Anti-Terrorism Funding Measure Gains in House

The House on Wednesday cleared the way for approval of an additional $29 billion for President Bush’s anti-terrorism efforts and the military operation in Afghanistan, the latest example of Congress’ willingness to open its wallet to respond to the Sept. 11 attacks.

The emergency spending bill cleared its biggest hurdle when Republican leaders thwarted an insurrection over provisions they added to it that have nothing to do with combating terrorism.

These included trade concessions to the textile industry and Medicare payment hikes for a handful of hospitals.

A final vote on the measure was expected today.

There was little dispute about the core provisions of the bill to hike defense and homeland security spending. Indeed, it provided almost $2 billion more than Bush requested. There was also wide support for provisions to give $200 million in additional aid to Israel and $50 million to the Palestinians.

But GOP leaders had to scramble for enough votes to keep the bill on track because their party was divided over the broad question of how to constrain spending at a time when money seems to be no object.

The dispute pitted fiscal conservatives, who inserted in the measure a government-wide cap on spending, against powerful GOP members of the Appropriations Committee, who threatened to vote to block the bill from coming to the floor because the cap would undercut their power.

But after hours of arm-twisting, GOP leaders brought Appropriations Committee members into line and won the vote to bring up the bill, 216 to 209.

The bill was expected to win final passage by a wider margin.

Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $31-billion version of the bill that also would inject Congress more deeply into oversight of homeland security policy.

The measure includes provisions that would require Bush’s director of homeland security, Tom Ridge, to be confirmed by the Senate. The job was created by Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks without the confirmation requirement.

The House version of the appropriations bill includes about $16 billion for the Pentagon and $5.8 billion for increased security efforts in such areas as transportation, the Coast Guard and law enforcement.

Bush’s Office of Management and Budget balked at an earlier, more expensive House bill.

But after the House Appropriations Committee scaled back some of its proposed add-ons and offset others with spending cuts, OMB officials endorsed the measure. But they said they would vigorously oppose the Senate effort to increase its total.

The House bill still aggravated some of the House’s fiscal conservatives, who feared it would set a bad precedent for the raft of spending bills for the next budget year to go beyond the president’s request.

Conservatives are particularly concerned about the potential for significantly increased spending because Congress is not expected to adopt a budget resolution for the 2003 fiscal year--the blueprint that usually sets limits to annual appropriations.

To appease those concerns, GOP leaders added a provision to the current bill that would set an overall spending ceiling of $749 billion, in lieu of a budget resolution.

That prompted the protest by the Appropriations Committee members, who viewed the cap as too low.

Committee members also objected to last-minute decisions by the leadership to insert special-interest provisions into the bill; the panel had tried to keep such projects out of it.

Among these additions was a provision GOP leaders had promised to textile-state Republicans in order to win their votes last December on legislation to expand the president’s trade-negotiating powers.

The provision would require that apparel made in Caribbean Basin countries include fabric dyed or finished in the United States to qualify for quota-free treatment.

The provision was sought by Rep. James DeMint (R-S.C.), who is facing a tough reelection fight.

GOP leaders also added a provision that would boost Medicare payments to three specified regions, all represented by Republicans in the House.

The last-minute change that most angered Democrats was a non-binding provision promising that Congress would raise the statutory limit on federal borrowing.

The Bush administration has asked Congress to raise the debt limit, but Republican leaders say they don’t have the votes to enact such politically sensitive legislation.

To sidestep a direct vote on the issue, congressional leaders plan to slip a debt-ceiling increase into the spending bill when a House-Senate conference committee agrees on its final version.

The non-binding language approved by the House lays the groundwork for that maneuver.

Democats say GOP leaders are shirking their fiscal responsibilities in order to protect their rank-and-file from the politically perilous vote to increase government debt.

“They are attempting to shield their weak-kneed members from having to vote to put us deep in debt,” said Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas).

Republicans emphasized that the bill was a “wartime” spending measure that is needed more than ever, in light of recent terrorism alerts.

“The alerts and warnings we receive are a constant reminder that the war on terrorism is far from over,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).

In related action to combat terrorism, the House earlier Wednesday approved a bill that would authorize additional funding for the U.S. Customs Service to improve computer systems and other special equipment aimed at intercepting terrorists and illegal drugs at the nation’s borders and seaports.