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''The bill will protect Americans from terrorism by addressing major security vulnerabilities and improving our defenses across the board against terrorist attacks,'' said Nancy Pelosi. |
According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., "The bill will protect Americans from terrorism by addressing major security vulnerabilities and improving our defenses across the board against terrorist attacks."
House Democrats who wanted the bill to pass passed it back in January, while the Senate passed its version later in March. However, for several months, all action stalled until Tuesday, when "a Republican demand that citizens who report activity that appears to be a terrorist threat be given immunity from lawsuits," was upheld, the article continues.
"I've long believed that an alert citizenry is one of our best defenses," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. "I don't want an individual who in good faith reports suspicious activity to be subject to a lawsuit."
For example, after six Muslim scholars "were removed from a Minneapolis flight after other passengers said they were acting strangely," the article states, "the scholars…filed suit, saying their civil rights were violated."
With the bill ready to be placed on the president's desk as soon as next week, many are hoping the president will sign it, including Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Liebermann, I-Conn., and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Benny Thompson, D-Miss.
"This bill will complete the initial phase of securing all Americans from terrorist attack," said Thompson, "as recommended by the 9/11 Commission.
And in the same article, "Thomas H. Kean, chairman of the 9/11 Commissions and former GOP governor of New Jersey, said in an interview that the new bill 'doesn't mean everything is done, but it is a very big step forward. It will make our nation safer.'"
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