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Bush signs landmark U.S. security bill

Washington: United States President George W. Bush signed legislation on Saturday that intensifies the anti-terrorism effort in the United States, shifting money to high-risk States and cities and expanding scrutiny of air and sea cargo.

The bill elevates the importance of risk factors in determining which States and cities get Federal security funds. That would mean more money for such cities as New York and Washington. It also puts money into a new programme to ensure that security officials at every level can communicate with each other. It requires screening of all cargo on passenger planes within three years and sets a five-year goal of scanning all container ships for nuclear devices before they leave foreign ports.

Mr. Bush called it “the largest restructuring of our Government since World War II” as he signed the bill into law before going to the FBI to meet counterterrorism advisers and then talk with members of his homeland security team.

Completion of the bill, six months after the House passed its original version on the first day of the current Congress, was a major victory for Democrats who have seen some of their other priorities — immigration and energy reform and stem cell research funding — thwarted by Republican and presidential resistance and House-Senate differences.

The measure carries out unfulfilled recommendations that the September 11 Inquiry Commission made three years ago in the wake of the terror attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2001. — AP

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