New anti-terror law for US
Saturday, 28 Jul 2007 15:51
The Capitol has finally backed the 9/11 Commission's recommendations
The United States Congress has approved a batch of anti-terror measures designed to shore up the country's homeland security against another 9/11-style attack.
The House of Representatives voted 371-40 in favour of the bill last night, following the Senate's 85-8 approval on Thursday evening.
Among the measures included in the bill, whose proposals were laid down three years ago by a specially-formed 9/11 Commission, is the scanning for nuclear devices of all cargo on ships departing for the US from overseas ports. This will be introduced within five years, while all cargo on passenger planes will be screened within three years.
The bill also includes domestic provisions for improved security. Communications between federal officials at different levels of government will receive a boost, while funding for different US cities will be allocated more in line with their relative risk as terror targets.
Commentators say the successful passage of the bill, which is expected to win the White House's approval, is good news for the Democrats. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's party have struggled to move forward their legislative agenda since winning last autumn's midterm elections to seize control of Congress.
"Congress has kept its promise to the families who suffered so much on 9/11. We have made the American people more secure," she told reporters.
The process was not entirely bipartisan, however, as the Republicans threatened to reject parts of the bill they believed the Democrats were introducing on political lines.
Californian Congressman Tom Lantos, a Democrat, said efforts to improve security were being undermined by the White House's foreign policy, which he said reflected its "singularly non-internationalist, non-multilateralist approach" to international affairs.