[StBernard] Senate bill passes, but minus waivers

[Westley Annis]

GOP opposition shoots down proposal
 
WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed a homeland security bill, 60-38, on Tuesday
that would enact previously rejected recommendations from the bipartisan
9/11 Commission, but without the amendments sought by Louisiana's two
senators to waive local and state reimbursement for Katrina and Rita
hurricane assistance. 
 
Opposition by several Republican senators doomed the proposals to waive a
requirement that Louisiana pay 10 percent of federal disaster funds and
another that would eliminate a provision that requires Louisiana communities
to repay community disaster loans. 
 
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said she is disappointed but encouraged that
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Appropriations
Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., have agreed to include the
provisions in a supplemental spending bill due on the Senate floor within
the next two weeks. Such language is already included in the House version
of a supplemental spending bill, which is expected to be voted on next week.
 
"The people of Louisiana sought just one thing in these amendments:
fairness," Landrieu said. "We asked our federal government to stand up, meet
its responsibility and give us the same opportunities to recover as are
afforded every other state. Instead, such fairness was cast aside by
obstructionist politics, with some senators blocking so much as an
up-or-down vote on these measures without even coming to the floor to
identify themselves publicly or defend their actions. Such tactics are
shameful, and are not what the American people elected us to come here to
do." 
 
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who sponsored the amendments with Landrieu, said
he's eager for the measures, as well as extra financing for levees and other
Katrina-related bills, to be voted on as part of an emergency supplemental
spending bill for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Vitter said he is
preparing amendments for the supplemental spending bill that would prevent
what he calls the kind of overreaching micromanagement of the Iraq war in
the House version. 
 
"My first goal is to solve the problem on the Senate floor so I can vote for
the bill," said Vitter, who supports goals that Iraqi forces would be
expected to meet without mandating a withdrawal of troops or curtailing
President Bush's planned surge of troops. The president's plan is the "last
shot" at getting a policy in Iraq that can work, he said. 
 
"But certainly if (the supplemental bill) has Iraqi language that is bad
policy and really bad in terms of our national security, I can't vote for
the bill," Vitter said. 
 
 
Flood control, fisheries 
 
 
The House version includes $1.3 billion to continue flood control and
hurricane protection work on both the east and west banks of the Mississippi
River, $140 million for farmers and ranchers affected by the hurricanes,
$120 million for Louisiana fisheries hurt by the storms and $25 million to
allow the Small Business Administration to continue to make and service
disaster loans to Gulf Coast homeowners. 
 
It also includes $30 million in incentives to encourage teachers and other
educators to take jobs in hurricane-ravaged communities; $30 million to help
Gulf Coast colleges deal with hurricane-related losses and would extend the
Federal Emergency Management Agency's ability to pay utility costs through
February next year. It also retains the federal Disaster Voucher Program
that displaced residents use to pay rent in their new communities through
the remainder of 2007. 
 
"Over a year and half has passed since Katrina and Rita tore through our
homes and communities, and we are still struggling to get back on our feet
and prepare for the next storm," said Rep. Charlie Melancon,
D-Napoleonville. "This emergency supplemental bill recognizes the urgency of
our needs in south Louisiana." 
 
Melancon said he considers the storm-related items "so critical to our
recovery" that he'll vote for the bill even if he has reservations about the
language about Iraq. 
 
Continued war funding 
 
Under the House bill's language, Congress would provide $100 billion to pay
for the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more money than President
Bush requested for Afghanistan and for training and equipment, but with
restrictions. It requires Bush to certify that Iraq officials are meeting
benchmarks for political progress and calls for American troops to complete
their mission by August 2008. 
 
But after opposition from Blue Dog Democrats, a coalition of moderate and
conservative House members, the House Democratic leaders dropped a provision
requiring the president to get permission from Congress before engaging in
military action against Iran. Still, passage is uncertain because of the
conflict between anti-war Democrats who want more restrictions placed on
Bush's Iraq options and moderates who don't want to limit the military's
options. 
 
On the Senate side, Landrieu did claim one victory. After giving up on her
fight to block other amendments to force votes on waiving Louisiana's share
of Katrina assistance, the Senate adopted her amendment to make the 15,000
miles of levees designated as critical national infrastructure. 
 
The homeland security bill describes such infrastructure as those systems
whose destruction by a hurricane or other disaster would result in
significant loss of life, severe economic, harm, mass evacuations or the
loss of a city. Her amendment requires the Department of Homeland Security
to assess the risk of a levee-targeted terrorist attack and ensure their
protection, especially in densely populated areas.