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Washington in brief

Senate votes to keep Canadian cattle out of U.S.

By wire services
Published March 4, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Thursday to overturn the Bush administration's decision to allow Canadian cattle into the country nearly two years after they were banned because of mad cow disease.

The White House said President Bush would veto the measure if it ever reached his desk, saying refusing to accept Canadian beef would damage efforts to persuade other countries to buy U.S. beef.

Supporters fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. The Senate's 52-46 vote was to reject the Agriculture Department's decision to resume imports of Canadian cows under 30 months of age beginning next week. A similar measure has been introduced in the House.

"They've got mad cow disease," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. "Now the question is, should we run the risk of opening our border to livestock imports from Canada, when the evidence demonstrates clearly they're not enforcing their regulations to reduce the risk to them and to us?"

Agriculture officials had planned to reopen the border next Monday. However, a federal judge on Wednesday granted an injunction sought by Western ranchers seeking to keep the ban in place.

WASHINGTON - Democratic and Republican House members found common ground Thursday in decrying the state of security on the nation's borders and criticizing President Bush's proposed spending for immigration enforcement.

Lawmakers shared concerns that terrorists may hide among thousands of illegal immigrants and said the Border Patrol doesn't have the people or equipment to weed them out.

The lawmakers also said they were disappointed with Bush's spending plan for 2006, which would provide $37-million to hire 210 Border Patrol agents. The intelligence reorganization bill Bush signed last year called for hiring 2,000 more agents a year over five years.

As of January, the number of agents had dropped to 10,700, but the goal is to have 11,200 agents by the end of this fiscal year.

WASHINGTON - The Army signed up 27 percent fewer recruits in February than it had expected, putting it behind schedule for reaching its full-year recruiting goal, officials said Thursday.

The Army had 1,936 fewer recruits than its February target of 7,050. It was the first time it had fallen short of a monthly target since May 2000 and is another sign that attracting young men and women has become more difficult.

[Last modified March 4, 2005, 00:31:15]