Bush's allies struggle to keep war bills

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - White House loyalists struggled on Wednesday to save President Bush's wartime legislative plans from collapsing under Republican squabbles. In cliffhanger votes, a House committee rejected, then endorsed Bush's proposal to continue tough interrogations of suspected terrorists.

The tug-of-war on the House Judiciary Committee was evidence of the difficulty Bush is having in lining up support for his terrorism-fighting proposals weeks before the November elections.

Democrats sat on the sidelines "watching the catfights" among Republicans on surveillance and detainee legislation, said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

He noted that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was forced to postpone consideration of those bills this week and that senators are debating border security "because they have nothing else to do."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_on_go_co/congress_terrorism