Signals Dems will block spending bill add-ons frustrate GOP

The $463.5 billion fiscal 2007 spending bill set to reach the Senate floor contains a provision that would cancel funding for a new program authored by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to detect and treat HIV/AIDS in newborn babies.

Coburn views the move as retribution by appropriators for his militant stance on spending, as well as for his criticism of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which would administer the program, his spokesman said.

"Slashing funding for baby AIDS formula grants and putting thousands of babies needlessly at risk of HIV infection is a perverse way to exact political retribution," he said.

That provision and others have been bubbling up in recent days, leading Democratic leaders to consider procedural tactics to cut off amendments.

Coburn on Wednesday formally expressed his intent to place a "hold" on the bill in a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "Senators should not be denied the opportunity to debate and amend such a far-reaching bill that funds nearly all aspects of the federal government's domestic and foreign aid programs," Coburn wrote.

He and others are frustrated by indications that Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., will move to block amendments. A Senate GOP aide questioned why Reid would file cloture on the motion to proceed to the bill, suggesting it was a "move to squeeze us up against a government shutdown." The current continuing resolution expires Feb. 15.

Created as part of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS treatment law signed by President Bush last December, the Coburn-sponsored program sets aside $30 million annually for early diagnosis grants to states to provide testing, prevention, counseling and treatment of HIV/AIDS in newborns and mothers.

When Democrats took control of Congress and cobbled together a long-term funding resolution to cover the nine unfinished fiscal 2007 spending bills, they included language overriding the earmarked funds for the program.

To qualify for funds, states must have policies in effect that provide voluntary HIV testing of pregnant women, of clients at sexually transmitted disease clinics and substance abuse centers, and universal HIV testing of newborns. Democrats said few states would be eligible for the $30 million dedicated to the program.

Coburn's staff, in a memo, questioned whether CDC would actually use the money for HIV/AIDS testing and prevention if his language is overridden.

"The $30 million will instead revert to other CDC HIV/AIDS prevention activities, which in recent years have included beachside conferences, flirting classes, erotic writing seminars, zoo trips and other dubious initiatives that do not have the same impact as HIV diagnosis and treatment," the memo states.