CRIME BILL: EMERSON, BOND UNDECIDED ON MEASURE

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has threatened to veto anti-crime legislation, contending that a compromise reached by House-Senate negotiators late Sunday "gutted meaningful provisions" from the measure.

As of late Monday, two members of Missouri's congressional delegation U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond and U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, both Republicans were still unsure whether they would support the compromise.

Neither Emerson nor Bond could be reached directly to comment on the matter, but aides said their bosses were evaluating the compromise measure. U.S. Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo., could not reached to comment.

Bush and Republican lawmakers have assailed the compromise measure, contending it weakens the criminal justice system.

Both the House and Senate must approve the compromise bill before it can be sent to Bush.

Pete Jeffries, a spokesman for Emerson's office, said the Cape Girardeau congressman and his staff were "assessing" the legislation as the House moved toward a vote on the issue.

Said Jeffries: "He wants to make sure that whatever bill comes up is strong on heinous crimes and that it does not have severe restrictions on gun control. Basically, he is not going to vote for a watered down package.

"Throughout Bill's 11 years in Congress, he has always been tough on crime and he has that commitment to remain tough on crime," said Jeffries.

The Senate could take up a vote on the measure as early as today, a spokeswoman for Bond said Monday.

Some Senate Republicans vowed Monday to fight the $3.1 billion anti-crime bill, threatening a filibuster as several other major measures awaited final drafting and floor action.

The compromise includes Senate language that calls for a five-day waiting period for buying a handgun instead of the seven-day period wanted by the House, and requires a police check to determine if the purchaser has a criminal record. The House version did not require a police check.

The conferees rejected the Senate-passed ban on the manufacture, sale and shipment of 14 types of semiautomatic weapons. But they accepted language that would expand the federal death penalty to more than 50 crimes, including terrorism murders, assassination of federal officials, genocide, kidnapping resulting in death and those found guilty of dealing large amounts of illegal drugs.

Negotiators rejected language that would have provided the death penalty for drug-related killings in the District of Columbia, which does not have the death penalty, and rejected a proposal seeking the death penalty for murders committed with guns transported across state lines.

The conferees rejected tougher restrictions on prisoners' habeas corpus appeals, instead adopting language that would set a one-year deadline for review and bar many successive appeals.

The compromise legislation would allow use of evidence seized with an invalid search warrant as long as police acted in good faith.

(Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press and United Press International.)