Rense.com

 
Bush Wins Key Support For
Homeland Security Agency

11-12-2

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush won an important post-election battle in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, with three key moderates announcing their support for a revised version of his proposed Department of Homeland Security, virtually assuring it of congressional passage.
 
Democratic Sens. John Breaux of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island gave Bush the needed level of Senate support by backing a new proposal to resolve a dispute over labor rights in the department. The department is designed to better protect the nation against an attack like the one on Sept. 11, 2001.
 
Their decision provided Bush with at least 52 votes in the 100-member Senate for his version of homeland security legislation, congressional aides said.
 
"In the end, most members of the Senate want to pass homeland security," the three senators said in a joint statement. "We will vote for this proposal when it reaches the Senate floor."
 
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said the House would take up the revised measure on Wednesday. The Senate was expected to provide its needed concurrence by early next week, aides said.
 
The legislation would implement the biggest U.S. government reorganization in a half century by rolling into the new department all or parts of 22 existing federal agencies, including the Border Patrol, Secret Service and Coast Guard.
 
Although Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, may try to wage a filibuster against it, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has said he would oppose any such delay.
 
Aides said it appeared certain that there would be the needed 60 Senate votes to end debate and bring up the measure for passage. A procedural vote has been scheduled for Wednesday that could serve as an important test for the legislation.
 
'WE NEED TO COMPLETE OUR WORK'
 
"There may be differences of opinion on different components of the legislation, but there is no disagreement that we need to complete our work on this bill promptly," Daschle said.
 
The proposed department was a key issue in last week's congressional election as Republicans won back control of the Senate and expanded their majority in the House.
 
In campaigning for fellow Republicans, Bush blamed Democrats for the failure to pass legislation to create the department, arguing they were more interested in protecting workers' rights than the nation's security.
 
U.S. lawmakers returned on Tuesday for a "lame-duck session" to deal with homeland security and some other unfinished business they hope to complete before the new 108th Congress convenes in January.
 
"I believe we can get this done," Bush said earlier on Tuesday. "The people want us to come together."
 
On Capitol Hill, lawmakers reviewed the new White House-backed proposal that would give Bush the power he has demanded to exempt unionized workers from collective bargaining agreements in the name of national security. His successor in the White House could extend the exemption or end it.
 
In addition, the new department would be able effectively to bypass civil service rules in promoting, firing and transferring workers, aides said.
 
Under the new proposal, unions must be given advance notice, would have an opportunity to object and could take their case to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. But if no agreement is reached, the department can carry out its initial intentions, aides said.
 
BINDING ARBITRATION
 
In their joint statement, Breaux, Nelson and Chafee said they still preferred their own earlier proposed compromise, which would have provided for some binding arbitration.
 
But they conceded that last week's election, which will put Republicans in charge of the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January, gave the other side a better negotiating position.
 
Bobby Harnage, president of the 600,000-member American Federation of Government Employees, denounced the White House-backed proposal.
 
"The American public deserves a federal government response to September 11 that actually improves our nation's domestic security," Harnage said in a statement. "Instead, they are getting warmed-over union busting."
 
Democrats complained that the revised White House-backed measure does not include a proposal included in an earlier bipartisan Senate version that would have created an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 attacks.
 
 
 
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.







MainPage
http://www.rense.com


This Site Served by TheHostPros