Washington – Anti-terrorism legislation sailed through the House on Tuesday, the first in a string of measures designed to fulfill campaign promises made by Democrats last fall.
Patterned on recommendations of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks, the far-reaching measure includes commitments for inspection of all cargo carried aboard passenger aircraft and on ships bound for the United States.
The vote was a bipartisan 299-128, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the speaker’s rostrum to announce the passage of the first legislation to clear under the new Democratic majority.
Several Republicans criticized the legislation as little more than political posturing in the early hours of a new Democratic-controlled Congress. Democrats want to “look aggressive on homeland security. This bill will waste billions of dollars and possibly harm homeland security by gumming up progress already underway,” said Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky.
In a statement, the Bush administration said it could not support the measure as drafted but stopped short of a veto threat.
Democrats have pledged to make fiscal responsibility a priority in the new Congress, but they advanced the bill – their first of the year – without even a bare-bones accounting of the estimated cost. The funding will require follow-up legislation.
Legislation introduced in the Senate a year ago to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 commission had a price tag of more than $53 billion over five years.
The terrorism legislation is the first of several measures the House is expected to pass as Democrats work to get off to a quick start.
Next up is an increase in the minimum wage – set for passage today.
Each of the bills would go to the Senate, and it could be months – if then – before they reach the White House.
Already, President Bush has signaled he would veto the stem-cell bill, which is opposed by abortion foes.
The House labored over the terrorism bill as the Senate began work on legislation enacting stricter ethics rules, including a ban on all gifts, meals, and travel paid for by lobbyists, a tightening of rules on lobbying activity by Congress members and senior staff, and a requirement of greater public disclosure of lawmakers’ actions.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., joined forces with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to offer an amendment named after a House member now in prison for his criminal violations while in office.
“The Duke Cunningham Act,” offered last year as a bill, would prohibit federal lawmakers from receiving their congressional pension if they are convicted of a serious crime such as bribery, conspiracy or perjury.
