NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON : Senate Tables Action on Anti-Crime Bill

The Senate shelved Democrat-drafted anti-crime legislation after Democrats failed by six votes to shut off a Republican filibuster that has been holding up the veto-threatened bill since last year. The bill would impose the death penalty for more than 50 federal crimes, curtail Death Row appeals, authorize $3.5 billion in law enforcement assistance to state and local governments and impose a weeklong waiting period for handgun purchases. The bill remains on the Senate docket and could be revived later in the year, but “the chance of getting a crime bill this year is highly unlikely,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). Republicans contend the bill goes too far in protecting the rights of suspects.