House approves anti-terror legislation

WASHINGTON – Anti-terror legislation sailed through the House on Tuesday, the first in a string of measures designed to fulfill campaign promises made by Democrats last fall.

Patterned on recommendations of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 attacks, the far-reaching measure includes commitments for inspection of all cargo carried aboard passenger aircraft and on ships bound for the United States.

The vote was a bipartisan 299-128, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the rostrum to announce the passage of the first legislation to clear under the new Democratic majority.

Reps. Michael Michaud and Tom Allen, D-Maine, voted in favor of the measure.

Democrats said the bill’s passage was a top priority.

“Our first and highest duty as members of this Congress is to protect the American people, to defend our homeland and to strengthen our national security,” said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

Several Republicans criticized the legislation as little more than political posturing in the early hours of a new Democratic-controlled Congress. Democrats want to “look aggressive on homeland security. This bill will waste billions of dollars, and possibly harm homeland security by gumming up progress already under way,” said Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky.

In a written statement, the Bush administration listed several objections and said it could not support the measure as drafted, but stopped short of a veto threat.

Democrats have pledged to make fiscal responsibility a priority in the new Congress, but they advanced the bill – their first of the year – without even a bare-bones accounting of the estimated cost. The funding will require follow-up legislation.

Legislation introduced in the Senate a year ago to implement the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission had a price tag of more than $53 billion over five years.

The terrorism legislation is the first of six measures the House is expected to pass in its first 100 hours in session under Democratic control.

Next up is an increase in the minimum wage – set for passage today – followed by relaxation of the limits on stem cell research conducted with federal funds and a measure directing the administration to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices for Medicare recipients.

Next week, the Democrats intend to clear legislation to cut the interest rate on student loans and to curtail tax breaks for the energy industry.

Each of the six bills would go to the Senate, and it could be months – if then – before they reach the White House.

The House labored over the terrorism bill as the Senate began work on legislation enacting stricter ethics rules – and Democrats continued to gain from last fall’s elections.

Officials said that four of Bush’s controversial appeals court appointees, their chances for confirmation doomed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, would not be renominated.

The four are William Haynes, William Myers, Terrence Boyle and Michael Wallace, all of whom were prevented from coming to votes last year when the Senate was under Republican control.