By Deirdre Shesgreen

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping bill Thursday aimed at catching more criminal fugitives, but the bill's future is murky.

The measure would set up a grant program for states to update their fugitive warrant databases and would authorize millions of dollars in funding for the U.S. Marshals Service, among other steps. The proposal advanced despite Republican objections about its price tag and questions about its efficacy.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a chief sponsor of the measure, said the impetus for the bill was a Post-Dispatch investigation, published this year, which detailed widespread problems with catching fugitives.

The series reported that more than one-third of active felony warrants don't get entered into a national database, allowing fugitives to travel to another state, pass police checks and commit new crimes. Even when fugitives are found, they are often not extradited because of the time and expense involved.

The Senate bill aims to plug those holes by giving state and local law enforcement officials funds to hunt fugitives and introducing measures to make sure states are updating the national warrant database.

"If we're serious about stopping crime, I think this is a good measure," Durbin said in brief remarks before the bill was approved by a vote of 7-3.

He pointed to the case of Eloy Williams, who was charged with the rape of a college student in Florida in March of 2001. As the Post-Dispatch series reported, Florida authorities issued a warrant for his arrest but never put it into the national database.

Williams was stopped for speeding but not arrested. He subsequently raped four more women in Georgia.

The Senate measure is a combination of two bills introduced earlier this year, one by Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democratic leader, and another by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

The Biden-Durbin bill would:

— Authorize $350 million in grants over 7 years to help state and local governments extradite fugitives. Eligibility for the grants would hinge on improvements in entering warrants into the national database.

— Establish a $50 million, 7-year grant program to help states create or improve electronic databases.

— Authorize $275 million over seven years for the U.S. Marshals Service to fund existing regional fugitive tracking task forces and expand that program to every state.

— Call for a federal study to document states' efforts.

Law enforcement officials say it's a much-needed proposal.

"This is a good step," said Kevin Horton, president of the National Association of Fugitive Investigators and a retired detective with the Massachusetts State Police. "I personally don't think it goes far enough but it's a beginning."

Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Tom Coburn, R-Okla, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa voted against the measure. The panel's ranking Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., voted "pass."

Some Republicans objected to the cost of the bill, which Specter said would be $679 million over 7 years.

Grassley suggested the bill might be throwing good money after bad.

"The states aren't feeding the information into the national database and then you want to feed more money" to them, Grassley said after the hearing.

Specter also suggested the legislation might be premature. He noted that the FBI has two efforts under way — a pilot project to link state warrant computer systems and a task force on improving the warrants system — that could lead policymakers to different solutions.

Thursday's vote may presage a fuller debate on the issue, since the bill's fate remains unclear.

Durbin and Biden carry significant clout to push for a full Senate vote. But Republican objections could easily block the measure, and the Senate already has a packed schedule as lawmakers rush to adjourn later this month. The House has not yet considered such legislation.