Compromise clears way for intelligence overhaul vote

The House is poised to vote Tuesday on an overhaul of the nation's intelligence apparatus, with the Senate likely to follow suit Wednesday. House and Senate negotiators reached agreement Monday on the most sweeping changes to U.S. intelligence agencies in decades, following several phone calls involving President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

House Republican leaders planned to discuss the measure with members at a morning conference meeting, then draft a rule for a floor vote Tuesday afternoon.

To help bolster support for the bill, which largely incorporates recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, Bush wrote Monday night to House and Senate leaders and conferees, urging lawmakers to act this week.

"An overarching principle for these needed reforms has been to create a strong director of national intelligence with full budget authority while preserving the chain of command within departments and agencies," Bush wrote. "We are very close to a significant achievement that will better protect our country for generations to come, and now is the time to finish the job for the good of our national security."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's spokesman said it appeared the House would vote Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. But House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., leader of the House-Senate conference committee that produced the compromise bill, said Monday night that certain sticking points were still to be resolved.

"We got a couple of things we're still working on," he said.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said "legitimate" objections by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., were being ironed out.

House sources said Sensenbrenner is holding out for White House promises to support certain immigration provisions -- especially language barring states from issuing drivers licenses to illegal aliens -- in legislation next year. Bush signaled his support for future action in his letter Monday night.

"I look forward to working with the Congress early in the next session to address these other issues, including improving our asylum laws and standards for issuing driver's licenses," Bush wrote.

Sensenbrenner could not be reached for comment Monday evening. Before Bush's letter was released, the Wisconsin Republican issued a statement saying he did not support the bill and would continue to work toward immigration changes: "I said two weeks ago that the Senate was hell-bent on ensuring that illegal aliens can receive drivers' licenses, regardless of the security concerns. This Sept. 10 mentality in a post-Sept. 11 world is unwise and among those I intend to rectify next year."

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., expressed confidence that continuing talks with Sensenbrenner would not hold up a vote.

The House could have passed the conference agreement before the Thanksgiving break, but House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., under pressure from the GOP caucus, decided against passing the legislation with more Democratic votes than Republicans.

Under a deal brokered over the last several days, the White House was able to pacify House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., with language drafted by Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Governmental Affairs ranking member Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., specifying a national intelligence director "shall respect, and not abrogate, statutory responsibilities of the heads of the departments."

At a news conference Monday afternoon, Hunter said the change satisfied his earlier demands that the bill ensure that the Pentagon is able to direct satellites and other intelligence assets for military operations. Hunter, joined by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., praised the White House for brokering the compromise.

"There would be no bill without this president," said Warner, adding that Cheney was a "very major figure" in the negotiations because of his experience as a former Defense secretary.

Hunter, who said he still believes the legislation should address Sensenbrenner's concerns, said he would nonetheless vote for the bill. "My obligation was to the defense sector," he said.

House Intelligence ranking member Jane Harman, D-Calif., one of the "Big Four" negotiators, said provisions in the compromise bill "legitimately address" Sensenbrenner's concerns.

The bill includes includes 40,000 more detention beds for suspected terrorists and illegal immigrants, 8,000 more border agents and 4,000 more border investigators, as well as language requiring national standards on tamper-proof drivers' licenses.