Negotiations on 9/11 bill progressing

WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators reported progress on Monday in long-stalled talks over a bill to enact recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission, agreeing that the Senate had made an important concession to House Republicans and the Pentagon on keeping secret the size of the nation's overall intelligence budget.

The issue of budget secrecy had been a major sticking point in the negotiations on a House-Senate conference committee, with House Republicans refusing to accept the Sept. 11 commission's recommendation that some budget figures should be declassified in an effort to force more accountability on spy agencies.

A bipartisan bill passed by the Senate last month would have declassified the overall budget figure, in line with the commission's recommendations.

But House Republicans, backed by the White House and senior Pentagon officials, argued that it would be dangerous to alert the nation's enemies to how much money was spent each year on spying, a figure widely reported to be about $40 billion, and insisted that the Senate provision be taken out of any final bill.