BY FRANK DAVIES

 WASHINGTON -- Running out of time and options, members of Congress
 who want to slow down the move to return Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba
 lashed out Wednesday at Attorney General Janet Reno and  proposed a last-ditch
 bill designed to give the boy permanent legal residency.

 Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida joined that effort and admitted it's a
 legislative long shot. The bill would also extend legal residency status to Elian's
 father, the father's wife, their baby and Elian's two grandmothers.

 Graham and the measure's sponsor, Republican Bob Smith of New Hampshire,
 said one purpose of the bill, introduced Wednesday, was to get Reno's attention
 and block any moves by federal agents to quickly return the boy to Cuba.

 ``Our appeal to the attorney general is, let the Senate play this out,'' Smith said at
 a Capitol press conference. ``It would be frightful to have this boy dragged from his
 home and sent back to Cuba. The Senate can stop this.''

 The top four Republican leaders in the House issued a similar plea. They sent a
 letter late Wednesday to President Clinton urging him to ``immediately instruct
 Attorney General Reno'' not to forcibly remove the boy from his Miami home.

 The letter was signed by Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Dick Armey,
 Majority Whip Tom DeLay and Conference Chairman J.C. Watts.

 ``Reno is acting under the instructions of Clinton,'' said Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart,
 the Miami Republican who helped compose the letter. ``This administration is
 threatening violence -- the forcible removal of Elian -- before the appeals process
 that has already been scheduled.''

 On Capitol Hill, advocates of sending the boy back to his father expressed a
 different perspective, noting it has been more than two months since INS made its
 decision to return the boy.

 ``To say the INS has moved too hastily in this case is absurd,'' said Rep. Barney
 Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, who has served on the immigration
 subcommittee. ``They have leaned over backwards -- with three triple somersaults
 -- to accommodate the family and community in Miami.''

 But many Republicans joined a harsh anti-Reno chorus. On the Senate floor,
 Florida Republican Connie Mack expressed ``sheer frustration and anger'' at
 Justice and the INS, saying the agencies have ``bulldozed over the rights of Elian
 and his Miami family.''

 Graham was more measured with his words, noting that he and Reno are
 longtime friends: ``Some of the actions by INS and Justice are inexplicable. Elian
 is being treated as a legal pawn, and the narrow issue of who speaks for Elian
 gets all the attention, not what is in his best interests.''

 Graham said he has spoken to Reno several times this week, urging her to move
 cautiously.

 ``No one understands the Miami community better than Janet Reno,'' Graham
 said. ``The community respects the rule of law and will accept a decision that is
 justly arrived at, but this looks like a rush to judgment.''

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald