Bush works phones in bid to move intelligence bill
 |  President Bush plans a "full court press" for the intelligence bill, Sen. Susan Collins said. |
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 CNN's Ed Henry reports on the pressure to pass intelligence reform.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Amid charges the White House has dragged its feet on the stalled 9/11 intelligence reform bill, President Bush on Thursday spoke by phone with the two top congressional leaders about trying to get the bill passed.
White House spokesman Jim Morell told CNN that Bush spoke with both House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, as "part of his continuing effort to keep moving the bill forward."
Bush has outlined his position on intelligence reform in a letter that is expected to be sent to Congress by week's end. White House spokesman Scott McClellan earlier this week said the letter makes "very clear his views on this legislation."
The bill also got a boost Thursday from Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had previously warned that a new director of national intelligence -- which the bill creates -- could slow key information from reaching military troops in the field.
However, Myers now says congressional negotiators have allayed his concerns. It was Myers' initial objections to the bill that House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-California, cited in stalling the legislation.
Earlier Thursday, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Bush was launching a "full-court press" to get wavering Republican lawmakers to support the stalled intelligence reform bill.
She told CNN that senior White House adviser Karl Rove called her early Thursday morning to stress that the president considers finishing the 9/11 legislation during next week's lame-duck session of Congress an urgent matter.
"It is clear that the White House is working very hard to get this bill through," Collins said. "There is a full-court press on."
Collins, the lead Senate negotiator on the legislation, said the president and Vice President Dick Cheney have also stepped up phone calls to individual lawmakers.
"I believe that the president is working very hard to make very clear to members of Congress that this bill is a priority for him and that he expects us to complete action on it before the end of the year," said Collins, who chairs the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.
Some Republicans and Democrats alike have suggested in recent days that the president had not been pushing hard enough to get a deal on the legislation, which would create a new post of director of national intelligence overseeing the 15 agencies of the U.S. intelligence community.
"If we don't have a vote on September 11th legislation, it will be my feeling that the president didn't weigh in strong enough," Rep. Chris Shays, R-Connecticut, said Tuesday.
Shays was referring to the fact that last month Hastert refused to schedule a floor vote on the legislation because of objections from two powerful Republicans -- Hunter and House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin. (Full story)
Sensenbrenner has said he wants the bill changed to stop states from issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants
Collins said Thursday that she believes Bush is determined to get a floor vote in the House next week.
"I am convinced that the president is doing everything that he can to advance this bill and to ensure that it has a vote next week," she said.
Collins said one idea being floated to break the current logjam is to give Sensenbrenner a commitment that congressional leaders will bring provisions he insists should be in the bill -- on tighter immigration controls -- to a separate floor vote next year.
But Sensenbrenner has long resisted such a proposal, saying that his measures must be attached to the broader reform legislation to get his support. (Full story)
CNN Correspondents Ed Henry and Elaine Quijano contributed to this report.
