...K P F T news

BRIEF: This past weekend, most voting Texas representatives favored bills that would create a Homeland Security Agency and give more international trade negotiating power to the president.

The Homeland security bill, if passed by the senate, would be the largest re-organization of the country in the past 50 years. The new department would be comprised of over 150,000 employees, most of which would come from the already-established 22 agencies the Bush administration plans to incorporate.

The rough idea of the newly proposed office was taken from a bill written by Texas' 13th district Reprasentative Mac Thornberry, before September 11. Texas 8th district representative Kevin Brady had one of his admendments included in the final house version of the bill which may lead to a university-based national center for homeland security. The bill would not limit scientific research to national laboratories and would incorporate research from the Universities.

The trade package will restore power to the presidency that many previous presidents had before 1994, when Congress stalemated while it considered renewing the powers to President Clinton. The package will also provide tax and health benefits to workers who are laid off when their companies move overseas. However, an amendment that would have made citizens liable for accumulated credit card debt after bankruptcy, was scratched off the bill.

Public Citizen has claimed most legislators couldn't have possibly have read the trade package prior to voting on it, because of unusual last-minute revisions to the bill Friday night. Early Saturday-morning's session lasted until 3:30 a.m. as Congress rushed to finish before its August vacation.

All of the voting Republicans from Texas approved the two bills. The only Texas legislator that did not vote was Larry Combest, from the 19th district. Three Texas Democrats: Ruben Hinojosa, Ralph Hall and Charlie Stenholm voted in favor of both of these bills. Six Texas legislators voted against both of the bills: Libertarian Ron Paul and Democrats Lloyd Doggett, Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Nick Lampson and Ciro Rodriguez.

E-mail Brandon Moeller at Brandonmoeller@hotmail.com .