposal the "largest single congressional reorganization in the history of the country," and said while some senators may be unhappy with some provisions, "we've moved the ball 90 yards down the field" toward addressing intelligence and security oversight problems.

Critics of the plan wasted little time expressing their unhappiness, with Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., both weighing in to pan the proposed changes.

Under the reorganization, the Governmental Affairs Committee would become a new Homeland Security Committee, and a new Intelligence Subcommittee would be added to the Appropriations Committee.

The Homeland Security Committee, while maintaining most of the Governmental Affairs panel's existing duties, would largely centralize Senate oversight of all homeland security activities of the federal government.

Supporters of the plan said such a consolidation is needed to reduce overlap, making it easier for homeland security managers and the Senate to communicate.

Additionally, the Select Committee on Intelligence would be made a permanent standing committee, and the term limits on members would be removed.

Other changes to the Intelligence Committee include ensuring no more than a one-vote majority for either party; providing each member of the committee with a designated staff aide while maintaining the non-partisan nature of the professional staff; creation of an Oversight Subcommittee, and reducing the number of members to 15.

McCain said that while he strongly supports consolidating oversight authority under the two committees, maintaining the split between authorization and appropriations is tantamount to not reforming the Senate's oversight system at all.

McCain said the resolution implementing the recommendations would result in "zero reform," and charged that "the appropriators ruled" the reform process. McCain also said the two whips reneged on a promise to allow for a vote on the recommendations by the full 22-member panel appointed by Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

Reid and McConnell acknowledged that some members were unhappy with the recommendations and that they did not hold a committee vote, but nevertheless said the process was fair and included input from all of the panel members.

The Senate Rules Committee Tuesday is expected to pass a version of the resolution, and debate on the proposed reforms should begin Wednesday.

Although possible amendments to the resolution were unclear at presstime, McCain said Monday he would push to combine the appropriations and authorization functions into one committee.

But McCain acknowledged he could have difficulty in making that change, telling reporters that "the fix is in" on the bill.

Stevens, who will step down next year as Appropriations chairman but hold onto the chairmanship of the Defense subcommittee, expressed hesitation Monday about relinquishing the reins of the intelligence budget.

He said he was pressing Senate leaders to consider the proposal nothing more than a recommendation at this point.

"We don't reorganize the Appropriations Committee until we see what the House does," Stevens said.

A House Appropriations spokesman said there has been no similar movement to split intelligence funding away from the Defense subcommittee.

The Senate leadership plan would also merge the Defense and Military Construction subcommittees.

Stevens said it would make conference negotiations difficult if there are different subcommittee structures in each chamber.

Peter Cohn contributed to this report.

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Congress faces Sept. backlog, prospect of lame duck

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Fri, 13 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0400

On appropriations, only one of the 13 annual spending bills has been enacted. Conferences on defense and transportation reauthorization bills remain unfinished; a short-term extension of federal transportation programs will expire at the end of the fiscal year. Also pending is the conference committee on the corporate tax bill designed to lift European Union trade sanctions. And there is an expectation that Congress will act on recommendations to overhaul intelligence operations, as proposed by the national commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A lame duck session appears inevitable after the November elections, although none of the congressional leaders or their staff is willing to acknowledge that publicly. Leadership aides in both parties repeatedly have said it is still too early to tell whether Majority Leader Frist will keep the Senate in session past the end of September in an effort to pass appropriations bills, and House GOP leaders so far also are evasive. "I'm not even going to speculate," said a senior GOP aide.

Of the spending bills, only the Defense appropriations bill has been enacted, and three have not yet passed the House. The biggest domestic spending bill of them all -- the Labor-HHS measure -- is expected to be one of the first bills brought up in the House next month, but the emphasis appears to be on getting the fiscal 2005 Homeland Security appropriations bill completed. That measure has passed the House and been cleared by the Senate Appropriations Committee, but still faces Senate floor debate and the inevitable conference committee. At some point, several, if not all, remaining spending bills are expected to be rolled into an omnibus appropriations measure, but the timing on that is unclear.

House Republican leaders have spurned Democratic calls for action this month on overhauling intelligence operations, but political pressures are building to address the national commission's recommendations in some form before adjournment, and preferably before the election. Several GOP aides indicated the House would take up intelligence overhaul legislation when it returns from the summer recess. A spokesman for Minority Leader Daschle said the Democratic leader would push Frist for passage of legislation early in September, along with the Homeland Security spending bill. Each party also will bring up issues with the election in mind: Frist is expected to renew his push to confirm President Bush's remaining judicial nominations and may bring up a constitutional amendment to prohibit flag burning. House Majority Leader DeLay has promised a September vote on a constitutional amendment designed to bar gay marriage. For their part, Democrats are likely to continue using parliamentary tactics to draw attention to their priorities, including increasing the minimum wage and passing a drug reimportation bill.

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Democrats step up demands for probes of administration, agencies

John Stanton — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 00:00:00 -0400

The tactic of launching an inquiry, followed by an investigation, followed by an outside special prosecutor and followed, in at least one case, by impeachment proceedings, was refined during the 1990s, when powerful and not-so powerful GOP ranking members, and then GOP chairmen, would unleash their staff on virtually every nook and cranny of the federal government -- and much of Arkansas -- in search of a smoking gun to bring President Clinton to heel.

Even before taking power, Republicans forced Democrats to launch a series of investigations culminating in the start of the infamous Whitewater inquiry in 1994, which would dog Clinton throughout his term and eventually morph into the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Meanwhile, various House and Senate committees embarked on constant "fishing trips" demanding boxes of information from federal agencies on almost any imaginable topic, using interns and staff to find that one needle in the haystack of bureaucratic documents.

But with few exceptions, Democrats have taken only half-hearted stabs at digging into the Bush White House's laundry bins. To be sure, House Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and a few others have dogged Bush, and in several cases -- most notably Vice President Dick Cheney's ties to Halliburton -- they appear to have struck upon an issue just waiting to be "-gated."

Some Democrats blame their lack of oversight activities on Republicans. "It's up to the chairman," said Governmental Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. While Lieberman did say the committee should look into the issue of "general expenditures of funds on the war," he did not endorse the efforts of his fellow committee member Lautenberg and others to launch a formal investigation into Halliburton.

Lieberman has been hesitant to use the few parliamentary tricks available to Democrats to either force the committee to launch investigations or, at the very least, put GOP members on record as opposing inquiries into Halliburton and other issues, according to sources close to the committee.

But other Democrats have embraced the tactic, demanding formal investigations into Halliburton, allegations that White House officials purposefully withheld information from Congress about the ballooning costs of Bush's Medicare proposals, and whether high-level Bush officials signed off on memos redefining torture.

It remains to be seen how long Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and other leaders will stick with the emphasis on oversight. The answer probably depends on whether they can muster the party loyalty and public muscle to force Republicans to abandon their president and concede to formal investigations -- as Democrats did in 1994 when former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., then-House Banking ranking member Jim Leach, R-Iowa, and other Republicans forced an annoyed and extremely reluctant Democratic majority to begin the Whitewater hearings.

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GOP blocks war-profiteering amendment

John Stanton — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 00:00:00 -0400

The Leahy/Daschle amendment to the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill would have created new penalties -- including up to 20 years in jail -- for government contractors convicted of inflating the cost of goods or services. It was defeated 52-46.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., later filed a motion to invoke cloture on the defense authorization bill, setting a deadline of 1 p.m. Thursday for any further amendments to be filed. The cloture vote could be held as early as Friday.

Daschle and Leahy introduced the war-profiteering amendment in response to growing accusations by Defense Department whistleblowers and House and Senate Democrats that Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, has overcharged the government for a host of services provided to the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A clearly uncomfortable Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., rallied Republicans against the amendment, warning the provisions were simply too vague to be placed into federal law.

Democrats appear to have renewed their interest in controversies around Halliburton's activities in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last several weeks. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., have led the growing chorus of Democratic voices in Congress seeking investigations into whether Cheney played a role in granting a $2.5 billion contract to Halliburton, as well as into the accusations that the company bilked the government out of millions of dollars in their contracts.

Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., was the sole Democrat to vote with Republicans. Sens. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, reluctantly voted against the amendment after being lobbied by GOP colleagues on the Senate floor.

Although presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was making a rare appearance in the Capitol during the vote, he did not vote on the amendment, saying he "had some meetings."

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Defense spending bill could delay Senate recess

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 00:00:00 -0400

At this point, Frist said he does not plan to delay the recess. But if he brings the Defense spending bill to the floor next week -- as has been discussed during leadership meetings -- he would not break for the recess until the bill is done.

"If I take up [Defense] spending, we'll stay until it's finished," Frist said. "But it's too early to tell what we're going to do [next week]."

Senators and GOP aides had downplayed the likelihood of taking up the Defense spending bill before the recess, arguing it would be difficult to finish the bill in a few days. They noted that the Senate typically avoids splitting debate on the high priority spending bill over a recess. But one senior GOP leadership aide questioned that thinking. "Who says it's a hard and fast rule? Who says we can't finish it, and who says the recess will start on time?" the aide declared.

Talk of a recess delay comes as Frist, Minority Leader Tom Daschle, S-S.D., and other Senate leaders are attempting to reach a deal to wrap up debate on the fiscal 2005 defense reauthorization bill. Although Frist Wednesday evening filed a cloture motion on that bill, it is unclear whether he has enough backing to cut off debate during Friday's scheduled vote. If a deal can be worked out between the leaders to place a time limit on the defense reauthorization bill, Frist would likely forgo the cloture vote.

It remains unclear what legislation the Senate will take up next. Although Frist has previously said that he would move directly to a class action bill, the timing on that measure could slip, a source in Frist's office said. Because debate on the defense reauthorization bill could go until the middle of next week, according to the source, taking up the class action bill for one or two days would make little sense.

Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, could have the fiscal 2005 Defense spending package ready to go by midweek -- if Frist decides to remain in session to finish that bill -- which also would bump the class action measure. Frist also faces pressure to bring the gay marriage constitutional amendment to the floor, tentatively set for the week of July 12. The amendment is a priority for social conservatives and the White House, which is keen to have a vote before the Democratic National Convention begins July 26. As a result, Frist has been forced to juggle the need to move appropriations bills and his commitment to move the gay marriage ban, significantly squeezing an already tight legislative calendar for July.

In the House, GOP leaders may bring up budget enforcement legislation next Thursday, although no agreement has been reached between Budget Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, and Appropriations Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., on the scope of the bill. The House will consider the Defense and Energy and Water fiscal 2005 appropriations bills, according to GOP leadership aides, and may consider intelligence reauthorization as well. If the House does not complete work on the Homeland Security appropriations bill this week, that would be the first order of business Monday. A leadership aide said the House would adjourn for its July 4 recess as scheduled at the end of next week.

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Congress, agencies set aside agendas to honor Reagan

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Mon, 07 Jun 2004 00:00:00 -0400

Reagan's body will arrive Wednesday evening at the Capitol where an arrival ceremony will be held with Reagan's family, senators, House members, government officials and visiting heads of state.

The House and Senate sergeants at arms are coordinating the transport and protection of Reagan's body with the Military District of Washington, which is responsible for handling state funerals. Reagan will continue to lie in state through early Friday morning. Many members of Congress and agency officials will attend Reagan's state funeral Friday at the Washington National Cathedral.

According to a spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, consideration of a succession of energy-related bills as part of the eight-week long GOP "jobs agenda" has been postponed, while Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said further Senate action on the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill will be delayed until next week.

DeLay had not yet returned to Washington as of Monday afternoon, and it had not been determined whether the energy theme will reappear on the agenda next week or at a later date.

The House returns Tuesday and is expected to vote on two procedural resolutions allowing the use of the Capitol Rotunda for Reagan's body to lie in state, and a privileged bereavement resolution.

The House also is scheduled to vote on a resolution honoring Reagan, which could occur as late as Wednesday afternoon. The Senate approved its resolution Monday on the use of the Capitol and has scrapped legislative work for the week. A vote on the Senate's resolution honoring Reagan is scheduled for Tuesday, and the floor is reserved Tuesday and Wednesday for lawmakers to pay tribute to Reagan.

The Senate is not expected to be in session Thursday and Friday, leadership aides said, while the House could be in pro forma session Thursday and will be out of session Friday.

Meanwhile, the House and Senate sergeants at arms announced Monday that the Capitol would be closed to all public and staff-led tours beginning this afternoon through Friday. The Capitol will remain open around the clock following the funeral ceremony Wednesday evening through Friday morning to accommodate public viewing.

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House boosts pet projects in transportation bill

Peter Cohn and John Stanton — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 00:00:00 -0500

As with the committee-approved version, the manager's amendment was chockful of earmarks, adding 50 more highway projects and three transit projects, including $7 million to build a "Renaissance Square" in Rochester, N.Y., that would include a community college, intermodal center and performing arts center; $3.4 million for Boysville of Clinton, Mich., to purchase vans; $1 million to rehabilitate a historic depot and bus station in Jesup, Ga.; and $12 million for a highway in the Northern Mariana Islands.

The bill also includes two new projects worth a total of $100 million in the district of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, making his home state of California one of the biggest winners in the bill's spending lottery.

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., the freshman conservative who incurred the wrath of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, by leading opposition to his original spending plan, also received the $14 million in highway project that House leaders and the White House forced Young to include in the amendment.

Certain states would benefit from the manager's amendment more than others -- for example, Young's home state of Alaska. Young increased his state's earmarked total by $369 million over the original bill as reported out of committee, including $319 million for construction of two Alaska bridges.

Combined with transit and other projects in the bill, Alaska's total funding over the life of the bill would put it behind only four other states -- California, Texas, New York and Illinois -- according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.

A $3 million earmark in the original bill for the planning and design of a bridge joining the island of Gravina to the community of Ketchikan was expanded to include construction -- at an additional $197 million cost, bringing the total to $200 million.

Another Alaska bridge project -- $3 million for planning and design of the Knik Arm Bridge -- also expanded by $122 million to include construction. Other Alaskan projects in the managers' amendment include $25 million to "improve marine dry-dock and facilities" at Ketchikan and another $25 million for intermodal facility improvements at the Port of Anchorage.

Illinois -- the home state of House Speaker Dennis Hastert -- is another state that did well under the manager's amendment. The state saw highway project funding alone rise to $525.2 million, nearly $100 million more than under the base bill. Part of that increase was $88 million for construction of a bridge at Stearns Road in Kane County.

For its part, California would see its total highway funds increase to $1 billion.

All told, about $500 million was shifted into increases for members' projects already in the bill, while Young used an additional $500 million to fund new highway projects. The new transit projects take up $11.36 million, while Young increased a handful of existing earmarks by about $3.2 million.

In addition to the new member projects, Young also made a number of changes to the rest of the bill, including changing the name of one earmark in the bill from the "BMW/I-85" project that would have built a road to a car plant, to the "I-85/Brockman McClinon Interchange and Connections Project."

The bill would also require the Transportation Department to open the so-called "Arena Ramp" in Prince Georges County, Md., that serves, among other things, FedEx Field where the Washington Redskins play, and renames a tunnel project in Boston the Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel.

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Senate buildings reopened before sweeps completed

Susan Davis and John Stanton — Fri, 06 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., sent the majority of his staff home following the reopening of the Russell Senate Office Building Thursday after staffers arrived to find their mailroom untouched. "Nothing had been moved," said a spokeswoman for Dayton. "Our mailroom literally had boxes of mail in it."

According to the spokeswoman, Dayton placed a call to the Capitol Police, who informed the senator that four other rooms in Russell had been overlooked in the massive sweep operation led by the Capitol Police in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, the FBI, 125 Marines and members of the Coast Guard.

According to the Senate's Web site, there are 36 member offices in the Russell building and 50 in the Hart building, as well as several committee rooms, restaurants and other facilities. Thousands of employees have been displaced by the closure of the three buildings this week.

The Russell building was reopened noon Thursday, Hart was reopened later that afternoon, and Dirksen remains scheduled to open Monday.

Capitol Hill sources said at least part of the reason some of the offices were not checked was that Capitol Police do not possess a complete set of keys -- which also slowed their sweep of the Capitol Wednesday.

However, at least one aide familiar with the situation indicated Thursday that clean-up crews might have simply "missed" some offices as they made their way through the Russell building.

"It's a little disturbing," said the spokeswoman. "We're all a little upset about it." The episode has raised fears among Hill staffers that the clean-up operation following the ricin toxin discovery in Frist's personal office is moving too fast.

Reporters questioned Gainer Thursday on the expedited schedule for the building reopenings, in contrast to the October 2001 anthrax scare in the office of then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., which closed the Hart Senate building for several months.

"The threat is completely different," said Gainer, "so the response is different."

According to information posted on Frist's Web site, there are no known deaths attributed to inhaled ricin, a poisonous toxin, whereas anthrax, an acute infectious disease, has known fatalities.

Throughout the week, Frist went to great pains to stress that while the Senate would continue to operate normally, the safety of the members, staff and other employees was paramount.

For instance, in a Blackberry message sent to GOP members and Daschle Tuesday, Frist noted: "Do remember that ricin is a deadly poison and that this is criminal activity directed against the Senate body. Safety of the people who work with us is first and foremost. Less is known about ricin than anthrax. Yet we know it is deadly. Stay calm and patient as much as possible."

Frist and Daschle have also praised the work Gainer and Sergeant at Arms Bill Pickle have done in handling the investigation, as well as the immediate response to the discovery of the ricin powder.

But criticism of how Pickle and Gainer have handled the issue has continued to grow throughout the week, with lawmakers and staff alike expressing reservations about the response system.

For instance, numerous aides this week have criticized the fact that the Senate's emergency announcement system was not used or did not function.

Aides argued that once it was determined late Monday evening that the powder found in Frist's office was likely ricin, and emergency crews began hosing down staff working near the contaminated area, the rest of the Senate should have been evacuated or warned to avoid the fourth floor because of the contamination.

A source in Frist's office said any decision to use the emergency announcement system would have been made by either Gainer or someone else at the Capitol Police. Efforts to obtain comment from Gainer's office were unsuccessful at presstime.

Aides and lawmakers also have complained about the fact that offices were not warned of even a potential contamination threat until four hours after the powder was discovered. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is said to have raised these concerns with Pickle when he met with Democrats during their weekly caucus lunch, although it is still unclear whether a change in procedure might ultimately be made.

The discovery of mail in the Russell office building also has prompted concerns about the timing of the opening of the offices, with many aides arguing it appears the decision by Frist, Gainer and Pickle to open offices this week may have been rushed. "I don't understand why the buildings were opened so quickly," said a Democratic staffer, "Everything was working fine out of the Capitol and there were no problems [keeping] with the agenda."

"Maybe we should be a little more cautious than this," said another Democratic staffer: "We need to have a better system in place than 19-year-old interns opening our mail."

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As Senate buildings close, no cases of illness reported

Susan Davis, Emily Heil, and John Stanton — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0500

At one point, police closed much of the Capitol's first floor and evacuated members from their offices in the area after a Senate aide discovered a "powdery residue" in the mail. A hazardous materials team was called in, and the substance ultimately tested negative as a chemical or biological agent, Senate Sergeant at Arms Bill Pickle said.

Appearing on the Senate floor, Frist confirmed that ricin had been found in the mailroom of his personal office in Dirksen. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told reporters that, at this point, aides in Frist's office who were exposed to the toxin did not appear to have been affected.

Sources said that up to 50 people, including 10 Capitol Police officers, were quarantined at around 6:30 p.m. Monday in a room in Dirksen and decontaminated. Those quarantined included about a dozen members of the staff of Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., as well as members of Frist's staff and staffers of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Julie Gerberding, head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said today that no individuals have become ill or reported symptoms of ricin exposure. "As the minutes tick by, we are less and less concerned about the health effects," she said. However, she said that the time it takes for symptoms to develop depends on the grade and purity of the toxin, something that is not yet known.

Gerberding said that while several laboratory tests indicated that the substance found in Frist's office is ricin, a "gold standard" test in which lab animals are inoculated with the toxin would be performed to confirm that analysis.

U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona said that Capitol Police and others shut down the Hart and Russell as well as the Dirksen buildings in an effort to "cast a wide net" over the complex where mail may have circulated. "The net may even become wider," he said.

Said Daschle, "This is obviously a criminal act and we will do all that we can to find those responsible and hold them accountable." He added, "The investigation is ongoing and so far there are encouraging signs that the material has been concentrated in one area," referring to the Dirksen office building.

Law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that while the substance had been found in a mail-sorting area of Frist's office, it had not been tied to a specific piece of mail. These sources said that no extortion or threat letter was found in the area, and that most of the mail in that part of the office came from Frist's home state of Tennessee. Daschle told reporters that there was no indication that the toxin had spread through the ventilation system.

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White House seen as eager to avoid controversy at EPA

John Stanton — Tue, 27 Jan 2004 00:00:00 -0500

Lobbyists close to the administration argue that such a strategy would likely help the White House avoid at least some of the political attacks that environmentalists and Democrats are expected to level against President Bush this year.

For instance, the Bush administration has already nominated Stephen Johnson to become the new deputy administrator at EPA, the agency's No. 2 position. Johnson headed up the agency's pesticides program in the Clinton and current Bush administrations. While Johnson has had conflicts with industry and environmentalists in the past, most sources familiar with him said he was generally not a controversial figure and had a solid reputation inside the agency and with stakeholders.

Sources close to the administration also said that the White House was considering naming Tom Gibson as the acting assistant administrator for enforcement. Gibson, who currently is EPA's assistant administrator for policy, worked for former Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairmen Bob Smith, R-N.H., and John Chafee, R-R.I., both of whom had moderate environmental records. According to one lobbyist, Gibson is considered a particularly strong "caretaker" for the enforcement position, which will become open at the end of the month when J. P. Suarez steps down.

The enforcement office at EPA has been mired in controversy for the last several years, and environmentalists and Democrats have continually attacked the administration's record. According to the lobbyist, the administration believes placing Gibson in the enforcement slot would help keep a low political profile on the issue during the election campaign and would allow it to avoid the political fight that would certainly come if it nominated a formal replacement for Suarez.

Industry lobbyists and Senate aides also said that Interior Department General Counsel Anne Klee, a former Smith aide, was also being considered for a position at EPA, possibly as the agency's general counsel. Although Klee has had run-ins with environmentalists over several issues in the past, she nevertheless has a reputation as a moderate and would likely not be a lightning rod for political attacks from congressional Democrats and environmental groups.

EPA nominations have been a recurring problem for the Bush administration. In 2001, for instance, environmentalists and Senate Democrats defeated the White House's choice of Donald Schregardus to head the agency's enforcement office. Democrats also delayed EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt's confirmation because of complaints that the White House was withholding key information on Clean Air Act revisions being undertaken by the agency.

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White House rejects FAA privatization deal

John Stanton — Thu, 13 Nov 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Senate Democratic aides reacted angrily to the White House decision to reject the deal, charging it clearly shows the administration is set on privatizing the system despite claims by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and other officials that they are not motivated by such an agenda.

"We just think that it shows ... they're hell bent on farming out the air traffic control [system] to the private sector," a Democratic aide said.

The deal would have broken the months-long deadlock between the two veteran lawmakers that has stalled completion of the FAA bill, and sets up another floor showdown next week with the current extension of the existing law set to expire next Friday.

Lautenberg and House Transportation and Infrastructure ranking member James Oberstar, D-Minn., have led opposition to the FAA conference bill because it did not include language passed by both chambers that would have prohibited privatization of the air traffic control system. The lawmakers successfully forced GOP conferees to reopen the conference late last month, and although Republicans were able to push the new conference report -- which included neither the administration-backed authorizing language nor the Democrats' prohibition -- through the chamber, it has again become stuck with Lautenberg threatening a filibuster.

Lautenberg Wednesday said he still has more than enough votes to maintain a filibuster of the conference report, despite efforts by Lott and industry officials to chip away at his support. Senate aides said Lautenberg has not discussed timing of a floor debate with Lott, but the Democrat has indicated he will continue to block the bill if his concerns are not addressed.

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