I RECEIVED THIS UPDATE FROM JOHN ISAACS ON THE SENATE DEBATE.

ISAACS FEELS THAT ANY VOTE AGAINST THE APPROPRIATION ON THE HOUSE OR SENATE SIDE IS "POLITICAL SUICIDE" AND THAT THE ONLY POLITICALLY VIABLE QUESTION IS GETTING THE US OUT AND THE UN IN THE "RECONSTRUCTION" OF IRAQ AFTERWARDS.

I DISAGREE AND FEEL THAT PHONE CALLS TO BOXER AND FEINSTEIN --AND LOCALLY TO FARR-- DEMANDING A NO ON THE WAR FUNDING, WITHDRAWING THE TROOPS, CEASEFIRE, AND ENDING THE BOMBING IS THE OBVIOUS AND BEST THING TO DO.

ADDITIONALLY ISAACS CLAIMS THAT "NO MAJOR" PEACE ORGANIZATIONS ARE PRESSING CONGRESS TO DEMAND AN END TO THE WAR NOW AND A WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS.

KUCINICH, HOWEVER, HAS CALLED FOR THAT--ELOQUENTLY. THE SENATE DEBATE IS STILL GOING ON AS OF 9 AM PST.

ROBERT NORSE

P.S. I APOLOGIZE FOR POSTING THIS WASHINGTON DEBATE ON THE LOCAL WEBSITE, BUT I THINK IT'S OF SUFFICIENT INTEREST IN PROPOSED PROTESTS AGAINST FARR THAT IT MERITS GOING HERE.

April 3: 11:30 AM EST

S.762, Senate version of war supplemental appropriations

The Senate began floor consideration of the bill on April 2, and continues work today.

==========================
Amendments already considered
==========================
Adopted unanimously Durbin-Stevens amendment to raise monthly combat pay from $150 to $225, and to raise the monthly Family Separation Allowance from $100 to $250

Rejected 47 - 52 Hollings amendment to add $1 billion for port security enhancements
Rejected 47 - 52 Landrieu amendment to add about $1 billion for National
Guard and Reserve programs.
==================================
Amendments pending or that may be offered
==================================
Stevens amendment to increase the $6.4 trillion debt ceiling by an open-ended amount (already offered).

Boxer amendment to provide $30 million for research, development and initial deployment of a system to help civilian airlines to ward off missile attacks (already offered).

Bayh amendment to provide $340 million to help state and local public health officials with the cost of administering smallpox vaccines (already offered).

Brownback amendment to earmark $7 million to help set up Iraqi opposition broadcasting stations

McCain amendment to strip out all spending not directly related to war in Iraq

Leahy amendment to reverse Bush Administration actions loosening regulations on organic meats.

Harkin amendment to restore funding for the Conservation Security Program.

Inhofe or Warner amendment to exempt the military for some environment laws.

Byrd amendment to tighten congressional control over the $11 the Appropriations Committee approved for the Defense Emergency Response Fund.

Schumer, Clinton & Mikulski amendment to provide additional funds for first responders (firefighters, police, medical personnel), bringing the total in the supplemental to $4.3 billion (the Administration requested $2 billion for first responders), including $3 billion in state and local grants and $1 billion for high-threat areas.

Breaux amendment to provide $2.9 billion for border and transportation security, including $200 million for the Coast Guard, $35 million for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, $200 million for radiation detection equipment, $235 million for airport explosion detection systems, $300 million for mass transit security, $55 million for commercial airline missile defense, $150 million for interoperable communications for first responders, $225 million for terrorism prevention at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and funding to reimburse Department of Homeland Security expenses incurred as a result of Code Orange.

Reid amendment to provide $400 million for nuclear security, including $300 million to track and account for fissile nuclear material overseas, and $100 million to enhance security at federal nuclear facilities in the United States.

Corzine & Edwards amendment to ensure that all high priority chemical facilities take steps to protect their workers and the surrounding communities from attack. The amendment requires minimum standards for the improvement of security and the reduction of potential hazards at chemical plants and other industrial facilities that store large quantities of hazardous materials

Graham & Kerry amendment to provide $375 million to the Veterans' Administration Medical Care Account for the purposes of caring for returning service members who are separated or released from the military.

=======================================
Summary of Senate Appropriations Committee bill
=======================================
The Senate Appropriations Committee completed its version of the fiscal year 2003 Supplemental Appropriations Bill on Tuesday, April 1, The committee reported the bill by a vote of 29 - 0.

The bill adds $4.2 billion to the Administration's request for $74.7 billion, for a new total of $78.9 billion.

The bill fully funds the $62.4 billion requested for the war in Iraq, but separates funding into major titles instead of giving the administration a free hand on how to spend the money:

=$34.6 billion for operations and maintenance
=$13.7 billion for military personnel
=$11.5 million for research and development
=$1.4 billion to support coalition partners
=$1.3 billion for procurement
=$177.5 million for military construction

=$11 billion for the Defense Emergency Response Fund.
The Department of Defense would control these funds, but is required to submit quarterly reports to Congress on how the money is spent.

Other changes
=Adds $62 million for embassy security
=Adds $31.5 million for international broadcasting operations
=Adds $29 million for Corps of Engineers facilities
=Adds $25 million for Bureau of Reclamation facilities
=Adds $50 million for USAID Child Survival and Health Programs in Iraq
=Adds $215 million for the Executive Office of the President Emergency Response Fund
=Adds $11 million for the national commission investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks.
=Transfers $580 million fro "Counterterrorism Fund" directly to the Coast Guard
=Provides requested $150 million slush fund for "complex foreign crises", but requires "congressional notification for these funds, which may be waived if human health or welfare is at substantial risk. The Committee encourages the use of this Fund to meet unforeseen shortfalls in relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq."
=Cuts $50 million for peacekeeping operations

The Senate Appropriations Committee retained a slightly modified version of the provision granting expanded Cooperative Threat Reduction to other countries. The Senate bill limits the authority to fiscal 2003, and adds the normal 15-day Congressional notification requirement for CTR spending.

The Senate bill also adds $55 million for Department of Energy non-proliferation programs-- $20 million for the Second Line of Defense Program to install radiation detection equipment at key transit points outside of the former Soviet Union, and $35 million for materials protection, control, and accounting activities in regions of concern outside the former Soviet Union, including in Iraq should any dangerous agents be discovered there.

The Committee adopted a Stevens, Murray amendment to add about $3.5 billion to assist the troubled airline industry, including $1 billion to reimburse carriers for security costs and 26 weeks of unemployment insurance for aviation workers, suppliers and hospitality workers.


John Isaacs
Council for a Livable World
322 4th Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
(202) 543-4100 x.131
_www.clw.org