A senior Senate
Democrat said Tuesday that he wants to use a major
defense policy bill to expand federal hate-crimes laws to
protect gays, bring troops home from Iraq, and force
Baghdad to pay more toward reconstruction costs.
The effort would
raise the flag on major issues favored by the party's
base. But only the reconstruction provision is considered to
have a chance at passing -- and even that
proposal's prospects would depend heavily on
Republican cooperation.
Slim margins in
Congress, particularly in the Senate, where 60 votes are
needed to overcome procedural hurdles, have kept Democrats
from enacting much of their legislative agenda since
taking control last year.
Sen. Carl Levin,
chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
suggested Democrats will try anyway, starting with the
measure that would prohibit U.S. money from being
spent on reconstruction and possibly other war-related
costs. Levin, who plans to meet this week with Defense
secretary Robert Gates on the issue, says Iraq should use
its massive oil profits to cover rebuilding efforts.
GOP lawmakers
have signaled a willingness to back such a measure,
depending on how it is written. Republican senators Susan
Collins of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Judd
Gregg of New Hampshire have proposed separate measures
that call for Iraq or its neighbors to pay more for
reconstruction.
Levin's measure
would be proposed as part of the 2009 defense
authorization bill, policy legislation that guides defense
spending and the acquisition and management of all
military programs.
The Democratic
chairman also said he hopes a broader hate-crimes law
becomes part of the debate. Last year Democrats tried to
attach a similar measure to the defense authorization
bill but backed down after Republican protests
threatened to sink the bill.
''Diversity and
tolerance and hate crimes runs smack against what the men
and women of the American armed forces fight for,'' Levin
told reporters Tuesday.
In addition,
Democrats are expected to revive legislation that would
force President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq by a
certain date. Levin said this proposal could be
offered on the defense authorization bill or earlier,
when the Senate considers a separate war spending bill.
Democrats have
repeatedly failed to pass such legislation in the past,
falling short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate.
The committee
plans to complete the defense authorization bill by the end
of next week, with a floor vote expected by the end of May.
(AP)
