House panel postpones work on Homeland Security authorization bill

Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee have postponed work on the fiscal 2007 Homeland Security Department authorization bill, prompting heated criticism from Democrats who say the move might undermine the committee's credibility and prevent the measure from being completed this year.

According to a committee aide, Republican committee leaders say the delay is temporary while they work to pass a maritime security bill.

All 15 Democrats on the panel fired off a letter Thursday to Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., opposing the move.

"We are deeply disturbed by news that the Committee on Homeland Security has put on hold and, possibly, canceled its full authorization process this year," they said. "We strongly urge you to reconsider these efforts and proceed, as planned, with the comprehensive authorization bill that has been a priority for this committee over the last several months."

The aide defended the move. "Authorization is not dead, it's simply postponed," the aide said. "Chairman King feels the committee needs to focus on the critical issue of improving security at our nation's ports and intends to proceed with the authorization this year."

The committee did the first-ever authorization bill for Homeland Security last year, which overwhelmingly passed out of the House by a 424-4 vote. But the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee did not do an authorization bill, meaning Congress has not sent a final bill to President Bush since the department was created more than three years ago.

House Democrats fear the committee's credibility will be at stake if a fiscal 2007 authorization bill is not completed. They said negotiations have indicated strong bipartisan agreement on many issues, and noted that the decision to postpone came only four days before markup sessions were scheduled to begin.

"The need for a comprehensive bill is abundantly clear in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which demonstrated serious flaws in our nation's homeland security efforts," the Democrats wrote. "A piecemeal approach to homeland security that focuses on 'hot' issues or after-the-fact responses to crises will not make our nation safer."

Maritime and port security have been catapulted into the national spotlight in recent weeks after news broke that a Dubai-owned company was planning to take over terminal operations at several major U.S. ports. Although the company, Dubai Ports World, announced Thursday it will turn over all its U.S. terminal operations to a U.S. entity, lawmakers still are moving quickly to pass legislation aimed at beefing up maritime security.

King and House Homeland Security Economic Security Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., are crafting a comprehensive bill called the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act, or the SAFE Port Act. It will be introduced on Tuesday, and will be the subject of a hearing Thursday.

Lungren said he hopes to pass the bill out of committee "very quickly," after which work will start on the fiscal 2007 authorization bill.