Senate passes legislation authorizing Bush to retaliate

The Senate today by a vote of 98-0 passed a resolution authorizing President Bush to use force against those responsible for Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The resolution was a result of bipartisan congressional negotiations with the administration that continued until this morning.

"In my judgment, it was very important to have the Congress indicate that they stand up and support the President," said Senate Armed Services ranking member John Warner, R-Va.

According to a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., "The House will pass it unanimously--I'm certain."

The joint resolution is similar to the authorization that the administration first proposed. Several senators had expressed misgivings that the language might be overly broad, and as late as this morning key senators were crafting their own individual approaches. But Senate leaders said members understood the need to come together quickly around a single proposal as a demonstration of unity.

"We could quibble for days or for weeks," said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. "We could argue the legalisms or we could parse over every word ... but the Senate chose not to do that."

Lott said the resolution was "broad enough for the President to do all that he needs to do," while still being "tight enough that the constitutional requirements and limitations are protected."

The resolution authorizes the President to use "all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons" that he determines committed Tuesday's attacks. A key change is the specific citation of requirements under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which protects congressional prerogatives. Warner, who helped negotiate the resolution at the White House Thursday, said the reference would ensure sufficient consultation with Congress.

Summarizing the initial misgivings expressed by some Democrats and Republicans, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said members wanted to express support for the President's efforts to defeat terrorism without providing "blanket approval" for some future exercise.

Kerry said he did not want the resolution to be used as an "excuse" to invade a country that was not directly linked to the attacks.

"The reference is to the Sept. 11 participants, and not to any other sort of self-divined enemy that you feel like you don't want to see around anymore," he said.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., noted that some members of the House and Senate preferred a more "expansive" granting of authority to the President. But he said the resolution was the appropriate response to a direct attack on U.S. sovereignty.

"No one should think what we did here is less than a declaration of war," he said.

House Republican leaders may try to schedule a vote on the resolution as early as today. But a previously scheduled Saturday session is still planned for now, as many New York members are in their districts and touring the damage along with Bush.

A spokeswoman for House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said Democrats have signed off on the language passed by the Senate, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats wanted a full day of debate.