Labor language threatens antiterror bill

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070228/ap_on_go_co/congress_security;_ylt=AtKw_AmugJXqak4SBeJkEPHMWM0F

Labor language threatens antiterror bill

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer Wed Feb 28, 9:19 AM ET

WASHINGTON -
President Bush and his Senate allies will kill a Sept. 11 antiterror bill if Congress sends it to the White House with a provision to let airport screeners unionize, the White House and 36 Republicans said Tuesday.


"As the legislation currently stands, the president's senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.

Senate Republicans swiftly backed up the threat with a pledge by more than enough senators to block any veto override attempt.

"If the final bill contains such a provision, forcing you to veto it, we pledge to sustain your veto," they wrote to the president. Sen. Jim DeMint (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., planned to offer an amendment to strip the provision from the bill.

Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff said that allowing screeners to unionize would impede the department's quick response to possible threats. Fast redeployment of screeners, such as in response to Hurricane Rita and the failed London plot to blow up airliners, cannot wait for negotiations, he said.

Chertoff said screeners are as much on the front lines in the war against terror as military troops.

"Marines don't collectively bargain over whether they're going to wind up, you know, being deployed in Anbar province or in Baghdad," Chertoff told reporters after a briefing with senators. "We can't negotiate over terms and conditions of work that goes to the heart of our ability to move rapidly in order to deal with the threats that are emerging."

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