WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Senate deliberations Wednesday on a huge spending bill to fund the government through the current year have become bogged down amid over 240 offered amendments.
One such amendment -- which would have toughened Bush administration rules on air pollution -- was defeated earlier on Wednesday in a partisan vote.
The Senate is considering a $390 billion omnibus bill that combines the 11 appropriations bills that failed to pass the last Congress -- a series of continuing resolutions has kept the government operating in the meanwhile -- before it can move on to current business.
In the first days of the debate last week, the Republican majority managed to defeat a proposal by Democrats to add about $6 billion in new spending for homeland defense. Since that vote, Democrats have been offering amendments on other Democratic issues that have forced the GOP to go to battle on behalf of the Bush administration, which has ruled out any new spending.
One such issue was defeated Wednesday as the GOP beat back a proposal by Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. -- who has announced his intent to challenge Bush for the White House in 2004 -- that would delay the implementation of new environmental regulations that Democrats contend would worsen air quality around the nation.
"This administration has made new rules that are the biggest rollback of clean air protections in history," he said.
The Bush administration plans to soften current regulations on new sources of air pollution, such as power plants and factories. The Edwards amendment would have delayed these new regulations and given the Democrats a political victory.
But despite the assistance of six Republicans, the measure failed 50-46 after key Democrats from Louisiana and Arkansas joined the GOP to vote down the plan.
Louisiana Democratic Sens. John Breaux and Mary Landrieu joined with Arkansas Democrats Mark Prior and Blanche Lincoln in voting against the party on the regulations.
On Tuesday -- in a rare moment of nonpartisan voting -- the Senate did approve $300 million to assist low-income families with heating costs.
Some of the amendments the Senate could address in the coming days include relief funds for sub-Saharan Africa, additional funding for nuclear nonproliferation, funding for Amtrak, and drought relief for farmers.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Wednesday that he was pleased with the overall cooperation between the parties on the bill, but that he hoped to speed up the process in a "systematic way."
