The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to approve the intelligence reorganization bill that had been held in committee for weeks. The bill is likely to reach the Senate on Wednesday. President Bush has said he will sign it. The legislation, drawn from recommendations made by a independent commission that reviewed intelligence failures that led up to the September 11, 2001, attacks, would overhaul the U.S. intelligence community. It would put most assets and budgets under the newly created post of national intelligence director. The bill stalled November 20 when House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter and House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner persuaded House Speaker Dennis Hastert not to bring it to the House floor for a vote. Many Democrats and Republicans were angered because they said they had the votes to pass the bill -- without the two congressmen and their supporters. Hastert, R-Illinois, held back, and House-Senate conferees went to work to find language that would ease Hunter's concerns.
A top House GOP leadership aide predicted Tuesday that 20 to 40 conservatives will vote against the bill. If the number tops 50, it will be "troubling," he said. Nevertheless, he said, GOP leaders will press ahead on the vote. "They're not going to turn back at this point," the aide said. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tennessee, said Hastert likely will win a "slim majority of the majority," referring to the speaker's stated goal of gaining the support of most Republicans. President Bush pushed for the bill in his radio address Saturday and in a letter to Congress on Monday, and Vice President Dick Cheney joined in the weekend talks. |