WASHINGTON -- A handful of Senate Republicans blocked consideration on Tuesday of a measure to let some railway pension funds be invested on Wall Street, calling it an attempt to "pilfer" pensions and leave taxpayers with the bill, a wire service reports.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, had asked the chamber for unanimous consent to take up and pass the bill approved by the House of Representatives back in July. It has broad bipartisan support.

The bill would let the federally administered railroad pension system take some assets out of Treasury bonds and invest them in private securities instead. The plan would cut railroads' payroll taxes while boosting retirees' benefits, and it is backed by both the companies and the unions.

But several Senate Republicans, led by Phil Gramm of Texas, objected. They mocked the bill as a shameless collusion of railway and labor interests at the expense of the taxpayer, who they said would have to back up the scheme if the proposed private investments go sour.

"It's not every day you have a proposal to pilfer $15 billion from a retirement trust fund and have 73 members of the Senate support it," Gramm told the chamber, referring to the long list of Senate sponsors on the bill. "This is about as bad a public policy as you could possibly propose."

Oklahoma Sen. Don Nickles, the Republican whip, said he could support some of the bill's provisions so long as the federal government was not held liable for bailing out the pension fund if it goes under.

"Take away the federal guarantee," Nickles said. "Let them work out whatever they desire to get us off the hook."

STIMULUS ON BACK BURNER

The objections meant the bill could not be considered until later this week, unless some behind-the-scenes agreement can be worked out and brought to the Senate floor. That seemed unlikely. The argument over the railway bill was part of a larger feud over what legislation should take priority in the crowded waning days of this year's session.

Sen. Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi expressed anger that the Democrats, who have a majority of one in the chamber, were putting the railroad investment plan ahead of proposals for stimulating the economy.

"If we move over to this railroad legislation, it will put the stimulus package on the back burner," Lott said. "I think the timing is just not right."

But Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, argued against delay on the railroad bill, saying it was essential to the continued vitality of the rail industry. Union Pacific Corp. is headquartered in his state, and Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corp. has 8,500 employees there.

Nelson said one of the most compelling arguments for the bill was that it would help widows and widowers of retired railway employees. "Under current law, they watched their monthly compensation decline by two-thirds once their spouse passed away," he said.

"This is not only antiquated, it's an unbearable burden on some of our elderly," he said.