Senator blasts Bush again on worker protections in homeland bill

On Wednesday, for the second time in two days, Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., attacked the Bush administration's homeland security plan and urged members of Congress not to endorse it hastily.

In a Senate floor speech, Byrd said the proposed Homeland Security Department is a backhanded attempt to strip rights from federal employees.

Although President Bush has said he believes the department should have broad "flexibility" on labor laws to create a nimble agency, Byrd said: "I question the real motivation behind the president's objections to worker protections. Let's face it, the players in this administration don't have much of a reputation as champions of basic protections for workers."

Byrd, the Senate's most vocal critic of the homeland security bill, plans a series of commentaries on the bill throughout the week. The Senate is not expected to act on the measure until September.