WASHINGTON - Tucked into the nearly 484-page bill creating a new homeland security department is a provision that permits the creation of university-based centers for homeland security.

It sets 15 standards that a university must meet to qualify for a lucrative federal grant. The main advocates of the university provision were Reps. Tom DeLay and Joe Barton, both Texas Republicans.

The most likely university to meet the bill's rigorous criteria? Texas A&M.

The homeland security bill is pockmarked with such specialty provisions. And they are threatening to sink it.

As soon as Monday, the Senate is scheduled to vote on an amendment by Sen. Joseph Lieberman D-Conn., that would strike seven items from the bill that the House of Representatives passed Wednesday. If successful, the amendment probably would kill the bill, because the House adjourned for the year early Friday.

"If the amendment passes, the odds are great the bill dies for the year," said Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas.

But Democrats said the House could come back, approve the amended bill and get it to the president for his signature by Christmas.

"Will the House let it die just because they went home for vacation and turkey?" asked Sen. John Breaux, D-La., a moderate.

Another provision targeted by Lieberman would provide liability protections for certain vaccine manufacturers, such as Eli Lilly and Dow Chemicals. Under existing law, the federal government compensates patients who are harmed by certain vaccinations, rather than the manufacturers paying the damages. The new provision would cover manufacturers of any component or ingredient of the vaccine, and would prevent lawsuits against them in state courts.

Critics say the language is designed to block lawsuits based on controversial components such as the mercury-based thimerosal, which is used as a preservative in vaccines. Pending lawsuits argue that the preservative is responsible for autism in children and other neurological disorders. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they have no evidence to back those claims.

Sellers of anti-terrorism technologies would also get liability protections. If an anti-terrorism product fails to provide protection in a terrorist act, the seller would be exempt from punitive damages, and liability would be limited to the seller's liability insurance.

Republicans also added a cyber-security provision to the bill that had been blocked in the Senate, where Democrats had a narrow majority. That section would broaden the ability of police to tap Internet or telephone communications. It also would set a life prison term for computer hackers who "recklessly" endanger people's lives. The provision is meant for cyber-terrorists whose actions could hurt the economy or damage crucial infrastructure, such as an electric power grid.

But lawmakers were not only in a giving mood. They also stripped or weakened other provisions that had been inserted or agreed to by the Senate and the White House.

Among them was a Senate-approved amendment, sought by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., that would prohibit the department from entering into contracts with companies that avoid taxes by incorporating offshore. The new version gives the department secretary the right to waive the prohibition to prevent loss of U.S. jobs or to save money.

Republicans also eliminated Senate-crafted language that set narrow guidelines permitting the department to avoid the open-records requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. The current bill includes the House-approved language, which has broader exemptions and would keep more documents from public scrutiny. The bill also would allow the federal government to override state open-records laws and prohibit the release of any information that a state received from the department.

As for Texas A&M and its chances for a homeland security grant, Gramm noted that the criteria, which are not as narrow as they once were, also would apply to several other large universities.