War supplemental faces lengthy debate

Senate Republican leaders face a potential minefield on the floor when the chamber takes up an fiscal 2005 emergency war supplemental bill, most likely in early April.

Senators from both parties are gearing up to add hundreds of millions of dollars in food aid for developing countries, assistance with Haitian elections, and as much as $2 billion in healthcare benefits for veterans and reservists.

At the same time, conservatives led by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., want to remove emergency designations for up to $5.6 billion of President Bush's $81.9 billion request dealing with foreign assistance they say is not immediately needed.

The Senate also could bog down by proposals to loosen immigration requirements.

Supporters of those proposals see an opportunity because the supplemental probably will pass the House carrying with it House Judiciary James Chairman Sensenbrenner's, R-Wis., bill to tighten drivers' license requirements and asylum standards.

A flurry of bipartisan immigration bills have been introduced recently in the Senate aimed at loosening visa requirements for groups ranging from temporary agricultural workers to seasonal employees in various industries. Those Senate proposals also could prompt conservative objections. Adding immigration-related provisions to the war supplemental has precedent. In the fiscal 2005 Defense appropriations bill, then-Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, added a provision lifting the visa waiver cap for seasonal Japanese salmon roe processors -- but not for other affected seasonal workers, such as Carolina shrimpers and New England ski resort employees.

Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Rick Santorum, R-Pa., are pushing legislation to allow Polish tourists to enter the country without visas, a proposal that could gain momentum as Bush seeks supplemental funds to reward allies, including Poland, in the war on terror with an unspecified $400 million.

Such obstacles could interrupt plans by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., to speed the legislation to the president's desk. Pentagon officials have told lawmakers that $25 billion in fiscal 2005 "bridge" funding will last the Army through March, meaning the Defense Department likely will have to rely on transfer authority to move funds within agency accounts to make up for any shortfall.

With a packed Senate schedule in March that includes bankruptcy legislation and the fiscal 2006 budget resolution, there is no room for extended floor debate on the supplemental until after the Easter recess, when the House will have passed its version. Cochran plans to mark up the legislation either April 5 or April 6, with floor action soon thereafter. But Coburn and other Republicans plan to scrutinize the measure Cochran produces and possibly demand offsets for the international aid spending.

"The core issue is the integrity of the budget process. You can't call something that is non-emergency spending an emergency," a Coburn spokesman said.

The Senate has breathing room to consider the fiscal 2005 supplemental, since the House is setting a brisk pace in traditional appropriations fashion. House Republicans already have made their concerns known about international aid the administration requested, and House Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., has said he was receptive to "scrubbing" the request for unnecessary emergency items.

The House panel will mark up its version the week of March 7, with floor action expected the following week before the Easter recess, sending the matter to the Senate for consideration in early April.

House members on both sides of the aisle continue to raise questions about provisions such as $200 million for the Palestinian authority.

"I would certainly like to understand why it is this is an emergency we need to fund immediately," House Chief Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said in an interview this week. "Is [new Palestinian leader Mahmoud] Abbas going to be held to certain benchmarks? I want to work with the president and the appropriators to make sure the money is project-based, not just walking-around money for the Palestinians."

Details of the $200 million request for the West Bank and Gaza are provided in backup documents provided to staff and lawmakers. While the documents do not say why the funds are an emergency, Secretary of State Rice and other officials have said the supplemental provides an unanticipated "opportunity" for such spending. The documents describe $60 million for "economic revitalization post-disengagement," including trade promotion and school and community center construction.

Another $90 million would be earmarked for developing infrastructure for a Palestinian state, including pipelines for clean drinking water, training of judges, vocational training, social services for the poor and equipping and training Palestinian security forces. The remaining $50 million would go toward "building bridges" to "help improve the flow of people and goods between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza," which would include funds for high-tech scanners and other expensive machinery.

Other items cited for scrutiny include $780 million for contributions to five United Nations peacekeeping missions, $658 million for embassy construction in Baghdad, and even portions of the $950 million tsunami aid package other than for reimbursing the U.S. military for costs incurred. Conservatives want the tsunami funds offset, while members of the Florida delegation are drafting an amendment to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency to speed up reimbursements for debris removal related to last year's hurricanes.

Congress enacted a $14.5 billion fiscal 2004 hurricane relief bill last year, and Floridians are angered that local governments have had to pick up some of the tab while the administration is asking for funds to aid Indonesia and other Indian Ocean countries.

"We're giving a large chunk to a country that kicked us out," Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., said last week. FEMA "needs to get off their wallet," he added.