Deal comes as House, Senate wrangle over how to treat enemy combatants
WASHINGTON – President Bush and Republican negotiators led by Sen. John McCain have reached an agreement on legislation covering tribunals for enemy combatant suspects, NBC News has learned.
Details on the deal were not immediately available, but Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it represented very positive steps forward. Once everyone looks at it, we hope to come to an agreement. He was meeting with McCain and Sens. Bill Frist and John Warner.
President Bush’s call for legislation has been deadlocked in an intraparty dispute, with Republican Sens. McCain, Graham and John Warner seeking a provision to make it clear that torture of suspects is barred.
Also at issue was whether suspects and their lawyers would be permitted to see any classified evidence in the cases against them.
Warner, McCain, Graham and Hadley met at mid-afternoon with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in the Capitol. The session came a few hours after Frist phoned the lawmakers and strongly urged them to reach a compromise after more than a week of Republican discord…
Waiting for details
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in an e-mail there was not yet an agreement, but added, Good trajectory. Stand by for confirmation.
No details of the emerging compromise were immediately available, nor was it clear how Senate Democrats might react.
An accord would fulfill a Republican political and legislative imperative pre-election party unity on an issue related to the war on terror, and possible enactment of one of Bush’s top remaining priorities of the year.
The evident compromise came less than a week after Bush emphatically warned lawmakers at a news conference he would shut down the interrogation of terror suspects unless legislation was sent to his desk. Time’s running out, he said.
The White House shifted its tone from combative to compromising within 48 hours, though, and officials began talking of a need for an agreement that all sides would be comfortable with.
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