Crime Bill Consensus Reached

WASHINGTON--House and Senate conferees agreed yesterday to a sweeping crime bill that would apply the death penalty to some 50 federal offenses and require a fiveday waiting period for handgun purchases.

House Democrats said they planned to bring the $3.1 billion anti-crime package to a vote today while Senate Republicans vowed to fight passage and predicted a veto by President Bush if they failed.

Throughout the stormy, three-hour conference, Democrats accused Republicans of trying to stall enactment of the package before Congress adjourns this week to give Bush a political issue.

Meanwhile, a Senate-House conference met informally for several hours yesterday to discuss a transportation bill. The dual question before House and Senate negotiators is how best to spend $151 billion in federal aid to create a surface transportation system for the 21st Century, while at the same time dividing that money among a host of competing interests.

Bush had threatened to veto guncontrol legislation if Congress failed to pass the anti-crime provisions he sought.

But the Democratic-controlled conference raised the ante in the political battle over crime by rejecting several items sought by Bush that were contained in one but not both of the competing bills.

"The administration will not accept a bill that guts the tough provisions passed by the House and the Senate," said Paul J. McNulty, a Justice Department spokesperson said last night.

The House, which had passed a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases last May, accepted the Senate's five-day version, which requires police to conduct background checks of would-be buyers.

House conferees, however, refused to accept a Senate-passed ban on 14 types of semi-automatic assault weapons, noting strong opposition on the House floor to a broader prohibition. The House rejected a proposal by Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to ban more than 20 assault-style weapons when it passed crime legislation last month.

Conferees rejected a Senate provision imposing sharp new limits on appeals that state prisoners--particularly awaiting execution--can file in federal court in favor of a tough but less restrictive version passed by the House.

Bush had made reform of so-called habeas corpus petitions a hallmark of his anti-crime proposal.

The bill also would apply the death penalty to about 50 federal crimes, including terrorism, political assassinations and drug trafficking on a large scale even if it doesn't result in a murder.

Democrats called it a tough crime bill, civil libertarians said it was draconian and Republicans said it would make it harder to convict wrongdoers.

"This is not a crime bill, it's a pro-criminal bill," said Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) who repeatedly objected during the three-hour conference to procedures Democrats used for considering various provisions.

Thurmond raised the possibility of a Republican filibuster to stop passage in the Senate before Congress adjourns this week.

"Every avenue will be taken to stop this bill and if that fails, I think the president will veto it," Thurmond said.

"I just can't believe Republicans would kill a death-penalty bill," said Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "For the Republicans to vote against capital punishment--I'd like to see it."

Biden and other Democrats accused Republicans of trying to stop enactment of the crime package this fall to give Bush an election-year issue in 1992.

"The president would be happy if we didn't get anything ... so he could have a political victory," Biden said.

Schumer predicted "if this bill reaches the president he will sign it. He doesn't want to veto a tough crime bill." But Schumer said the administration wants an issue and "word went out to the Republicans--stop this bill at any cost."

Schumer said Democrats plan to bring the crime bill up for a vote on the House floor today as Congress races to complete its business in time for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Dropped from the House-Senate compromise was a Senate-passed provision that would make street handgun murders a federal crime punishable by death.

Federal judges said the measure, introduced by Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) would flood the already overburdened federal courts with murder cases that should best be prosecuted in state courts.

Negotiators adopted Senate language on the standard of proof for death-penalty cases. In cases where death results, prosecutors would have to prove the defendant intended to kill the victim.

The House had adopted a lower standard of proof that would have allowed execution of defendants found guilty of showing a reckless disregard for human life.

The bill, however, also provides for execution of drug dealers convicted of dealing in massive quantities of illegal substances even if no death results.

Proponents argued that this provision would allow prosecution of someone where authorities could not directly prove that drug-dealing had caused the overdose deaths of users.

Defendants convicted of attempted presidential assassinations and attempts in the lives of other high-ranking officials could be subjected to the death penalty.

The negotiators also rejected a House provision, backed by Bush, that would allow improperly seized evidence to be used in federal court. Instead, the negotiators adopted a Senate provision that would allow such evidence only if police make a "good faith" mistake in executing a search warrant.

The bill would provide money to states to beef up police patrols in cities, set up residential drug treatment programs for prisoners and start boot camp programs for eligible offenders.