House, Senate leaders agree on emergency spending

Ongoing discussions between Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., over the appropriations logjam in the Senate-and among Lott, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and their respective Appropriations chairmen over the fiscal 2000 emergency supplemental-appear to be yielding significant progress on both fronts.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., said Friday the House is now able to appoint conferees on the FY2001 Military Construction spending bill, which has become the vehicle for at least two of the three main components of the FY2000 supplemental.

The House passed a $12.7 billion spending package in March, which Lott complained was "bloated." He divided it into three pieces, putting the Kosovo peacekeeping money into the FY2001 Military Construction appropriations bill, the money to fight the Colombian drug trade in the Foreign Operations spending bill and the Hurricane Floyd disaster aid in the Agriculture appropriations bill. But only the Military Construction spending bill has cleared both chambers because Daschle has refused to allow the Senate to consider any appropriations bill not passed by the House.

Young said Hastert and Lott have tentatively agreed that the Military Construction conference report will also contain the FY2000 supplemental funding for Kosovo and disaster relief, and that the final package will carry a smaller price tag than the House supplemental.

Still outstanding is the Colombia aid package, of which several senators of both parties are extremely wary. Although Lott has not ruled out adding it to the Military Construction conference, doing so would mean that senators could not debate and amend the Colombia provisions, since they would come to a vote only in a conference report, which is not amendable.

As for the FY2001 bills, Daschle said Friday that Democrats still would prefer to consider House-passed spending bills, but would not block the other FY2001 bills, as long as Lott allows them votes on elements of their legislative agenda, judicial nominations and executive appointments.

Daschle said if the Senate can consider at least half of the 40 or so of President Clinton's nominations pending before the Judiciary Committee before the August recess, "I don't think there is any question that we can" finish work on all 13 annual spending bills before the recess.