Crime Bill Succumbs to Republican Senate Filibuster : Congress: $3.1-billion measure had been resurrected by House Democrats. Battle illustrates election-year potency of issue.

By the dawn’s early light Wednesday, Democratic leaders resurrected a $3.1-billion crime bill from the political graveyard, narrowly obtaining House approval in the face of a veto vow by President Bush. Hours later, however, Senate Republicans killed the measure for good with a filibuster that Democrats were unable to shut down.

The back and forth struggle during the final crush of congressional business illustrated the political potency of the crime issue as the presidential election year nears.

In the end, it was not clear whether the House and Senate would salvage some anti-crime package when Congress reconvenes in January. The warring parties might wind up producing only TV ads accusing each other of failing to “get tough” on criminals.

The omnibus bill, which would have greatly expanded the federal death penalty and imposed a waiting period for handgun purchases among numerous other provisions, had been widely pronounced dead in the House on Tuesday night as Congress pressed to adjourn.

But all-night arm-twisting by Democratic leaders, backed by pleas from police and gun control groups, suddenly brought the bill to the floor early Wednesday, leading to a fiery debate and a roll call that ended at 205 to 203. House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) cast a rare vote--for the bill--and several Democratic opponents agreed to withhold their votes to preserve the victory.

It was short-lived. Senate Republicans, complaining that the bill did not go far enough in restricting Death Row appeals and loosening curbs on illegally seized evidence, threatened to filibuster it to death. A Democratic motion to thwart the filibuster got only 49 votes, 11 short of the number required.

Sen. John Seymour (R-Calif.) supported the Senate filibuster, while Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) opposed it.

Weary lawmakers offered few clues about the next step. Senate-House conferees were thought likely to attempt a new compromise early next year.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), a key architect of the crime bill, said he would not seek a replacement “unless there is an indication that the President is really willing to fight crime. We have to see something from the President first instead of demagoguery.”

Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who had attacked the dead legislation as “pro-criminal,” demanded, however, that Republicans be given a larger role in drafting any new version. “I want a bill that gets results,” he said.

The defeated measure was a compromise assembled solely by Democrats from differing bills that had passed the Senate and the House in recent months. It was pushed through a conference committee Sunday on party-line votes.

After Bush branded the compromise unacceptable and dozens of state and local prosecutors urged its defeat, House Democratic leaders found Monday that only 70 of their troops were willing to support it, said Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a key sponsor.

“We had people shooting at it from all over, from both the left and the right,” Schumer said. There were liberals who were opposed to reinstituting and expanding the federal death penalty, and conservatives who objected to gun controls and who wanted stricter limits on habeas corpus petitions by prisoners challenging their convictions.

Many of these Democrats had voted for a similar bill that easily cleared the House last month. But they were reluctant to support a compromise version that would be killed by a Bush veto--and, more importantly, would be used by election challengers to accuse them of being soft on crime, sources said.

California Democrats who voted no Wednesday were Reps. Mervyn M. Dymally of Compton, Julian C. Dixon of Los Angeles, Maxine Waters of Los Angeles and Gary A. Condit of Ceres.

All of the state’s Republicans voted against the bill, except Rep. Tom Campbell of Palo Alto, who was absent. Democrats not voting were Reps. Edward R. Roybal and Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles and George E. Brown Jr. of Colton.