WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved the biggest reorganization of the federal government in 55 years Tuesday, sending President Bush legislation to create a homeland security department that combines an array of disparate federal agencies in the name of combating terrorism.
The 90-9 vote came after the White House and Republican congressional leaders thwarted a last-ditch effort by Democrats to remove what they said were corporate special interest provisions in the bill. The House of Representatives had already passed the legislation and any changes could have doomed passage this year.
The new department will bring under one roof 22 agencies and 170,000 employees, ranging from the Coast Guard to the Secret Service, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the bureau Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. It will provide a centralized clearinghouse for intelligence data and it will be the new home to the government’s stressed immigration and border patrol agencies.
Bush congratulated Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott on Tuesday in a phone call from Air Force One en route to Prague for a NATO meeting. “We’re making great progress in the war on terror; part of that progress will be the ability for us to protect the American people at home,” Bush told Lott and other senators listening on speakerphone in Lott’s office.
Congress has yet to provide financing for the new department, however. Several senators said that is an obstacle the new Republican-controlled House and Senate will have to confront early next year.
Devising the new department gives Bush a chance to change workplace rules and pay scales under the new measure without having to abide by civil service procedures. Workers could seek federal mediation, but the administration could ignore the mediator’s recommendations.
The legislation creating the department gives airports up to an additional year to meet strict inspection standards for checked baggage. The bill also permits pilots to carry weapons in the cockpit of commercial airplanes. In addition, it expands criminal penalties for computer cyber-attacks, particularly if they cause death or widespread economic disruption, and it contains broad exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act.
© 2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.