"This had been something that we'd always hoped was going to happen," said David Seldin, a committee spokesman.

"There's a good chunk of change there," said a committee spokesman.

A committee spokesman, Scott Williams, said today that staff members heard from both supporters and opponents of the ban.

"For safety reasons, the State Department asked us to keep the itinerary quiet," the committee spokesman added.

John Levine, a committee spokesman, said there were 20 complaints in the last month, half coming in the past week.

He will start working part time on the convention immediately and full time starting in June, according to a national committee spokesman.

"They got here this morning," Robert White, a committee spokesman, said.

One committee spokesman said a decision on the next president could be reached within weeks.

Until then, the senators will not act on the deal, a committee spokesman, John Ullyot, said.