Pubdate: Fri, 17 Mar 2000
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company
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Page: A12
Author: Eric Pianin, Washington Post staff writer

EMERGENCY SPENDING BILL CAUGHT IN GOP WHIRLPOOL

A $9 billion package to help combat Colombian drug traffickers and
cover military costs in Kosovo has become bogged down in controversy
over spending, with many House conservatives demanding that the
measure be scaled back and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.)
threatening to keep it bottled up.

The emergency measure, a priority of President Clinton and House
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), was swiftly approved last week by
the House Appropriations Committee, 33 to 13.

But House GOP leaders yesterday abruptly postponed floor action for at
least two weeks following a meeting with angry House conservative
activists, who complained that the bill was laced with "pork," and
Lott's warning that he would oppose it. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay
(R-Tex.) conceded that the bill is in trouble and said he is not sure
how Hastert and Lott would bridge their differences over the need to
pass the bill now.

"Denny has tried to coordinate with the Senate on everything we've
tried to do," DeLay said yesterday at a luncheon with Washington Post
editors and reporters. "This is the first time that we've had a major
disagreement on the direction of an issue like this."

Lott has complained that the supplemental spending bill--containing
about $3.8 billion more than Clinton requested--was "bloated." He said
he preferred to approve funds for anti-drug activities, Kosovo
military spending and other pressing needs through the normal
appropriations process later this spring for the coming fiscal year,
rather than tacking it onto this year's spending. "No one has been
able to define precisely the emergency," John Czwartacki, Lott's press
secretary, said yesterday. "Now that we're on the cusp of the new
appropriations process, why not do it there?"

Lott is on a collision course with Senate Appropriations Committee
Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who agrees with House GOP leaders and
appropriators that Congress should work to pass the supplemental
spending bill this spring. Stevens plans to mark up a bill next week.

The bill approved last week by House appropriators would use part of
the surplus to provide $1.7 billion to help Colombia and its Latin
American neighbors step up their anti-drug efforts; $2 billion to
cover the costs of American forces in Kosovo; $1.6 billion for the
Pentagon's soaring fuel costs; $2.2 billion to assist communities and
farms ravaged by last fall's Hurricane Floyd, and $600 million to
repair storm-damaged roads and bridges.

But scores of other projects that were added have drawn the wrath of
conservatives, including $20 million for the first phase of
construction to replace a Food and Drug Administration laboratory in
Los Angeles. "There's a bunch of garbage in there," said Rep. Tom
Coburn (R-Okla.), a leader of conservative activists on spending
issues. "It's the same old story: Let's throw everything in the trash
can for members."

At Hastert's behest, House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill
Young (R-Fla.) met with Coburn and other conservatives Wednesday to
see if they could iron out their differences. While GOP leaders
believe they can muster enough GOP and Democratic votes to pass the
emergency measure, they are concerned about alienating the
conservatives whose votes will be essential to passing next year's
budget and the annual spending bills.

Some of the conservatives complained that too much of this year's
surplus is going for unnecessary spending and that the leaders should
consider offsetting more of the spending. Some, including freshman
Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), said the bill should include $10 billion for
debt reduction.

Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Calif.), who opposes continued U.S. military
involvement in Kosovo, favors using the spending bill to set a date
for withdrawal of U.S. forces. Campbell and others are also worried
about the government getting too involved in efforts to shore up
Colombia's tottering democracy and enable its military to step up its
war on narcotics traffickers. "I don't think we should spend $1.3
billion for a civil war in a jungle setting," he said.

Also complicating passage is a provision that was tucked into the
fiscal 2001 budget resolution approved Wednesday by the House Budget
Committee that establishes a parliamentary point of order against any
bill that cuts into this year's non-Social Security surplus.

The measure was added at Toomey's urging as a way of discouraging
using this year's surplus for anything but debt reduction. Young was
furious that Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio) didn't
consult him about a measure that could threaten prospects for passage
of the supplemental bill. 
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MAP posted-by: Derek Rea