Copyright 2000 The Washington Post
The Washington
Post
June 23, 2000, Friday, Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A08
LENGTH: 889 words
HEADLINE:
Lawmakers Eye 'Emergency' Bill as a Vehicle for Pet Projects
BYLINE: Eric Pianin , Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
Now that the House and the
Senate have given their blessing to a plan to expand the war against
drugs in Colombia, lawmakers are trying to load up the
"emergency" package with billions of dollars' worth of routine projects and
special-interest provisions that have so far been stymied in this session of
Congress.
Influential senators are demanding more money to assist peanut
growers and dairy and livestock producers, build rural housing, purchase
airplanes for the Coast Guard, and finance construction of a Customs Service
facility and a dam in West Virginia. Meanwhile, House defense hawks are
clamoring for $ 4 billion more in Pentagon spending than the Senate and the
Clinton administration believe is necessary.
Hoping to contain the
bidding war, House and Senate Republican leaders agreed yesterday to limit the
overall package to $ 12 billion, including $ 1.3 billion to combat
drug traffickers in Latin America.
The overall spending
plan is roughly the same amount the House approved in late March but goes
considerably beyond what Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) wanted.
Lott has blocked action on the measure for nearly three months, charging that it
is "bloated" and insisting on $ 4 billion less in spending.
But
yesterday Lott said he had little choice but to accept the higher level because
of pressure in the House and the Senate for more money to fight the Colombian
drug trade and to repair Los Alamos National Laboratory, which
suffered extensive damage from a recent New Mexico forest fire.
"Twelve
billion dollars is better than $ 13 billion, and it's worlds better than $ 20
billion to $ 22 billion," said John Czwartacki, Lott's press secretary. "It's
not all signed, sealed and delivered yet, but in the end we hope to save the
taxpayers a boatload of money."
Even with yesterday's agreement between
Lott and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), GOP leaders will face a
challenge next week in fashioning the bill's final version. By postponing action
for months, Lott has inadvertently given lawmakers more time to make the case
for beefing up the emergency measure with more projects.
With Congress
gridlocked over a variety of legislative initiatives, lawmakers see the
emergency package as a vehicle to advance other causes. For example, Sen. Judd
Gregg (R-N.H.) is trying to give his alma mater, Columbia University, a $ 100
million-a-year gift by attaching an amendment giving the school a five-year
extension on a key patent used in making
several popular drugs. Lobbyists hope to use the bill to extend
patent protection for the popular allergy drug
Claritin, which would mean huge sums for Schering-Plough, the manufacturer.
"The longer you wait, the more people want to throw things into the
package," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).
Even if lawmakers live
within the limits prescribed by Lott and Hastert, the emergency package will
still be more than double the amount President Clinton requested. The president
asked for $ 5.4 billion to replenish funds used to deploy U.S. troops in Kosovo,
to aid Colombia and to assist disaster victims.
Scott Lilly, the
Democratic staff director for the House Appropriations Committee, predicted this
week that with all the pent-up demand, "this is going to be the biggest,
nastiest, porkiest bill in a while."
While yesterday's Republican
agreement set the parameters for emergency spending, House and Senate
negotiators will have to work out most of the details early next week. Final
action is set before the Fourth of July recess.
The Senate yesterday
gave final approval to a foreign aid bill that would provide nearly $ 1 billion
to help Colombia equip and train security forces to combat drug
traffickers. But at Hastert's insistence, Lott agreed to the $ 1.3 billion the
House favored.
But big differences remain over defense and agriculture
spending and other issues. The whole package will eventually be attached to a
routine bill funding military construction projects. That bill is in conference.
With the budget surplus continuing to mount, defense hawks in the House
are pressing for $ 3 billion to $ 4 billion more this year to cover military
fuel costs and unpaid Defense Department medical bills. That is on top of $ 4
billion in defense spending for fiscal 2001 that the two sides agreed to earlier
this year.
Meanwhile, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the
Appropriations agriculture subcommittee, is demanding $ 1.1 billion more for
dairy and livestock assistance, rural development and housing, and a program for
peanut growers. Only this week, Clinton signed a $ 15.3 billion crop insurance
bill providing a large emergency bailout for farmers. Cochran has argued that
while helpful to growers, that legislation will do little for livestock
producers.
When last month's New Mexico wildfire damaged the Los Alamos
facility, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) insisted on
increasing the administration's request for repairs and construction from $ 288
million to $ 448 million.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) added $ 25
million for a training facility for the Customs Service at Harpers Ferry, $ 11
million to help complete construction of a dam in West Virginia and $ 9.8
million to help his state meet federal surface mining regulations.
LOAD-DATE: June 23, 2000
