Last night Russian officials said they were preparing a rescue, with helicopters flying from Arctic islands 400 miles away, although bad weather could delay the effort.
Though Mr. Obama had threatened to veto the House bill, officials were concerned about it being shelved again given that it would delay the effort to reach an ultimate compromise.
As the company identified and fixed individual bottlenecks, he said, other problems would spring up elsewhere, delaying the effort to get the Web site working normally again.
Last year The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto quoted an unnamed official from the province of Ontario, where R.I.M. is based, saying that Chinese concerns about monitoring messages had delayed the effort.
Mr. Chertoff, in an interview, said that the original plan was to use these devices for all passengers at checkpoints, but that opposition from privacy advocates had significantly delayed the effort.
In another sign of the fighting's severity, the International Committee of the Red Cross said a convoy trying to reach Homs had been forced to turn back by gunfire, delaying the effort to evacuate sick people and women and children.
But technical problems and cash shortfalls have delayed the effort.
Logistical complications have delayed the effort but at least two British flights have already departed the area.
A rainy weekend may have delayed the effort, but the oil remains contained within a 7-acre spill zone, according to the North Dakota department of health.
Both Dr. Corley and Dr. Astaneh-Asl said their data gathering efforts would not delay the recycling efforts by much, although they would like to set aside pieces that were near the impacts and fires.
