Wednesday October 3, 2001

WASHINGTON -- The Senate approved its $345 billion defense spending bill without a dissenting vote yesterday after dispensing with Republican objections that had stymied progress for a week as the nation geared up for war.

The vote was 99-0 for the bill that authorizes money for the Defense Department and the military work of the Energy Department for fiscal 2002, which began Monday.

"The men and women in the military should be able to count on us in normal times, and surely they ought to be able to count on us in these emergency times. And I believe very firmly that this bill does exactly that," Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told the Senate.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., alluded to some tough negotiations on missile defense and other issues when he said, "We had some hard decisions to make, and I think that we made them basically together." The bipartisan compromises were "done in a spirit to get this bill up and passed," said Armed Service's top Republican.

The only senator who did not vote was Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., who fainted earlier yesterday as he sat at his desk on the Senate floor. He was taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Just hours before the Senate endorsed the bill, it voted by a surprising 100-0 to quash delays caused by GOP efforts to attach to the defense measure both the Bush administration's energy package and a separate prison industry provision.

The roadblocks became apparent Sept. 25, as the House passed its $343 billion defense bill by a vote of 398-17, and the demands had not been amenable to compromise.

Levin said he feared the problems could kill the bill. "That would be a horrendous message to send" to the military and the nation, he said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., warned the Senate that it was risking its reputation as well as the bipartisan comity that has marked its efforts since the Sept. 11 suicide hijack attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon outside Washington.

"I'm worried that in a few minutes, the Senate may undo all that good work of the past three weeks, and bring an end to the bipartisan cooperation that has distinguished this institution, and give the public a reason to be ashamed of us," McCain said. He called the defense bill "the most important legislation we will pass since Sept. 11."

The unanimous vote to bypass the delays, when only 60 votes were needed, came after dozens of Republicans trooped into the chamber from a meeting in the office of Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

"I thought when it finally came down to it, the Republicans would not filibuster a bill of this import in terms of national unity and supporting our forces," Levin said.