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CNN Live Saturday
House Passes Homeland Security Bill
Aired July 27, 2002 - 12:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: Before getting out of town for summer vacation, lawmakers are handing President Bush some key victories on homeland security and trade. White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is at her post today. And Suzanne, a late night -- actually, an early morning for lawmakers today?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It certainly was. Just a flurry of legislation, but the administration got what it wanted in terms of homeland security bill. The House passing 295 to 132, straight along party lines. The administration got a lot of big ticket items what it had hoped for, Customs as well as Coast Guard, FEMA, all a part of this mammoth department that they're going to be creating, 170,000 employees.
Of course, the sticking point is the version that it's going to come out of the Senate, and there is a deal breaker involved in this. The administration wants to limit worker's rights so they have more flexibility to hire or fire, move people and resources, money around as they see fit. They say they need that ability in order to fight terror.
Democrats are saying no, that is not acceptable, this is a deal breaker, but the administration just yesterday threatening to veto that legislation if it does not include that flexibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not going to accept legislation that limits or weakens the president's well established authorities. Authorities to exempt parts of government from federal labor management relation statute, when it serves our national interests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Another big battle here, and that is over the president's push for trade promotion authority. That is the ability for the president to negotiate overseas trade deals without the fear of interference from Congress. This is another very contentious and sticky issue looking to the Senate to see what they're going to do in the next couple of days. The president emphasizing the importance of getting this passed as quickly as possible before the August recess. The president in his radio address just earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The Senate should pass trade promotion authority, which will give me a stronger hand in negotiating foreign trade agreements. Trade agreements create good jobs and economic growth because they open new markets to America's farmers and ranchers and manufacturers. I urge the Senate to get a final bill to my desk so I can immediately take action that will create jobs and strengthen the economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, what is likely to come across his desk first without too much debate or contention is the corporate responsibility bill. The House and the Senate seeing eye to eye on a number of issues, and of course the immediacy that the administration put on Congress to get something passed as quickly as possible. A lot of pressure on the administration, a lot of pressure on Congress because of those stock markets we've seen the triple-digit declines that we have seen in the last couple of weeks, they really wanted something to move as fast as possible. Looks like that's going to be the first thing on his desk -- Renay.
SAN MIGUEL: I was wondering, you know, it's very rare when the Democratic leadership is not on the same page on some of these issues. The Senate's Tom Daschle and the House's Richard Gephardt are not exactly agreeing on the trade bill, are they?
MALVEAUX: Well, that's right. They are not agreeing on it. There are a number of issues, and first of all, one of the issues is labor rights and the fear that some of these jobs are going to be taken away from Americans if they promote this trade promotion authority, that those jobs are going to go overseas. Another concern is that you won't have the same type of environmental protections or the same type of worker rights if you give the president the power to go ahead and negotiate these trade deals without allowing Congress to amend them.
So that is one of the points that they're really looking at, labor issues, environmental issues, those type of things.
SAN MIGUEL: It's interesting how jobs are at the heart of both of these issues, the homeland security and the trade bill. Suzanne Malveaux reporting from Washington, thank you very much for that.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
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