| WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Democratic Homeland Security Task Force member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
and House Democrats called on President Bush to allow Tome Ridge to testify
before Congress as soon as possible. In a letter to President Bush, the
members wrote, “We hope you will agree that a systematic dialogue with
Congress between the Office of Homeland Security and Members of the House
of Representatives - in the form of testimony as well as closed briefings
- is every bit as important as Director Ridge's ongoing discussion with
the many Federal agencies whose budgets he is impacting.”
So
far, President Bush has refused requests by the House and Senate to permit
Ridge to come before Congressional committees. Below is the full
text of the letter.
March
21, 2002
Dear
Mr. President:
We
write respectfully to request that you ask Tom Ridge, Director of the Office
of Homeland Security, to testify as soon as possible before the U.S. House
of Representatives. It simply is not viable to have no protocol or systematic
manner for Members of the House - the elected Representatives of the American
people - to receive regular communications and important homeland defense
information from Mr. Ridge's office.
The
recent Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) was delivered to House
Democrats via White House staff to the Democratic Caucus. While we did
appreciate getting this information, Members were not able to ask questions
of any administration official about the document, either in open or closed
session. Homeland security is too critical a national issue for an announcement
on the new HSAS, or other important homeland security issues that are sure
to arise, to be delivered by White House staff as pamphlets.
House
Members have an excellent sense of local prevention and response capabilities
and will be counted on by local officials and the Federal Government alike
to provide leadership and serve as a liaison with urban and rural communities
with regard to biological, chemical, nuclear, radiological and other terrorist
threats.
We
hope you will agree that a systematic dialogue with Congress between the
Office of Homeland Security and Members of the House of Representatives
- in the form of testimony as well as closed briefings - is every bit as
important as Director Ridge's ongoing discussion with the many Federal
agencies whose budgets he is impacting. As has been noted, Mr. Ridge's
job is more than that of a Presidential advisor, and therefore formal interaction
with Congress by way of testimony is justified.
In
the interest of providing the best homeland security for all Congressional
Districts, we urge you to ask the Homeland Security Director to testify
before the House of Representatives as soon as possible. We look forward
to hearing from you on this matter of great importance to all Americans. |
