Key GOP Voice on Rights Bill May Be Sen. Danforth’s : Congress: The former Episcopal priest from Missouri heads a group of moderate Republicans who hope to break the deadlock over job bias.

At a crucial point in the battle over a civil rights bill, the leading Republican voice on the issue may not be coming from the White House but rather from the Senate office of mild-mannered John C. Danforth of Missouri.

Following the caustic rhetorical din of battle over a rights bill in the House, which passed legislation Wednesday that is supported by the Democratic leadership but threatened with a presidential veto, Danforth heads a key group of eight moderate Republicans who have come up with a different approach that could break the partisan deadlock.

The House measure is designed primarily to overturn the effects of a series of 1989 Supreme Court decisions that reduced the scope of laws against job discrimination. It would allow limited damage awards in cases of intentional discrimination against women, the disabled and members of religious groups.

President Bush presented a package that would have reversed the effects of one high court ruling and modified the impact of others, but opponents said it did too little to restore protections against job bias. His plan was rejected on Tuesday, and he has threatened to veto the measure that was approved.

Bush said Thursday that the White House would give the new Danforth plan “a hard look” before deciding on its next step. His main message, however, was: “Give our bill a fair chance.”

Danforth, a former Episcopal clergyman and Wall Street lawyer before being elected to the Senate, clearly was upset by the harsh rhetoric Bush used in denouncing the Democratic plan as a racial quota bill. Democrats denied the charge and accused the President of exploiting racial fears.

“I don’t want race to be a partisan issue,” Danforth said before unveiling the tripartite plan to reverse the main effects of the Supreme Court rulings. “I hope the President will work with us.”

Expressing the frustration of GOP moderates over the President’s course, Sen. James M. Jeffords (R-Vt.), a GOP ally on the issue, added: “We are exercising lousy leadership in this country right now.”

He and other GOP moderates also voiced their desire to avoid partisan name-calling and to try again to find a middle ground that would be acceptable to civil rights advocates and those concerned about the impact of a new law on business costs.

One of the bills in the Danforth plan would reverse the effects of five Supreme Court rulings that scaled back the scope of laws against job discrimination. Another would focus on employers’ job practices that have a disparate impact on minorities and women. A third bill would allow limited damages in cases of intentional discrimination, with a $50,000 lid on awards for workers in companies with fewer than 100 employees, and a $150,000 lid on those employed by larger companies.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, praised the move by the Republican moderates as “constructive” and indicated that he was ready to negotiate on the basis of Danforth’s package.

But a spokesman for Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the ranking GOP member on the labor panel, said the senator still had reservations about whether the Danforth plan would promote job quotas. And Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) reiterated his support for the President’s approach on the civil rights bill.

Even so, the backing of Sen. Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.) for the compromise plan gave it a boost with several GOP senators who respect his judgment on the complex legal issues involved in the legislation.

Rudman last year voted to sustain the President’s veto of the civil rights bill, but he has termed it a “very close call.” Danforth and seven of his colleagues voted to override Bush, whose veto was upheld by a single vote.