House Considers Bill Enacting 9/11 Report Measures

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

By Pam Fessler, All Things Considered

January 5, 2007

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.

The Democratic controlled House held its first day of business today. It decided lawmakers now will have to disclose the pet projects they write into legislation.

Concerning Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told President Bush in a letter they opposed sending more troops to Iraq. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana was one of the Democrats who met with the president at the White House today.

Senator MARY LANDRIEU (Democrat, Louisiana): The president I think has, as one of my colleagues said, the burden of the proof to give specific reasons and clear direction if, in fact, he's going to call for a troop surge.

NORRIS: We'll have political analysis just ahead. First, on Capitol Hill, Democrats offered details on one of their top agenda items, implementing the remaining recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. We'll take that up next week.

NPR's Pam Fessler explains.

PAM FESSLER: About a year ago, the commission that looked into the 9/11 attacks gave Congress lots of D's and F's for failing to follow through on its recommendations. Now Democrats have a bill they say will complete what the Republican-controlled Congress left undone.

Tim Roemer, a member of the commission and a former House Democrat, says he for one is optimistic.

Mr. TIM ROEMER (Member, 9/11 Commission): Roughly half of the 41 recommendations have been passed and fully implemented. That means we're only halfway safer in 2007, and I think this is a very promising and hopeful start to implement the remaining 9/11 Commission reforms.

FESSLER: The House is expected to consider a bill next Tuesday that would, among other things, strengthen airport security and make it easier for innocent people to get their names off the no-fly list. It would increase funding for emergency communications and change the way homeland security grants are distributed.

Perhaps most controversial, it would require that all passenger airplane cargo and containers awaiting shipment to U.S. ports be screened for radiation and explosives.

Mr. CHRISTOPHER KOCH (President and CEO, World Shipping Council): The problem is that it's a nice idea. It's just not very practical.

FESSLER: Christopher Koch is president and CEO of the World Shipping Council. He and others in the industry, along with many security experts, think such a move would be extremely costly and severely impede trade.

Koch notes that the U.S. government has no authority to force foreign governments to screen U.S.-bound shipments.

Mr. KOCH: If other countries don't do this, which they certainly don't have to, what does this legislation call for: In effect it calls for an embargo on the goods Americans are buying from these places by denying them the ability to enter the country.

FESSLER: Sponsors of the measures say it would be more serious if someone were be able to smuggle a dangerous weapon into the United States. The House isn't allowing amendments during next week's debate, but there will almost certainly be an effort to kill this provision in the Senate.

James Carafano, senior fellow for defense and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation, has other concerns. He says the House bill fails to do one of the main things recommended by the 9/11 Commission and that's to reorganize Congress so it can keep better track of the administration.

Mr. JAMES CARAFANO (Senior Fellow, Heritage Foundation): I think that's still a big problem. I mean the point of fact is that the two congressional committees, which - in the House and the Senate - which are responsible for overseeing the Homeland Security department don't even have jurisdiction over all the other parts of the department. I mean, neither one of the committees has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard.

FESSLER: And that's one of the bigger agencies. Newly elected House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today defended that provision in a colloquy with Minority Whip Roy Blount. Hoyer noted that Republicans weren't eager either when they were in charge to take on powerful committee chairmen by reassigning their responsibilities.

Representative STENY HOYER (Democrat, Maryland; House Majority Whip): Your side did not implement that particular recommendation. And the gentleman is correct, we have not implemented the recommendation as recommended.

FESSLER: Instead, House Democrats have come up with what Hoyer called a hybrid solution. It leaves oversight of Homeland Security as is, spread among multiple committees. But it does give members of the Intelligence Committee more control over intelligence spending, something the 9/11 Commission also said was important. For its part, the Bush administration says it's already implemented most of the commission's recommendations and that more legislation is unnecessary, although Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it might help in some areas.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF (Secretary, Department of Homeland Security): I welcome having congressional endorsement of the recommendations that effect our department.

FESSLER: One of those is to change the formula used to distribute Homeland Security grants. Chertoff has long pushed to target the money to the highest risk areas, something the House bill would do. But those efforts have been stymied in the past by the Senate, which is certain to reshape whatever the House does next week.

Pam Fessler, NPR News, Washington

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