House approves revised defense authorization bill

The House on Wednesday quickly approved a revised version of the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill that addresses objections raised by the White House last month when President Bush unexpectedly vetoed the measure.

The Pentagon policy bill, which passed 369-46 on the suspension calendar, now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to encounter little opposition.

The Senate, which is in recess until next week, has been closely involved in negotiations over the changes to the bill, lawmakers and congressional aides said. They hope that the upper chamber will take up the bill shortly after returning to Capitol Hill and quickly send it to the president's desk for his signature.

Controversy over the defense authorization bill, which passed by wide margins in both chambers before the Christmas recess, surfaced on Dec. 28 when Bush aired concerns that a little-publicized provision would freeze billions of dollars in Iraqi assets held in U.S. financial institutions and ultimately devastate Iraqi reconstruction plans.

The original provision, sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., expanded the ability of American victims of terrorism to sue current and former state sponsors of terrorism for damages in U.S. courts. The language essentially would have held the current Iraqi government liable for suits filed by victims of former President Saddam Hussein's regime.

The new language includes a presidential waiver for all claims against Iraq that occurred before enactment of the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill. The president must notify Congress within 30 days of issuing the waiver or it cannot go into effect.

House lawmakers also added non-binding "sense of the Congress" language urging the president to work with the Iraqi government to compensate Saddam's victims.

During a brief floor debate Wednesday, the new provision drew praise from both sides of the aisle. House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee ranking member Jim Saxton, R-N.J., called it a "good compromise and a good effort."

Despite his support for the new measure, House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., aired frustrations with the White House, which has contended that Bush's refusal to sign the original bill amounted to a pocket veto -- an absolute rejection that could not be overturned legally by Congress.

House Democrats had considered holding veto override vote to publicly challenge the White House's claim, but ultimately decided to avert a constitutional showdown with the administration and instead quickly approve a new bill.