The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted 230-193 to pass H.R. 2868, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act. (Roll call vote.) All but 21 Democrats voted in favor; Republicans all opposed.

With the announcement yesterday of October's 10.2 percent unemployment, opponents stressed the bill's harm to jobs and the economy. (See Shopfloor.org posts here and here.)

But there was also an important, if brief, debate about the bill's introduction of "citizen lawsuits" against the Department of Homeland Security's oversight of chemical plants. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) submitted an amendment to strike the third-party lawsuits language. From McCaul's floor statement:

Allowing any third party--anybody-- to sue the Secretary is both reckless and unnecessary. This provision would be a boon to trial lawyers and to environmentalists at the expense of the Department of Homeland Security and national security interests. Citizen suits have no place in a national security context, and this would be the very first time that Congress would be authorizing such suits in the homeland security arena.

McCaul's amendment was defeated196-232 (roll call vote). More...

• Bloomberg, "House Passes Chemical Security Measure Over Industry Objections"
• NOLA.com (Times-Picayune), "Chemical security bill wins nod from House"
• Greenpeace.org, "Historic Chemical Security Compromise Approved by House"
• USPIRG, "U.S. House Passes Chemical Security Legislation"