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Senate debates homeland Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Senate Opens Debate on Homeland Security
Tue Sep 3, 5:08 PM ET
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate opened debate on President Bush ( news - web sites)'s proposed Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday as lawmakers returned from their August recess and began the homestretch of the 107th Congress.
In wrapping up matters from the war on terrorism to spending bills needed to keep the government up and running, lawmakers will also get ready to square off in the Nov. 5 elections, when control of the Democratic-led Senate and Republican-led House of Representatives will be up for grabs.
Topping the agenda on Capitol Hill is Bush's possible invasion of Iraq, which has raised bipartisan concerns, as well as his proposed Department of Homeland Security, crafted in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
An election-year battle is breaking out over labor rights in the proposed 170,000-employee department, with Bush seeking to limit them and Democrats determined to protect them.
"Freedom to manage," Tom Ridge, head of the White House Office of Homeland Security, said on Tuesday in repeating what has become an administration battle cry.
"We want to work with the president, but we're not going to roll over," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat.
Bush wants to implement the biggest reorganization of the federal government in a half century by rolling into a Department of Homeland Security all or parts of about two dozen existing agencies, including the Secret Service ( news - web sites), Coast Guard and Border Patrol.
BUSH FAVORS HOUSE VERSION
The Senate is expected to pass its homeland security bill within a few weeks. But it will first have a showdown on Bush's demand for broader power to hire, fire and transfer employees in the department than the Senate bill would allow.
Bush favors the version of the bill passed by the House, which would give him the "management flexibility" he insists is needed to ensure an efficient operation.
Bush invited Senate members to the White House on Tuesday to discuss the homeland security legislation; he plans to confer on Wednesday with congressional leaders about Iraq.
With Americans split on whether U.S. troops should try to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ( news - web sites) from power, Bush has vowed to consult Congress in deciding what to do.
The administration contends Bush has the authority to strike Iraq. But a number of lawmakers, even those who favor ousting Saddam, say the president should seek their approval.
"I am absolutely satisfied that if ... we are going to have a major conflict again in Iraq that Congress will be involved," Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, said on Tuesday. "There are going to be a lot of briefings."
Said Daschle, "Most Democrats believe that president has yet to make the case."
The 107th Congress has passed a number of major bills since first convening a few weeks after a divided U.S. Supreme Court ( news - web sites) effectively decided the disputed 2000 White House election.
These measures included ones to cut taxes, improve public education, tighten campaign finance laws, promote trade and demand greater corporate responsibility.
SECURITY FOR NATION'S SAKE
In the weeks ahead, the House and Senate will seek to come to terms on a number of unfinished bills. They include ones to reform bankruptcy, pension, tort and election laws.
While the fate of many of these measures remains in doubt, congressional leaders said they expect to come to terms on a Department of Homeland Security.
"My feeling is that we will definitely get a bill," said Sen. Fred Thompson, a Tennessee Republican.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat and chief sponsor of the Senate measure, said Congress should cut a deal for the sake of the nation.
"What this proposal is about ... is to diminish, hopefully eliminate, the vulnerabilities that the terrorists took advantage of to strike at us on Sept. 11 so they will never be able to do it again," Lieberman said.
While the Senate reconvened on Tuesday, the House does not return until Wednesday. On Friday, many members will travel to New York to attend a ceremonial meeting of the House and Senate to commemorate the Sept. 11 attacks.
Congressional leaders had hoped to send to Bush by then legislation to create a Department of Homeland Security. But more time has been needed, largely because of a demand by Sen. Robert Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, for Congress "to slow down and get it right."
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