Article Last Updated: Saturday, November 16, 2002 - 3:00:51 AM MST
Congress moves to create domestic security agency
Congress moves ahead on bill
By Jim Abrams , Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Struggling to end a frustrating year with some accomplishments, Congress edged closer to creating a homeland security department on Friday, a day after moving long-delayed terrorism insurance and passing port security legislation.
But a measure to tighten bankruptcy law, in the works for years, stumbled over an abortion-related dispute.
By 65-29, the Senate removed another procedural hurdle to creating the new domestic security agency. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he believed final passage would occur on Monday.
The House all but finished its work for the year in Friday's early morning hours, leaving the door open for a Tuesday return to handle last-minute bills passed by the Senate.
House members used their overnight session to approve a bill authorizing intelligence agency spending that includes creation of an independent commission to probe the failure to anticipate the Sept. 11 attacks. The Senate approved the bill by voice vote later Friday and send it to President Bush for his signature.
A compromise on the makeup of the commission was reached Thursday between White House officials and the two main Senate advocates of the plan, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.
The House approved the homeland security legislation on Wednesday after the White House agreed to some concessions to Democrats concerned over the labor rights of the 170,000 employees of the new agency. The Senate is expected to pass the measure before it adjourns next week.
Left unresolved as the lame duck session of the 107th Congress nears an end are such issues as prescription drug benefits for the elderly, retirement fund protections and the rights of patients in managed care programs.
Congress also completed only two -- both dealing with defense -- of the 13 spending bills it must pass to fund federal programs for fiscal year 2003, which began on Oct. 1. To avoid a government shutdown, the House voted to keep spending at fiscal year 2002 levels through Jan. 11, after the beginning of the 108th Congress.
With Republicans recapturing control of the Senate in the midterm elections, Bush is expected to have a Congress more amenable to his spending priorities in January.
House Democrats, revamping their leadership for the next Congress, on Thursday chose Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, as their party leader, succeeding Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who stepped down from the post after eight years. Pelosi is the first woman ever to head a political party in Congress.
In its biggest achievement of the day, the House passed a measure under which the government would cover up to $90 billion annually in insurance claims from terrorist attacks.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Friday the terrorism insurance bill will mean "billions in new investment."
Bush has pushed for the legislation since shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that higher insurance premiums or the reluctance of insurance companies to provide terrorist protections could seriously hurt the economy by discouraging new construction projects.
But the bill bogged down for a year in a dispute erupting over Republican attempts to put limits on punitive damage awards, which many in the GOP consider a benefit to trial lawyers who generally support Democrats.
The breakthrough came this week when Bush persuaded House GOP leaders to accept a bill with no limits on punitive damages.
The bankruptcy bill, pushed for years by banks and credit card companies, appeared dead despite a post-midnight move to revive the measure hours after it had faltered. Republican conservatives rebelled against the bill on the first vote, claiming it could be used to curtail abortion protests by banning protesters from using bankruptcy to avoid paying court fines for blocking clinics if they knowingly violated the law.
GOP leaders, including retiring Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, begged the conservatives to get behind the legislation and fight abortion battles at another time. They later brought the bill back to the floor without the abortion language and it passed easily, 244-116. But Democrats said it was a charade because the Senate would never accept the bill without the abortion provisions.
trivalleyherald.com |
