Senators Propose Plan to Trim Drug Bill Amendments

A bipartisan group of senators working on the $2.6-billion election year drug bill agreed late Wednesday on a formula for paring down the more than 100 amendments to the catchall measure.

Under the procedure, about 56 of the amendments would either be folded into the bill, offered as amendments or killed by the chamber’s leaders. The remaining amendments would not be offered at all.

Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) said the Senate would vote today on whether to follow the proposed formula and begin debating the bill.

Byrd said that if lawmakers agreed to follow the procedure, the Senate could complete work on the bill by Friday. Congressional leaders have been hoping that the House and Senate could adjourn for the year by Friday.

Urges Acceptance

Byrd said that if the procedure for considering the amendments was not adopted: “It may mean we’ll have no drug bill.”

The majority leader said the drug bill would be amended to include provisions giving prosecutors tougher powers to crack down on child pornography, creating a new position of federal “drug czar,” and stiffening sentences for some drug offenses.

The agreement would allow votes on about eight other amendments, including language stripping a provision establishing the death penalty for certain drug offenders who commit murder, requiring states to randomly test new drivers license applicants, and allowing some drug offenders to lose federal benefits they might receive.