GOP rejects Democrats’ intelligence reform bill

WASHINGTON – House Republicans late Thursday easily defeated an effort by Democrats to pass an intelligence reform bill modeled on one adopted by the Senate, setting the stage for a showdown between the two chambers over their competing legislation.

The spirit of bipartisanship that animated the Senate’s eight-day debate over a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s Cold War-era intelligence structure evaporated as soon as the House debate began Thursday.

Although the White House, in a policy statement, criticized the House bill for failing to give the new national intelligence director enough authority, Republicans insisted that their legislation would make the nation safer. The Republican leadership predicted its bill will pass easily today on what is supposed to be the last day of the session.

“It’s not a good feeling on the House floor,” said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., who had joined Democrats in crafting the substitute the Democrats proposed to the Republican leadership’s bill. The substitute was defeated by a voice vote.

Acknowledging that Democrats face a political dilemma as they ponder whether to vote against a security-related bill so close to the Nov. 2 election, Sen. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that although she intended to vote against it because “I think the bill is wrong,” she is “not encouraging others” to follow her example.

If the bill authored by the House Republican leadership passes, the House still must reconcile it with the bill passed in the Senate with a bipartisan 96-2 vote on Wednesday.

Both the Senate and the House bills would consolidate the spy agencies under a national intelligence director, and both would create a national counter-terrorism center. But the House bill would give the director less authority over budgets and personnel, and it would give the counter-terrorism center no role in setting intelligence operations or budgets.

In its statement on the bill, the White House said the House measure failed to give the new national intelligence director “sufficient authorities to manage the intelligence community effectively.”

The White House also said it “strongly opposes” a provision that would allow the government to deport illegal immigrants to nations that engage in torture.

“The administration looks forward to working with the House and Senate in conference as they resolve their differences,” the administration statement said.

The White House had earlier endorsed the Senate version of intelligence reform, with reservations. The leadership of both chambers said the White House has pressured them to have a bill ready for Bush to sign before the election.

The leaders of the House and Senate have said they will call Congress back in session for a day if a compromise is reached, to vote final passage.

At a news conference Thursday, family members of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks pleaded with Congress to produce a bill that the president would sign.

Members of the Family Steering Committee, which says it represents thousands of family members, have spent weeks lobbying members of Congress to adopt the recommendations of the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission.