100-Hour Agenda Steams Along

House Democrats are on a legislative roll, but the security bill they just passed by a wide margin is expected to meet with tougher opposition in the Senate. The legislation would implement recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, including beefing up port security.

AP:

Raising further questions about the bill’s future, the Bush administration said it opposed the measure’s collective bargaining rights for airport screeners, inspections of cargo on passenger airliners and the cargo-scanning requirement for ships bound for U.S. ports. A White House statement, however, did not threaten a veto.

An obviously delighted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), announced the vote by which the bill passed on Tuesday by a bipartisan roll call of 299-128. It was the first of six measures the House is expected to pass in its first 100 hours in session under Democratic control.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), said adopting these and other recommendations of the 9/11 Commission were a vital step toward the goal to “protect the American people, to defend our homeland and to strengthen our national security.”

It is not clear how soon the Senate will take up the measure, which would enact many of the remaining recommendations by the bipartisan commission, which was formed after the 2001 terrorist attacks to suggest changes the government should make to upgrade security. The previous Republican-controlled Congress approved many of the commission’s proposals, such as reorganizing the nation’s intelligence agencies.

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