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Bill takes up advice of Sept. 11 Panel

By Patrick Yoest

Congressional Quarterly

February 19, 2007

The Senate will probably take up a bill intended to enact most of the remaining Sept. 11 commission recommendations after lawmakers return from the Presidents Day recess.

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the measure (S 4) by voice vote Feb. 15. The House passed its own version (HR 1) as its first act of legislative business Jan. 9.

The Senate bill will probably be merged with a separate aviation security measure (S 509) and possibly with other bills that were approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee last week.

Floor action on the bill in the Senate could be lengthy. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has invited senators to use the bill to test their positions on Bush’s decision to increase U.S. combat troops in Iraq. “They can bring on any amendment they want,” Reid said last week. (Iraq debate, p. 542)

The core of the bill, approved as a substitute amendment offered by Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., chairman of the Homeland Security panel, would authorize $3.1 billion a year for three years for a new program of homeland security grants distributed largely on the basis of risk. The bulk of the money, $1.3 billion, would be used for grants to high-risk urban areas.

Another $913 million would go to states based on risk, though each state would get at least 0.45 percent of the total. An additional $913 million would be authorized for grants to states for all types of hazards, including natural disasters. Each state would receive at least 0.75 percent of the total, with the remainder distributed on the basis of population.

The bill would also authorize $3.3 billion over five years for a separate grant program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve operability and interoperability at local, regional, state and federal levels. Each state would get a minimum of 0.75 percent of the total funds.

The Homeland Security Department would be required to establish a list of crucial infrastructure that would cause catastrophic damage if it were disrupted or destroyed.

The committee said in a statement that this would strengthen and clarify “what is now a murky process for infrastructure prioritization.”

Other provisions are aimed at disrupting terrorists’ ability to infiltrate and travel in the United States, improving the ability of officials at all levels to identify and track bioterrorist attacks and strengthening the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board created by the 2004 intelligence overhaul law (PL 108-458).

In a provision sure to be opposed by the administration, the bill would require the president and Congress to reveal the total amount appropriated for the intelligence community, a figure that currently is kept secret.

Lieberman’s substitute was approved, 16-0.

During the markup, the committee added language that would extend collective-bargaining rights and whistleblower protections to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners, who currently operate under more stringent personnel rules than other Homeland Security Department employees.

The amendment, sponsored by Lieberman, was adopted, 9-8, with the committee’s Republicans opposed. The House-passed bill contains similar language.

Sen. George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio, won voice vote approval for a proposal to increase the number of countries eligible for the visa waiver program, which now allows foreign nationals from 27 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa.

The amendment also proposed a variety of new requirements to establish security standards to limit illegal entry and impede travel by terrorists and transnational criminals.

Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn filed more than 150 amendments to the bill but ended up agreeing to consolidate many of them. Three of them — all pertaining to auditing or accountability of homeland security spending — were approved by voice vote. Two others were rejected.

Lieberman said an amendment to require the scanning of all incoming cargo containers is also in the works. The House-passed bill includes such a provision, but many industry officials oppose it, saying it would impose new costs on shippers and manufacturers.

Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee may offer an amendment responding to the Sept. 11 commission’s recommendations regarding the maze of committees in Congress with oversight of intelligence. The Senate bill is currently silent on intelligence oversight.

Commerce Committee Markup

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee gave voice vote approval to three other homeland security-related measures Feb. 13.

The first (S 509) would require screening of all cargo on passenger aircraft within three years of the bill’s signing. It stops short of requiring the physical inspection of every air cargo item, which a House-passed Sept. 11 bill would do. The measure also would remove a cap on the hiring of TSA screeners, currently set at 45,000.

A rail security bill (S 184) would authorize $1.1 billion from fiscal 2008 to 2011 to safeguard people and cargo using rail, bus and other means of surface transportation. It would also authorize systemwide security upgrades on the Amtrak train system as well as specific funding for Amtrak’s Northeast corridor and freight railroads.

An emergency communications bill (S 385) would set eligibility guidelines for a $1 billion communications grant program co-administered by the Commerce and Homeland Security departments. The program would be funded by proceeds from the federal government’s auction of the analog radio spectrum.