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As year nears end, Congress still debating terrorism, torture

WASHINGTON - Terrorism, torture and modest tax cuts to help rebuild the Gulf Coast dot the agenda for Congress at the end of a year scarred by scandal. GOP leaders are working to salvage as much as possible from a conservative blueprint drafted in more favorable political times.

Long gone is an overhaul of Social Security, which flopped within weeks of President Bush's nationally televised summons to action last winter. An ambitious plan to pare $35-billion or more from the growth of food stamps, health care for the poor and other federal benefit programs may slip to next year in the face of Democratic opposition.

Legislation to open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling faces delay, if not death, at the hands of critics in both parties. "It is still a sticking point," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told reporters Tuesday.

There are others.

Rep. Roy Blunt, acting House majority leader, suggested GOP leadership felt no urgency to rush a year-end series of bills to Bush's desk.

He said lawmakers are at the midpoint of a two-year term, and said he would rather defer action on key measures such as the deficit-cutting bill if the alternative meant "we'd have to give up our negotiating position on a number of issues" when it comes to the Senate. "I think it's better to get that right than to get that quickly," he said.

Frist said his top pre-adjournment priorities include renewal of the Patriot Act, which he called a "very good, very strong bill." The measure was passed in 2001 to strengthen the hand of law enforcement agencies after the terrorist attacks. House passage of the extension seems likely Wednesday, but the measure faces a threatened filibuster by critics in the Senate.

Frist also said, "We will not leave here without a substantial . . . tax package" to help rebuild the Gulf Coast region ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. The House and Senate passed separate but similar packages with about $7-billion in tax incentives and tax-exempt bonds targeted to the region.

But a second bill to cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, is unlikely to clear this year.

On another issue, Frist expressed confidence that "at the end of the day we will come to an agreement" on a proposal by Arizona Sen. John McCain to ban torture by U.S. personnel of any detainees held in the war on terror. The Bush administration has long lobbied for an exemption for the CIA, and negotiations on a compromise have been proceeding fitfully.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 00:15:15]