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Bush appealing to Congress on 9/11 bill
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-04 11:00 President Bush will make a
final appeal to Congress to find a way to pass legislation before the end of the
year that would make the Sept. 11 commission's terror-fighting recommendations
law, White House officials said Friday.
Sen. Susan
Collins, R-Maine, chairman of the Senate Governmental
Affairs Committee, and the committee's ranking
Democratic member, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.,
discuss pending intelligence reform legislation during a news conference
on Capitol Hill Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004. Both senators said they expect
Congress to approve a compromise bill next week.
[AP] | Bush plans to send a letter to
congressional leaders outlining his wishes on stalled legislation to create a
national intelligence director position to coordinate the nation's spy agencies
and enact other anti-terror measures. The House and Senate return next week and
will take a last stab at getting a solution.
Congressional aides said the White House has told them the letter would not
be available on Friday.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., refused to bring a House-Senate
compromise up for a vote two weeks ago after two House chairmen, GOP Reps.
Duncan Hunter and James Sensenbrenner, opposed the solution.
Hunter, a Californian who heads the Armed Services Committee, said the
intelligence realignment could interfere with the military's chain of command.
Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner, of Wisconsin, said the bill also should deal
with illegal immigration.
Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., secretary of the House Republican conference,
said Friday he doesn't expect a vote on the bill unless Hunter is satisfied.
"Frankly the members of our Republican conference have tremendous confidence
in the integrity and the knowledge and the dedication of Duncan Hunter to the
armed forces, and if he is uncomfortable enough with that bill to the point of
opposing it, they're going to follow his lead," Doolittle said.
Bush's letter will "talk a little bit more about some of those remaining
issues that are being discussed as we move forward. And I think the president
will continue to talk about the importance of getting this done now," White
House spokesman Scott McClellan said Friday.
"Congress has made a lot of progress, and now is the time to get this
legislation passed. I think he will talk about the importance of preserving the
chain of command in department and agencies."
Bush telephoned Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., on
Thursday and told them he wants an intelligence bill completed.
At the White House on Friday, Bush told House and Senate members that "he's
working on it as hard as he can," said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. "We've talked to
other people who are working on it, progress is being made, and we hope that it
can be finished up (next) week."
Senate negotiators said Thursday they expect Bush to endorse the compromise
and pressure Hastert to bring it to a vote, despite Hunter and Sensenbrenner's
opposition.
The president's task may have been made easier Thursday when the nation's top
military officer said lawmakers had dealt adequately with a provision in the
bill that he had objected to publicly.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said his one
objection to the compromise bill was resolved. He asked last month that the bill
keep money for combat support agencies flowing through the Pentagon instead of
going through the proposed national intelligence director.
"The issue that I specifically addressed in a letter to Chairman Hunter has
been accommodated, I'm told, in the bill," Myers said. He still refused to
endorse the compromise.
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