Lawmakers reach compromise on homeland security

Republican leaders have crafted a compromise amendment to break the stalemate on legislation to create a Homeland Security Department, a move that clears the way for Senate approval as early as this week.

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., negotiated a deal Tuesday afternoon with Sens. John Breaux, D-La., and Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., on personnel rules for the new 170,000-person department. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., also signed on to the compromise.

If the deal sticks, President Bush and congressional Republicans would finally have the votes they need to prevail in the fight over the employment rules and enact the legislation after months of partisan delay.

The White House indicated earlier Tuesday that negotiators were heading toward a deal that Bush could support. But, noting that an agreement was not yet nailed down, White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan Tuesday declined to explicitly endorse the emerging compromise, although he raised no objections and noted that the White House is pleased with the progress.

In a speech Tuesday, Bush repeated his call for the Senate to approve the legislation soon. To reinforce that point, Bush has invited Lott, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., to the White House Wednesday morning to discuss the bill and other lame-duck priorities. Bush plans to meet with Sen. Dean Barkley, I-Minn., Wednesday afternoon for a "get to know you" session that is certain to include discussion of the homeland security bill.

Senate leaders said a final vote on the bill could be held as early as this week. The support of Breaux and Chafee would give Republicans a slim majority on the issue. Before the election, Democrats held a one-vote majority on the employment rules-forcing Republicans to block a vote for months.

Sources say the agreement closely tracks a compromise proposed before the election by Sens. Zell Miller, D-Ga., and Phil Gramm, R-Texas. However, it would add language to permit aggrieved employees to appeal to a mediator and it would make it slightly more difficult for the president to waive collective bargaining rights for department employees. Labor unions and most Democrats are expected to oppose the deal.

"It's cheap window dressing on a bad House-passed bill," said Beth Moten of the American Federation of Government Employees. Added Maureen Gilman of the National Treasury Employees Union, "It looks like the employees would have less civil service protections than any other employees in the federal government."

Daschle has not seen the compromise, according to a spokeswoman. However, she said Democrats plan to bring the homeland security legislation to the Senate floor Wednesday and hope to approve it as early as this week, adding, "It's the first order of business."

A spokesman for Gramm said a final vote on the bill would be this week.