House Democrats pass the first bill of their planned legislative push, approving a measure aimed at implementing most of the remaining anti-terrorism recommendations from the 9-11 Commission.
The bill, the first piece of the Democrats' so-called "Six for 06" push, would do several things to tighten security against terrorism. It would divide federal money based on risk level, giving more to urban areas. It would create more grants for first responders.
The bill would also push the Bush administration to work with the United Nations on controlling loose nuclear material. And it mandates that President Bush apply sanctions to any country that trades nuclear technology with a non-nuclear state.
The legislation would also require that all cargo containers entering the United States be scanned for nuclear materials and other potential weapons.
Many lawmakers say that scanning everything that comes into American ports is just not practical. But this isn't the final version of the bill; the Senate Homeland Security Committee takes up its ideas later this month.
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