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Posted on 10/02/2003 9:00:19 PM PDT by chance33_98
Cabinet rejects 'Buy American' provision compromise
By Amy Svitak, CongressDaily
During a top-level meeting of key Bush administration officials Wednesday night, several Cabinet members again rejected the Pentagon's proposed compromise on controversial "Buy American" legislation included in the House version of the fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill.
The revised language was drafted by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz in response to concerns raised by other executive branch agencies at a meeting last Friday with Wolfowitz, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and other senior agency officials, according to congressional and industry sources.
Although the White House, Defense and State departments were unable to comment Thursday afternoon, Wolfowitz, Card, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua Bolten are said to have attended the meeting. Powell apparently had little to say, but his presence likely gave weight to State Department opposition expressed by his deputy at last week's meeting.
While the administration's position has yet to be formally articulated, sources said it appears that key Cabinet officials at the meeting were not satisfied with the Pentagon's latest iteration of the Buy American provisions.
However, an undated Pentagon briefing paper that appears to have been drafted for Wolfowitz since last Friday shows the department was confident it had allayed other agencies' concerns. According to the document, Wolfowitz was expected to thank Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Va., for his "forbearance as we have worked through the process of establishing an administration position." The paper also noted that Warner's letters late last Tuesday to the State Department, OMB and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative were "helpful in putting clarity to a number of issues those departments had with the original House language."
Those letters revealed Warner's surprise at the administration's willingness to back a compromise on House Armed Services Committee Chairman Dubcan Hunter's Buy American provisions after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in July recommended a presidential veto of the bill if it included the House language.
The letters also requested written clarification of the administration's position. The talking points also noted that Warner's letters brought to light issues worth raising and that edits made to the House language since last Friday's interagency meeting "address Commerce, State and USTR concerns."
As for Hunter, Wolfowitz expected to tell the chairman that State, Commerce and USTR had aired grievances "that we had to address," adding that the revised compromise released by OMB Tuesday "is the administration position."
One Senate aide reacted strongly to the briefing paper, saying, "Time and again, this Pentagon has displayed a level of arrogance that is appalling."
However, in an interview earlier today, Hunter stressed that Wolfowitz did not volunteer to work out the compromise, and was designated through the White House chain of command as the point man for the negotiations.
"Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz took valuable and personal time to do this in an honorable and professional manner ... and pushed aside other duties with respect to Iraq to get this done, and we should all be very appreciative," Hunter told CongressDaily. "He has taken on a difficult task and done a very thoughtful job" in response to concerns raised by executive branch agencies and Senate conferees.
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