|
Senate takes up 9/11 reform bill today
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-08 21:31
WASHINGTON - The Senate is expected to pass the 9/11 intelligence reform bill
late this afternoon after the House passed the legislation 336-75 last night.
Four months after the Sept. 11 commission urged drastic changes to
protect the nation from another terror attack, Congress neared final passage of
the far-reaching legislation overhauling the nation's intelligence network and
instituting new border and aviation security safeguards.
"We have walked a long and winding road to get to this day, but
ultimately we've gotten to exactly where we wanted to be, which is on the verge
of adopting legislation that will reform America's intelligence assets," said
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, one of the lead Senate negotiators on the bill.
A compromise bill that seemed to be dead two weeks ago was getting a
final vote in the Senate late Wednesday before being sent to President Bush for
his signature.
The House passed the bill overwhelmingly on Tuesday after Bush endorsed
it and House Republicans satisfied themselves that the measure would not
negatively affect the nation's military.
The president "greatly looks forward to Senate passage and ultimately to
signing the bill into law," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said late Tuesday
as the president flew back to Washington from a visit with Marines at Camp
Pendleton, Calif.
The legislation would:
_Create a new national intelligence director.
_Establish a counterterrorism center.
_Set priorities for intelligence gathering.
_Tighten U.S. borders.
It would implement the biggest change to U.S. intelligence gathering and
analysis since the creation of the CIA after World War II.
The bill also included a host of anti-terrorism provisions, which would:
_Allow wiretaps of "lone wolf" terrorists not associated with groups or
states.
_Improve airline baggage screening procedures.
_Increase the number of full-time border patrol agents by 2,000 a year
for five years.
_Impose new federal standards on information that driver's licenses must
contain.
The Sept. 11 commission, in its July report, said disharmony among the
nation's 15 intelligence agencies contributed to the inability of government
officials to stop the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York
City, Washington and Pennsylvania.
The new structure should help the agencies work together to prevent such
disasters in the future, lawmakers said.
"This legislation is going to make a real difference to the security of our
country," said Senate Governmental Affairs Committee chairwoman Susan Collins.
"It is going to improve the quality of intelligence provided to our military and
it will help to keep civilians safer here at home."
Senators said Tuesday they were confident the bill would pass. But because
Congress had to hold a special session to get a final agreement, Wednesday's
vote was expected to be extended to late in the day to accommodate senators
rushing back to the Capitol from across the nation.
Heavy and persistent lobbying by the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission and
families of attack victims kept the legislation alive through the summer
political conventions, the Nov. 2 elections and a postelection lame duck session
of Congress.
Families of several Sept. 11 victims held hands and wept as the House passed
the legislation. Bill Harvey, a New Yorker whose wife, Sara Manley, was killed
at the World Trade Center a month after the couple wed, said the victory was
also a sad reminder.
"The vote took 15 minutes, and it was pretty emotional. I thought about her
during the 15 minutes of the vote," he said.
House GOP leaders held up action on the bill for two weeks because Armed
Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., was concerned that the new
intelligence director might be inserted into the chain of command between the
president and military commanders in the field.
Hunter and the bill's negotiators came to an agreement Monday on language
clarifying the president's control.
Some Republicans, however, still weren't satisfied. House Judiciary Committee
Chairman James Sensenbrenner, was upset because the bill wouldn't prohibit
states from giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants or change asylum laws
to make it more difficult for terrorists to get into the country.
Other Republicans said they opposed the entire overhaul bill because they saw
it as useless.
"I believe creating a national intelligence director is a huge mistake," said
Rep. Ray LaHood. "It's another bureaucracy, it's another layer of government. It
would not have prevented 9/11 and it will not prevent another 9/11."
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top World
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
