Gephardt Backs Plan to End Sanchez Probe

House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) has embraced a prospective deal in which his party would agree to a broad inquiry into voter fraud if Republicans dismissed the challenge to Garden Grove Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s victory last fall.

At a Capitol Hill news conference Thursday, Gephardt said Democrats are “willing to try to engage in a general, broad discussion in some proper forum with the Republicans of allegations that have been made that there was noncitizen voting in the 1996 election. But . . . we don’t want to do that and we don’t think that that’s proper until Loretta’s case is dismissed.”

Referring to the illegal-voting issue that is at the heart of the Sanchez case, he added that if Republicans “want to keep at this, let’s do it in a broader setting. Let’s move it to an investigation generally about illegal voting of all kinds, and let’s try to determine if there are problems around the country. But Loretta’s case should be dismissed.”

Publicly, Gephardt’s olive branch was ignored by the House Oversight Committee, which for months has been examining the challenge to Sanchez’s 984-vote win filed by the GOP incumbent she defeated, Robert K. Dornan. Aides to committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield) have insisted that the inquiry will not end until they have finished analyzing a list of 1,000 suspected noncitizen votes in the 46th Congressional District. And sources said committee Democrats several weeks ago offered the type of deal outlined by Gephardt, but to no avail.

Still, Gephardt’s comments sparked speculation on Capitol Hill that a broader inquiry could be an acceptable way for both parties to shut down the probe, which Democrats have increasingly sought to portray as evidence of GOP attitudes against ethnic minorities.

Indeed, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) had hinted Wednesday that the deal Gephardt laid out was possible. “Your party would be well-served by suggesting we investigate citizenship of voters and not in one district,” Gingrich told Democratic congresswomen who had trooped to his office demanding a halt to the 46th District probe. “I can’t imagine you all are saying you don’t want to know if noncitizens are voting.”

Also on Thursday, Republicans finally moved to halt the barrage of motions House Democrats have introduced calling for an immediate end to the Sanchez case. GOP members imposed a rare rule preventing anyone but the leader of each party from introducing such resolutions until Congress adjourns for the year.

With their primary protest tactic thwarted, Sanchez supporters turned to other strategies for disruption and delay. They said they have no qualms about lengthening the session, which Republican leaders hope to conclude by week’s end.

“We, as Democrats, are willing to stay here, if need be, until this is finished,” said Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). “There is nothing that says we have to adjourn this weekend. There is nothing that says we have to adjourn next week. We should do what’s right, not what’s calendar-convenient.”

Meanwhile, congressional discussion on the broader issue of voter fraud began Thursday with a hearing on several bills that would tighten registration procedures. One would allow federal election officials to cross-check all voters with Immigration and Naturalization Service databases, while others would require voters to present Social Security numbers or photo identification at the polls.

“We should not have noncitizens voting in American elections, and we do have noncitizens voting across the land,” said Rep. Steve Horn (R-Long Beach), one bill’s sponsor.

Rep. Vic Fazio (D-West Sacramento) said the bills bring “a fire hose to put out a birthday candle,” and worried they would discourage voter participation--”just the opposite of what we want.’

Elliot Zaret of States News Service contributed to this story.