WASHINGTON

HOUSE REJECTS AMENDMENT BANNING GAY MARRIAGE

The House emphatically rejected a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage yesterday, the latest in a string of conservative pet causes advanced by Republican leaders in the run-up to Election Day.

The vote was 227-186, 49 votes shy of the two-thirds needed for approval of an amendment that President Bush backed but the Senate had previously scuttled.

All five House members from Connecticut voted against the amendment.

“God created Adam and Eve, He didn’t create Adam and Steve,” said Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican of Maryland, on behalf of a measure that supporters said was designed to protect an institution as old as civilization itself.

Democrats countered that Republicans were motivated by election-year politics as much as anything, particularly since a Senate vote this year ended any immediate chance the amendment could be sent to the states for ratification.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic whip, accused GOP leaders of “raw political cynicism” and said they hoped to “create the fodder for a demagogic political ad.” Mr. Bush issued a statement expressing disappointment with the vote’s outcome. “Because activist judges and local officials in some parts of the country are seeking to redefine marriage for the rest of the country, we must remain vigilant in defending traditional marriage,” the president said.

– Associated Press

TARGET IN FBI ESPIONAGE CASE FIRES ATTORNEY

Pentagon Iran analyst Larry Franklin, a primary target in the FBI’s investigation into alleged Israeli espionage at the Pentagon, has fired his court-appointed attorney, sources told The New York Sun. Mr. Franklin was appointed an attorney earlier this year after the FBI discovered a cache of classified documents in his home and threatened to jail him.

His decision to seek new counsel will likely delay deliberations for the grand jury that was convened early last month as part of the FBI investigation. The decision also could indicate that he is unwilling to further cooperate with the FBI.

On August 27, CNN and CBS News reported that the FBI was conducting a serious probe and poised to make arrests of a suspected Israeli spy ring after finding that Mr. Franklin had attempted to pass a secret draft Iran policy paper to two members of the American Israel Public Affairs Council.

Last month, one Pentagon analyst testified before the grand jury. The FBI has conducted interviews with numerous Pentagon analysts on the Middle East affairs working under Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. The focus of the questions has been largely on Mr. Franklin, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LIKELY TO APPEAL PATRIOT RULING

Attorney General Ashcroft said yesterday that the justice department will likely appeal a federal court ruling declaring unconstitutional a provision of the U.S. Patriot Act on anti-terrorism surveillance.

Mr. Ashcroft, in the Netherlands meeting with European Union officials, said he would study the decision upon his return to Washington but “it’s almost a certainty it will be appealed.” “We believe the act to be completely consistent with the United States Constitution,” he told reporters.

In a blow to the Justice Department’s post-September 11 powers, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero on Wednesday struck down a Patriot Act provision that allowed the FBI to gather phone and Web customer records and then barred the service providers from ever disclosing the search took place.

Judge Marrero said the government’s ability to conduct secret and unchallengable searches of Internet and telephone records violates the U.S. Constitution.

– Associated Press

HOMELAND SECURITY

NEW YORK CITY MAY SEE MORE ANTI-TERRORISM MONEY

The House Judiciary Committee has approved changes to proposed legislation implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 commission that could mean more federal homeland security money for the city.

The city could gain as much as $300 million in homeland security funding to pay for police officer and other expenses if the changes are retained in final legislation.

The committee adopted an amendment authored by Democrats Rep. Anthony Weiner, a of Queens, and Rep. Nita Lowey, of Westchester and Rockland Counties, that allow the city to apply for federal funds to cover the salaries of the 1,000 police officers whose work is devoted exclusively to counterterrorism and intelligence.

The committee also adopted Mr. Weiner’s amendment that would allow the city to apply to be reimbursed for past homeland security expenses that have not yet been covered by the federal government. The city has spent $295 million more than it has received from the federal government over the past two years, he estimated.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

NEW YORK STATE

FORMER NFL PLAYER DIES IN FIERY CRASH

HERKIMER – A former player for the Pittsburgh Steelers led state troopers on a 40-mile chase along the New York State Thruway during morning rush hour yesterday before dying in a fiery head-on collision with a tanker truck.

State police identified the victim as Justin Strzelczyk, 36, an offensive lineman with the Steelers for nearly a decade until the team released him in February 2000.

Troopers said Strzelczyk crashed his pickup truck into the westbound tanker just moments after swerving around a tractor-trailer that had pulled across the highway to block its path in the eastbound lanes.

Strzelczyk drove 15 miles on three tires and a rim after one of his pickup’s tires was punctured by metal spikes thrown into the road by troopers. “It could have been so much worse. We’re fortunate that only one person died,” said Trooper Jim Simpson, a state police spokesman.

– Associated Press