What if: How Dems would handle homeland security

Given the chance to control the House or Senate, Democrats say they would move to boost funding for rail and transit security, maritime security, the Coast Guard and first responders, as well as push to implement unfulfilled recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Democratic lawmakers and aides say additional funding for those measures could be provided through one or more ways, such as increasing the top line of the Homeland Security budget, rolling back tax breaks for those who make more than $1 million a year, and finding offsets, such as increased user, Customs and immigration fees.

Democrats say they would push legislation that has already garnered bipartisan support. "Why go back and reinvent the wheel?" a Democratic aide asked. Another aide added, "The first place I would start with would be what we passed this year that didn't get enacted."

Senate Democrats and Republicans supported, for example, amendments to their version of the port security bill that would have authorized about $4.6 billion for rail security and mass transit security. Those measures were not included in the final bill. Aides noted that another bill authorizing improvements and funding for other modes of transportation was approved earlier this year by the Senate Commerce Committee, while a measure to lift the cap on the number of airport screeners was approved by the full Senate.

House and Senate Democratic leaders rolled out their homeland security agenda earlier this year. "On the first day we control Congress, we will begin by passing all of the 9/11 Commission recommendations," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in July.

Republicans and the Bush administration have made efforts at addressing those recommendations. But the commission last December gave subpar grades for seven out of 14 recommendations dealing with homeland security and emergency response, including failing grades in the areas of freeing up radio spectrum for emergency responders, allocating homeland security funds based only on risk, and improving airline passenger pre-screening.

Democrats say their agenda includes preventing the outsourcing of critical U.S. infrastructure to foreign interests, investing in public health capabilities and services, ensuring that all cargo containers bound for the United States in ships or airplanes are screened at their points of origin, and more training, equipment and technology for first responders. Democrats also would seek to secure loose nuclear materials around the world by 2010.

House Democrats say they want more funding to hire additional border security and Customs agents. And Pelosi has called for additional Coast Guard funding to increase personnel by 15 percent and upgrade ships and aircraft in half the time of current plans.

House and Senate Democratic appropriators made their goals clear in the process of passing the fiscal 2007 Homeland Security spending bill, aides said. An amendment from House Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-Wis., and House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minn., would have added $1 billion for immigration, aviation, port and transit security. The funding would have been provided by reducing the tax cut given to individuals making more than $1 million a year. The amendment failed by voice vote.

Aides said Obey is in line to chair the full committee, but it is not clear who would chair the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, as Sabo is retiring. Senate Appropriations ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., offered an amendment to add $190 million for port security grants, in order to bring the funding level up to that authorized in the port security bill. Byrd said he has also offered eight different amendments to fund rail and transit security since 2001, all of which were defeated.

House Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said his top priorities if made chairman would be funding for rail and transit security and interoperable communications for first responders. Thompson had pushed to authorize $3.1 billion for interoperability grants as part of a bill overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He noted that several prominent Republicans have supported bills that would authorize more funding for interoperability, including one in the Senate last year that would have provided $3.3 billion in emergency communication and interoperable grants over five years.

Thompson said he would also seek to require the administration to increase the scanning of air and sea cargo, and increase information sharing with local law enforcement.

"I don't believe that the public will accept members of Congress knowing that these vulnerabilities exist and not addressing them," he said. "That's why, if I'm chairman of the committee, I will not defer addressing the vulnerabilities."