WASHINGTON -- A decision by Senate leaders to delay a multibillion-dollar bill for Hurricane Floyd and U.S. efforts in Colombia and Kosovo could end up boosting the bill's ultimate cost, a Senate committee chairman says.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and other leaders decided to indefinitely postpone Tuesday's scheduled votes on the measure by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The panel's chairman, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, revealed the delay Monday after meeting with Lott and other leaders.Stevens had planned to present his committee with a bill costing at least $6.5 billion, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. In an interview, Stevens said he expected the price tag to grow to at least $9 billion and perhaps $12 billion eventually, with potential additions for agriculture and other items.
"It will continue to grow, in my opinion," as lawmakers and federal agencies make new requests, Stevens said.
Meanwhile, the top U.S. military commander for Latin America said Tuesday the money to help Colombia fight drug traffickers is crucial, and any delay could make it that much harder to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
Marine Gen. Charles Wilhelm, commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee the House-passed spending measure, which designates $1.6 billion for drug interdiction in Colombia, is important for "a region of rapidly growing strategic importance to the United States."
Wilhelm joined Defense and State Department witnesses in urging the Senate not to delay further the anti-drug money, despite Lott's decision.
Lott says the measure is too expensive and would slow the Senate's work on other legislation. He wants parts of it added to fiscal 2001 spending legislation, which could begin moving through Congress in several weeks and has to be approved anyway. Fiscal 2001 begins Oct. 1.
Last week, the House easily approved a $13 billion version of the bill, which is for fiscal 2000, which runs through Sept. 30. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and other House leaders support the legislation.
Stevens' bill includes:
$1.5 billion for helping Colombia and other Andean countries battle drug traffickers and their left-wing rebel protectors, $200 million less than the House.
$4.2 billion for defense, including $1.9 billion for peacekeepers in Kosovo. The House approved $2 billion for Kosovo and $9 billion overall for the military.
$1 billion for Hurricane Floyd, which battered the East Coast last fall, and other disasters, half what the House approved.
Nearly $200 million in savings. The rest of the measure would be paid for from the budget surplus.
President Clinton requested $5.5 billion.