House panel schedules markup of Homeland Security bill

The House Homeland Security Committee plans late next month to mark up the first-ever authorization bill for the Homeland Security Department, according to a memorandum obtained by CongressDaily.

"As you know, the committee is well along in developing a comprehensive authorization bill for the [department] based on the vigorous oversight and broad consultation this committee has conducted over the past year," wrote Homeland Security Chairman Christopher Cox, R-Calif., and ranking member Jim Turner, D-Texas, in a memo sent Thursday to panel members.

Under the tentative schedule, committee members plan to meet next Thursday and June 9 to discuss the legislation, followed by distribution of a draft bill June 11 and a June 18 deadline for proposed amendments, leading up to the June 22 markup.

While Cox and Turner have been negotiating behind the scenes on the legislation this year, the two lawmakers have not always presented a united front. But they have now teamed up to solicit bipartisan support from panel members to mark up the bill quickly.

"Your continued participation will be essential in helping to craft a substantive bill that can move quickly -- with strong bipartisan support -- through our committee and the [House]," wrote the lawmakers.

Turner and other Democratic panel members have recently introduced a handful of bills they want incorporated into the authorization bill. Cox has withheld support for the provisions, saying he wanted to hold hearings and solicit feedback from the department.

The memo also stated the panel is drafting the bill "in close cooperation with the department and other committees of jurisdiction." Cox has been discussing the bill with other chairmen with oversight responsibilities for the department, promising them the bill would not tread on their turf.

Several chairmen oppose the idea of making the Homeland Security Committee permanent next year, and others have expressed frustration with the panel's authorization bill.

"That bill is coming to my committee," House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, declared earlier this month.

Cox's spokeswoman said her boss plans to meet with all the committee chairmen and the Homeland Security panel members soon to remind the lawmakers that the authorization bill is about homeland security, "not turf politics," and to "emerge with a consensus-building and bipartisan" bill.