Bankruptcy Bill Bottleneck and a few rounds of Pingpong

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Bankruptcy Bill Bottleneck

03/26/2001 - Updated 09:18 PM ET Bankruptcy bottleneck threatens other legislation

By Kathy Kiely and William M. Welch, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — A dispute between leaders of the evenly divided Senate is blocking enactment of bankruptcy legislation and threatens to bottle up other items on President Bush's wish list.

Bush is eager to sign the bankruptcy bill, which would make it harder for consumers to escape their debts by declaring bankruptcy. It cleared both the House and Senate this month by large margins. But its arrival on Bush's desk has been stalled because Senate leaders Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Tom Daschle, D-S.D., are at odds over the makeup of a conference committee that has to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

The impasse offers the first evidence that a Senate with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats will be a major obstacle to Bush's agenda, which includes proposals on education, energy and aid to social programs run by religious groups.

"It's going to really slow things up around here," says Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the deputy Democratic leader.

Under a historic power-sharing deal, each party gets an equal number of seats on Senate committees. But the agreement doesn't address Senate appointees to conference committees. Such committees are appointed to work out differences between similar but separate legislation passed by the House and Senate. Republicans want a one-vote majority to reflect Vice President Cheney's tie-breaking vote, but Democrats insist on equal representation based on the chamber's split. "I certainly wouldn't stand for anything other than 50-50. We Democrats must hang in there," Reid says.

If the impasse continues, GOP leaders might have to play a time-consuming game of congressional pingpong to pass the bankruptcy bill: The House would amend the Senate bill and send it back for another vote. But that risks reigniting battles over the most controversial elements.

The Senate version would let debtors shelter more assets from creditors. It also would prohibit anti-abortion activists from escaping legal fines by declaring bankruptcy. House Republicans are determined to strip both provisions from a final bill. That could give senators a reason to vote against the bill and threaten passage.

The end result: Sidestepping a conference committee means that it could take months of dealmaking before a bill arrives on Bush's desk. That's an ominous sign for more controversial bills yet to come. Virtually every major bill passed by Congress goes to a conference committee.

"Congress won't be able to function if there's not a majority party to vote out a final version of legislation," says Jill Kozeny, spokeswoman for Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Bush's budget and tax-cut proposals might circumvent the roadblock. Republicans can use special Senate rules to control budget and tax conference panels.

Republicans acknowledge that the stalemate over other conferences provides a back-door way for Democrats to block legislation. Says House Speaker Dennis Hastert's spokesman, John Feehery, "We could be in for a lot of pingpong."

-- (let the g@mes. begin), March 27, 2001


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