Senator looks to clear spending deck before healthcare debate starts

Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, hopes to get as many spending bills as possible through the chamber before the healthcare reform package hits the Senate floor.

"What we are trying to do is get everything out as soon as possible," Inouye said on Wednesday. "I don't think health care will come up for another week."

Senate Democratic leaders are combining the health bill approved this week by the Senate Finance Committee with another version of the legislation approved this summer by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The merged bill could be ready for floor debate later this month. The debate is expected to be lengthy and will make it difficult for the Senate to continue work on appropriations.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said on Wednesday Senate Democratic leaders are deciding how to move the appropriations process forward once the health bill comes to the floor.

"It depends on what we do, whether it's a [continuing resolution] and we come back with regular appropriations bills or it's an omnibus bill, [it's] still undecided."

Inouye said he hopes to work on the bills one at a time, as opposed to packaging them in an omnibus.

But he believes that effort was hurt on Tuesday when Republicans voted against ending debate on the $64.9 billion, fiscal 2010 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill, which will cause the Senate to take more time to finish work on it.

Typically, a few Republicans vote with Democrats to move the appropriations process along, but none did in this instance.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said "the reason that happened is because at the last minute [Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,] decided not to allow a reasonable number of Republican amendments, I think seven was the number."

One amendment was particularly controversial, according to a GOP leadership aide, who said the dispute was primarily over a proposal by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., to prevent funding of the 2010 Census unless census workers are required to inquire if those they question are U.S. citizens. A spokeswoman for Reid, however, said Republicans were using the amendment dispute "as a stalling tactic."

Durbin said he was surprised Republicans did not vote to move the bill.

"We are talking about a key appropriations bill for law enforcement across America; we couldn't get a single Republican to join us," he said.

So far, Congress has sent President Obama two of the 12 annual spending bills, including the fiscal 2010 Agriculture bill, which provides $23.3 billion in discretionary spending. Congress has also sent Obama the $4.6 billion, fiscal 2010 Legislative Branch measure. That bill included a continuing resolution to fund the government through October.

The Senate is close to clearing the final version of the $33.5 billion, fiscal 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The House passed the bill on Oct. 1, and a vote in the Senate would send the bill to Obama.

The House is expected to take up the final version of the fiscal 2010 Homeland Security bill this week, which would set up possible Senate action next week, according to House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Harold Rogers, R-Ky. The Rules Committee on Wednesday approved the rule for the conference report, allowing one hour of debate and one motion to recommit.

Rogers would not say if Republicans will offer a motion to recommit. Earlier this month, the House approved, 258-163, a nonbinding GOP motion to instruct conferees to include language to prohibit the transfer of prisoners from the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States.

Meanwhile, House and Senate negotiators are reconciling differences between their versions of the fiscal 2010 Defense bill, the fiscal 2010 Transportation-HUD bill, and the fiscal 2010 Interior-Environment bill.

Negotiators could meet next week to finalize a compromise Interior-Environment bill, according to House Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.

Simpson said conferees are working on settling on the funding level in the bill. The Senate late last month approved a $32.1 billion, fiscal 2010 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, while the House in June approved a $32.3 billion measure.

Chris Strohm contributed to this report.