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Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2004

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  Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the Sept. 11 commission, whose report was the impetus for the legislation, gave a lukewarm endorsement to a House version that would make the head of the CIA the new national intelligence director and increase fines and jail time for terrorism hoaxes.

The Republican-controlled Senate and House are trying to finish legislation before the November election.

While endorsing a Senate bill written by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., the White House said it "is concerned about the excessive and unnecessary detail" in it.

Devil Is in the Details

Congress should simply establish the national intelligence director's office, said the White House, leaving the details for later of letting the president and his advisers handle them.

"Legislatively mandated bureaucracy will hinder, not help, in the effort to strengthen U.S. intelligence capabilities and to preserve our constitutional rights," the White House budget office said in a policy statement to the Senate.

Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who vice-chaired the Sept. 11 commission, repeated his support for the Collins-Lieberman bill but was not as strong in his endorsement of a version written House Republican leaders and more closely resembling what President Bush wants.

"It is my understanding that that bill is within the general framework of the recommendations" his committee made, Hamilton said.

He expressed concern, however, that the House bill goes beyond the commission's recommendations. "We believe that some matters that may be very important that may not be part of the core recommendations of the commission should be in our view, preferably, be considered with other legislation," he said.

The Senate on Tuesday followed another Sept. 11 commission recommendation by approving 96-0 an amendment to tighten air cargo security through more and better inspections, background checks on air cargo handlers and new requirements for cargo airlines to develop security plans.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said 22 percent of all air cargo is flown on passenger planes. The airlines are required to randomly inspect an undisclosed percentage of that cargo.

The Sept. 11 commission report recommended that the Homeland Security Department's Transportation Security Administration intensify efforts to "identify, track and appropriately screen potentially dangerous cargo" on airplanes.

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