Bigger changes loom as House panels review homeland security bill

Several House committees began making the first of several amendments to the Bush administration's homeland security proposal Wednesday-but more significant changes are expected to come Thursday from a trio of panels.

In a half-dozen separate markups Wednesday, panels ranging from the Armed Services Committee to the Ways and Means Committee tweaked the administration's plan to consolidate most homeland defense functions into the proposed Homeland Security Department. The most important change could come from the Judiciary panel, which was expected to ignore the advice of White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies.

Under a plan backed by House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the panel would place the enforcement functions of the INS in the new department, while leaving the immigration services in a separate agency. Most other panels are expected to approve the White House plan with limited changes, although the Ways and Means panel voted to keep some Customs Service functions with the Treasury Department.

More substantial changes will come Thursday in the Appropriations, Government Reform and Energy and Commerce panels. The Appropriations panel plans to reduce the ability of the Homeland Security secretary to transfer funds among the department's various programs and require congressional approval for any money transfers. The Bush administration, on the other hand, wants to allow the department head to transfer up to 5 percent of department's funds without congressional approval.

Meanwhile, the Government Reform Committee plans to give the proposed Homeland Security Department the ability to issue visas despite White House wishes to keep the visa office in the State Department. That could place the Government Reform panel at odds with action taken today by the International Relations and Judiciary committees. The Energy and Commerce Committee also is expected to make important changes to the plan, but committee aides have not yet decided how to proceed.

In other homeland security action in the House, the GOP's conservative wing formed an 11-member taskforce Wednesday to ensure that the proposed Homeland Security Department does not swell into a bloated bureaucracy. "All too often, Congress has used similar `overhauls' as an excuse to expand an already bloated federal bureaucracy and make unwarranted intrusions into the lives of citizens," said Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, chairman of the Republican Study Committee's taskforce.

"It is our hope that the Security First Taskforce will shed light on potential excesses and prevent them from being included in the legislation authorizing this new department." Other members of the group include GOP Reps. Ernest Istook of Oklahoma, Melissa Hart and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Bob Barr of Georgia, John Culberson of Texas, Van Hilleary of Tennessee, Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Jim Ryun of Kansas.