HOUSE GOP PREPARES $9B BILL

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Almost doubling a request from President Clinton, House
Republicans have prepared a $9 billion measure financing everything from
eradicating cocaine production in Colombia to repairing fire traps in the
U.S. Capitol.

Republicans plan to push the legislation through the House Appropriations
Committee on Thursday. But its fate after that is unclear as lawmakers will
face their first battle of this election year over what to do with the
federal surplus.

A copy of the bill, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, shows that
lawmakers would make only minor changes in the $1.6 billion Clinton
requested for battling drug traffickers in Colombia and nearby countries.
They would also provide the $2 billion wants for U.S. troops in Kosovo.

But the package contains money Clinton did not seek for the military's
troubled health insurance system, rising Pentagon fuel costs, and road
repair and housing loan costs attributed to damage from last fall's
Hurricane Floyd and other emergencies.

"We see some emergency items that were not included" in Clinton's request,
said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla.

The bill, for the current fiscal year, has drawn the ire of conservatives
unhappy over its price tag, which is only likely to grow with additional
money for the Pentagon and farmers. They are also upset that nearly all of
the bill would be paid for from this year's projected budget surplus.

In addition, many Democrats are unhappy with the anti-drug money. They say
the proposal risks U.S. involvement in what has been a bloody Colombian
civil war, and that more attention should be paid to preventing drug use at
home.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said he
planned to push his version of the bill through his panel in two weeks. He
said Clinton's request for military construction in Colombia "bothers us"
and that much of that spending would probably be left for later this year,
when Congress considers spending bills for fiscal 2001.

The House bill changes Clinton's drug-fighting request slightly by adding
money for Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

It provides just $12 million of the $93 million he sought for aid to
Kosovo, and limited that to U.S. participation in international police
activities in the violence-racked Balkan enclave.

The measure also ignores Clinton's request for $210 million for debt relief
for poor countries, an effort the administration and Congress joined in
last fall.

Included is $15 million to correct fire safety hazards identified in the
U.S. Capitol.

The measure would also repeal gimmicks enacted last fall that had pushed
roughly $10 billion in spending into fiscal 2001, in effect rolling them
back into this year. This will help lawmakers working on next year's
budget.

The gimmicks included military and civilian pay days, contractual payments,
and grants for medical research and some social services that last fall
were delayed until next Oct. 1 -- the start of fiscal 2001.

The bill also:

- -Provides $1.5 billion for the military's growing fuel bill, caused by
soaring oil prices, and $855 million for Defense Department medical
insurance program -- neither of which Clinton requested.

- -Has $600 million Clinton sought to help poor families pay utility bills.

- -Adds more than $1 billion to Clinton's $1.1 billion request for natural
disasters and other emergencies, including funds for the National
Aeronautics & Space Administration, highway repairs, rural housing loans,
and combatting crop diseases.