House passes 9/11 Commission recommendations
UPDATE: The House just overwhelmingly voted in favor of the legislation implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations.
Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch issued the following statement after the vote:
PAWTUCKET – Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Bill Lynch today applauded the four members of the state’s Congressional delegation for keeping their promise to make our communities safer and more secure. This week, Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Representatives Patrick Kennedy and Jim Langevin voted to implement the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations, something Republicans refused to do for the last three years.
Langevin played a critical role in crafting the final version of this legislation as he served as a member of the House-Senate conference committee. Over the last week he worked with his fellow House conferees and their Senate counterparts to draft the final version of the bill.
In July 2004, the 9/11 Commission announced its recommendations for how to avoid a future terrorist attack in the United States. For three years, Republicans put their partisan loyalty ahead of our nation’s security, first by resisting Democratic efforts to appoint the bipartisan blue Ribbon in the first place, then by joining President Bush in ignoring the Commission’s recommendations.
But this week, Democrats in Congress voted to send a long-overdue bill that finally implements the 9/11 Commission recommendations to the President’s desk. The bill would tighten screening of air and sea cargo, strengthen transit security, improve oversight of our intelligence and homeland security systems, and allocate $3.3 billion to help communities improve communications among first responders—a major problem during both the September 11 attacks and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“Republicans have fought us every step of the way, but Democrats scored a victory for the American people today by sending the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations to the President’s desk,” said Lynch.
“During last year’s election, Democrats promised to end the failed policies of Bush Republicans and have kept that promise by passing the Commission’s commonsense recommendations for making our communities safer and more secure. The time has come for Bush Republicans to stop standing with the President and start standing up for the people of Rhode Island.”
Last night the Senate passed the conference report on legislation to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations. The House is taking it up right now and is expected to approve it in a vote sometime this afternoon. The next stop is Bush’s desk! This is another example of how Democrats are keeping their promise to make our communities safer and more secure.
Kudos to Congressman Jim Langevin who worked tirelessly as a member of the conference committee to move this critically important legislation to the floor.