Dems drop some 9/11 panel proposals from agenda

A legislative package that House Democrats are preparing to implement recommendations of the 9/11 Commission will include measures on port and cargo security, interoperable communications, securing loose nuclear materials abroad and distributing homeland security grants based on risk, according to Democratic sources.

But the package will not include a reorganization of congressional oversight of the Homeland Security Department or an attempt to declassify the intelligence budget, despite the fact that those, too, were key recommendations. Although Democrats pledged during the election to implement all of the commission's unfulfilled recommendations, aides now concede that doing so will be harder than they thought.

Indeed, Democratic lawmakers and their aides have often pointed to a scorecard issued by the commission a year ago showing which recommendations remain unfulfilled. But now, Democrats are backing away from using the scorecard to guide development of their legislative proposals, which they promise to pass within the first 100 hours after they take control of Congress in January.

"I think the scorecard makes it seem like the issues are black and white when there really is a lot of gray," one leadership aide said. "I think in some ways the scorecard hurts. It makes it seem simple."

Democrats are opening themselves up to criticism from Republicans as they pick and choose which recommendations to implement.

"The Democrat leadership has promised the American people time and time again that they would take action on the remaining 9/11 Commission recommendations," House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., said in a statement. "However, it now appears that may have been nothing more than a hollow campaign promise."

Democratic aides would not discuss details of the package, saying much of the fine print is still under discussion. They also said a decision has not yet been made whether to introduce one omnibus bill or several individual bills.

"I can tell you there will be an interoperability component to the bill in the first 100 hours," the leadership aide said. Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee also submitted a list of suggestions to incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., an aide said.

The list includes a requirement that Homeland Security ensure that within three years all cargo containers coming into U.S. seaports or put on domestic airplanes are scanned for weapons of mass destruction, the aide said. "We have a fair amount of input where our issues are concerned but in the end it's up to the leader's discretion," the aide added.

The leadership aide said Pelosi supports declassification of the intelligence budget but any attempt to do so would be shot down by the administration. "If we put that in there, that kills the bill," the aide said.

The aide also noted that the House has already taken action to overhaul oversight of the Homeland Security Department. But King said the Homeland Security Committee still does not have exclusive jurisdiction over DHS.

"This could be enacted immediately by a simple rule change, and there is absolutely no excuse that it not be done," he said.