The bill was passed by a vote of 90 to 9 as the Congress was drawing to a close, ending bitter clashes on the legislation between the Republican and Democratic parties for several months.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Senate rejected a Democratic effort to strip what they called seven "special-interest" provisions out of the legislation, clearing the last hurdle for its final passage.

The provisions, which include liability protections for pharmaceutical manufacturers and companies that develop anti-terrorism technologies, had been inserted into the legislation by House Republicans. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed the revised bill last week by a vote of 299-to-121.

The new Cabinet-level agency will merge 22 agencies including the Coast Guard, Secret Service and Border Patrol, with 170,000 workers and combined budgets of about 40 billion US dollars.

The bill would provide the president broad authority to hire, fire and transfer workers in the department; permit guns in airline cockpits as a last line of defense against hijackers; and extend by one year the deadline for screening of all airline baggage.

The passage handed a major victory to President George W. Bush who said the legislation is his top priority. Bush is expected to sign the bill.

"It is landmark in its scope and it ends a session which has seen two years worth of legislative work which has been very productive for the American people," Bush told Senate Republican leaders from Air Force One as he flew to NATO meetings in Europe.

Bush proposed the new department last June, saying the agency was needed to provide a united front against the terrorist threat to the nation.

The House of Representatives approved an initial legislation bya wide margin in July, but the Senate debate stalled for months over the labor rights of employees in the new agency.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2002)