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U.S. Senate Passes National Security Bill
The U.S. Senate passed a national security bill yesterday that would require foreign seaports in five years to conduct radiation scanning of all cargo heading toward the The legislation contains reforms endorsed by the Sept. 11 commission, though the port component is a separate addition. The bill would direct security funding more toward states considered to be at higher risk for a terrorist attack, and would provide $4 billion for rail, transit and bus security. The Senate approved the bill last night by a vote of 85-8, one week before Congress is expected to adjourn for its August recess. The House is expected to pass the bill as early as today, sending it to President George W. Bush for final approval. The Bush administration has contested a number of measures in the bill, including the port requirement. The president has not threatened to veto the bill, although the administration has expressed skepticism that radiation monitoring equipment can be installed in more than 600 foreign ports. In a compromise move, the bill’s authors included language authorizing the homeland security secretary to give two-year extensions to certain ports. The commission in 2004 recommended 41 reforms to domestic security, intelligence-gathering and foreign policy to help prevent another terrorist attack in the After assuming control of Congress in 2007, Democrats charged that Republicans had not implemented enough of the commission’s recommendations (Jim Abrams, Associated Press/Washington Post, July 27).
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