LAWMAKERS EYE 'EMERGENCY' BILL AS A VEHICLE FOR PET PROJECTS

Now that the House and the Senate have given their blessing to a plan to
expand the war against drugs in Colombia, lawmakers are trying to load up
the "emergency" package with billions of dollars' worth of routine projects
and special-interest provisions that have so far been stymied in this
session of Congress.

Influential senators are demanding more money to assist peanut growers and
dairy and livestock producers, build rural housing, purchase airplanes for
the Coast Guard, and finance construction of a Customs Service facility and
a dam in West Virginia. Meanwhile, House defense hawks are clamoring for $4
billion more in Pentagon spending than the Senate and the Clinton
administration believe is necessary.

Hoping to contain the bidding war, House and Senate Republican leaders
agreed yesterday to limit the overall package to $12 billion, including
$1.3 billion to combat drug traffickers in Latin America.

The overall spending plan is roughly the same amount the House approved in
late March but goes considerably beyond what Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott (R-Miss.) wanted. Lott has blocked action on the measure for nearly
three months, charging that it is "bloated" and insisting on $4 billion
less in spending.

But yesterday Lott said he had little choice but to accept the higher level
because of pressure in the House and the Senate for more money to fight the
Colombian drug trade and to repair Los Alamos National Laboratory, which
suffered extensive damage from a recent New Mexico forest fire.

"Twelve billion dollars is better than $13 billion, and it's worlds better
than $20 billion to $22 billion," said John Czwartacki, Lott's press
secretary. "It's not all signed, sealed and delivered yet, but in the end
we hope to save the taxpayers a boatload of money."

Even with yesterday's agreement between Lott and House Speaker J. Dennis
Hastert (R-Ill.), GOP leaders will face a challenge next week in fashioning
the bill's final version. By postponing action for months, Lott has
inadvertently given lawmakers more time to make the case for beefing up the
emergency measure with more projects.

With Congress gridlocked over a variety of legislative initiatives,
lawmakers see the emergency package as a vehicle to advance other causes.
For example, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is trying to give his alma mater,
Columbia University, a $100 million-a-year gift by attaching an amendment
giving the school a five-year extension on a key patent used in making
several popular drugs. Lobbyists hope to use the bill to extend patent
protection for the popular allergy drug Claritin, which would mean huge
sums for Schering-Plough, the manufacturer.

"The longer you wait, the more people want to throw things into the
package," said Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).

Even if lawmakers live within the limits prescribed by Lott and Hastert,
the emergency package will still be more than double the amount President
Clinton requested. The president asked for $5.4 billion to replenish funds
used to deploy U.S. troops in Kosovo, to aid Colombia and to assist
disaster victims.

Scott Lilly, the Democratic staff director for the House Appropriations
Committee, predicted this week that with all the pent-up demand, "this is
going to be the biggest, nastiest, porkiest bill in a while."

While yesterday's Republican agreement set the parameters for emergency
spending, House and Senate negotiators will have to work out most of the
details early next week. Final action is set before the Fourth of July recess.

The Senate yesterday gave final approval to a foreign aid bill that would
provide nearly $1 billion to help Colombia equip and train security forces
to combat drug traffickers. But at Hastert's insistence, Lott agreed to the
$1.3 billion the House favored.

But big differences remain over defense and agriculture spending and other
issues. The whole package will eventually be attached to a routine bill
funding military construction projects. That bill is in conference.

With the budget surplus continuing to mount, defense hawks in the House are
pressing for $3 billion to $4 billion more this year to cover military fuel
costs and unpaid Defense Department medical bills. That is on top of $4
billion in defense spending for fiscal 2001 that the two sides agreed to
earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the Appropriations
agriculture subcommittee, is demanding $1.1 billion more for dairy and
livestock assistance, rural development and housing, and a program for
peanut growers. Only this week, Clinton signed a $15.3 billion crop
insurance bill providing a large emergency bailout for farmers. Cochran has
argued that while helpful to growers, that legislation will do little for
livestock producers.

When last month's New Mexico wildfire damaged the Los Alamos facility,
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) insisted on
increasing the administration's request for repairs and construction from
$288 million to $448 million.

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) added $25 million for a training facility for
the Customs Service at Harpers Ferry, $11 million to help complete
construction of a dam in West Virginia and $9.8 million to help his state
meet federal surface mining regulations.