Washington in brief

Proposed Senate budget trims $114-billion off Bush plan

The Senate Budget Committee unveiled a 2005 tax-and-spending blueprint Wednesday that shaves $7-billion from President Bush's defense spending request, pares back domestic spending by $16-billion and orders billions of dollars of reductions in entitlement programs in moves designed to cut the federal deficit in half by 2007.

The blueprint, expected to pass the committee today, also would make room for more than $141-billion in additional tax cuts over the next five years. But it would provide procedural language to protect only some of the most popular provisions in last year's tax cut from a Democratic filibuster.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles, R-Okla., called it "a real, positive, transparent, defensible budget," but he acknowledged the difficult time he will have getting it approved when it reaches the full Senate next week.

The Senate committee's plan is the first concrete indication of how seriously Republicans are taking the soaring budget deficits in an election year. Bush vowed to cut the projected 2004 budget deficit by half in five years, but last week, the Congressional Budget Office said his budget fails to do so.

The Senate plan would go further than the White House approach, cutting the $477-billion deficit projected by the CBO to $224-billion by 2007 and $202-billion by 2009.

That would save the government $114-billion from the debt levels that Bush's budget would accumulate over that time.

The House passed legislation Wednesday giving the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks more time to finish its work.

Under the bill, approved by voice vote, the commission would receive an additional 60 days to issue its final report, or until July 26. The bipartisan panel also would have until Aug. 26 to declassify information for public release.

The Senate passed the same version of the bill Friday. It now goes to President Bush for his signature; Bush last month said he supported a two-month extension.

The commission was to finish its work on May 27, but members last month asked for a two-month extension, citing repeated delays because of disputes with the Bush administration over access to witnesses and documents.

The House voted Wednesday to raise patent fees, agreeing that the additional dollars were needed to save the overburdened Patent and Trademark Office and ensure that U.S. innovators are not stymied.

Without a strong office, said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, chief sponsor of the bill, "Our economy would be devastated, our quality of life would be diminished and jobs would be lost or never created."

The legislation raises most patent fees by about 15 percent. It also takes steps to end the practice of sending that money into the general Treasury fund instead of using it for patent and trademark processing.

The bill passed by a 379-28 vote. It now must be considered by the Senate.

The Senate began debating a corporate tax bill Wednesday that will give Democrats an opportunity to highlight job losses and stake out their opposition to President Bush's economic policies.

The House simultaneously started reworking its corporate tax cut, significantly reducing its cost to the U.S. Treasury, and made plans for debate later this month.

The two bills eliminate a tax break that was declared illegal in international trade courts. The United States missed Monday's deadline to remove the tax break or face penalties, and the European Union began imposing sanctions that could total $300-million in key sectors by the end of the year.

Both bills replace the $5-billion annual tax break currently enjoyed by American exporters with tax cuts for manufacturers and make adjustments to tax rules for American multinational corporations.

With changes under consideration by House tax writers, both bills also come close in covering the entire cost of new tax cuts.

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., worried about health problems and dogged by allegations of a kickback in his Colorado office, announced Wednesday he will not seek a third term in this fall's elections.

The decision by Campbell, the only American Indian in the Senate, gives Democrats a glimmer of hope that they can offset anticipated losses in the South with a win in Colorado and a couple of other non-Southern states.

In an announcement from Denver, Campbell indicated his decision - which came as a surprise in light of Campbell's recent campaign activities - was based on health concerns.

He underwent treatments for prostate cancer last year and went to a Washington hospital last week with chest pains that turned out to be heartburn. He went to the hospital again Tuesday night but returned to work Wednesday.

A three-member panel of U.S. military officers would annually review the case of each prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and recommend whether they could be freed, under a proposal announced by the Pentagon on Wednesday.

The reviews, announced by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in February, will determine whether prisoners, if released, would remain a threat to the United States, officials have said.

Officials have described the panel as a kind of parole board for the terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo naval base.

The prisoner's home country and family could take part in the review, providing information that either would help free the detainee, or keep him imprisoned, a public draft of the review policy says. The prisoner would be allowed to defend himself.

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