Written Statement of Governor Tom Ridge
Director of the Transition Planning Office for the
Department of Homeland Security
Submitted to the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
July 10, 2002
“The Department of Homeland Security: Making Americans Safer”
Chairman
Jeffords, Senator Smith, and other distinguished members of the Environment & Public
Works Committee. It is an honor to be here today to explain why I believe
the Senate should support the President’s proposal to establish a Department of
Homeland Security. I also look forward
to responding to your questions and listening to your views.
The President’s Proposal
On
June 6, 2002, President Bush addressed the nation and put forth his vision to
create a permanent Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security. On June 18, 2002, I delivered to the
Congress the President’s proposed legislation for establishing the new
Department. This is an historic
proposal. It would be the most
significant transformation of the U.S. government in over a half-century. It would transform and largely realign the
government’s confusing patchwork of homeland security activities into a single
department whose primary mission is to protect our homeland. The proposal to create a Department of Homeland
Security is one more key step in the President’s national strategy for homeland
security.
It
is crucial that we take this historic step.
At the beginning of the Cold War, President Truman recognized the need
to reorganize our national security institutions to meet the Soviet
threat. We emerged victorious from that
dangerous period thanks in part to President Truman’s initiative. Today we are fighting a new war against a
new enemy. President Bush recognizes
that the threat we face from terrorism requires a reorganization of government
similar in scale and urgency to the unification of the Defense Department and
creation of the CIA and NSC.
Currently,
no federal government department has homeland security as its primary
mission. In fact, responsibilities for
homeland security are dispersed among more than 100 different government
organizations. Creating a unified
homeland security structure will align the efforts of many of these
organizations and ensure that this crucial mission – protecting our homeland –
is the top priority and responsibility of one department and one Cabinet
secretary.
Immediately
after last fall’s attack, the President took decisive steps to protect America
– from hardening cockpits and stockpiling vaccines to tightening our
borders. The President used his legal
authority to establish the White House Office of Homeland Security and the
Homeland Security Council to ensure that our federal response and protection
efforts were coordinated and effective.
The President also directed me, as Homeland Security Advisor, to study
the federal government as a whole to determine if the current structure allows
us to meet the threats of today while anticipating the unknown threats of
tomorrow. After careful study of the
current structure – coupled with the experience gained since September 11 and
new information we have learned about our enemies while fighting a war – the
President concluded that our nation needs a more unified homeland security
structure.
The Department of Homeland
Security
The
creation of the Department of Homeland Security would empower a single Cabinet
official whose primary mission is to protect the American homeland from
terrorism. The mission of the
Department would be to:
·
Prevent
terrorist attacks within the United States;
·
Reduce
America’s vulnerability to terrorism; and
·
Minimize
the damage and recover from attacks that do occur.
The
Department of Homeland Security would mobilize and focus the resources of the
federal government, state and local governments, the private sector, and the
American people to accomplish its mission.
It would have a clear, efficient organizational structure with four
divisions.
·
Information
Analysis and Infrastructure Protection
·
Chemical,
Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures
·
Border
and Transportation Security
·
Emergency
Preparedness and Response
Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection
The
Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection section of the Department of
Homeland Security would complement the reforms on intelligence and
information-sharing already underway at the FBI and the CIA. The Department would analyze information and
intelligence for the purpose of understanding the terrorist threat to the
American homeland and foreseeing potential terrorist threats against the
homeland.
Furthermore,
the Department would comprehensively assess the vulnerability of America’s key
assets and critical infrastructures, including food and water systems,
agriculture, health systems and emergency services, information and
telecommunications, banking and finance, energy (electrical, nuclear, gas and
oil, dams), transportation (air, road, rail, ports, waterways), the chemical
and defense industries, postal and shipping entities, and national monuments
and icons. Critically, the Department
would integrate its own and others’ threat analyses with its comprehensive
vulnerability assessment for the purpose of identifying protective priorities
and supporting protective steps to be taken by the Department, other federal
departments and agencies, state and local agencies, and the private
sector. Working closely with state and
local officials, other federal agencies, and the private sector, the Department
would help ensure that proper steps are taken to protect high-risk potential
targets.
In
short, the Department would for the first time merge under one roof the
capability to identify and assess threats to the homeland, map those threats
against our vulnerabilities, issue timely warnings, and organize preventive or
protective action to secure the homeland.
Chemical, Biological,
Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures
The
war against terrorism is also a war against the most deadly weapons known to
mankind – chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. If the terrorists acquire these weapons,
they will use them with consequences that could be far more devastating than
those we suffered on September 11th.
Currently, our efforts to counter the threat of these weapons to the
homeland are too few and too fragmented.
We must launch a systematic national effort against these weapons that
is equal to the threat they pose.
The
President’s proposed legislation would accomplish this goal. It would authorize the Department of
Homeland Security to lead the federal government’s efforts in preparing for and
responding to the full range of terrorist threats involving weapons of mass
destruction. To do this, the Department
would set national policy and establish guidelines for state and local
governments. It would direct exercises
and drills for federal, state, and local chemical, biological, radiological,
and nuclear (CBRN) attack response teams and plans. The result of this effort would be to consolidate and synchronize
the disparate efforts of multiple federal agencies currently scattered across
several departments. This would create
a single office whose primary mission is the critical task of protecting the
United States from catastrophic terrorism.
The
Department would serve as a focal point for America’s premier centers of
excellence in the field. It would
manage national efforts to develop diagnostics, vaccines, antibodies,
antidotes, and other countermeasures.
It would consolidate and prioritize the disparate homeland security
related research and development programs currently scattered throughout the
Executive Branch. It would also assist
state and local public safety agencies by evaluating equipment and setting
standards.
Border and Transportation
Security
Our
number one priority is preventing future terrorist attacks. Because terrorism is a global threat, we
must attain complete control over whom and what enters the United States in
order to achieve this priority. We must
prevent foreign terrorists from entering our country and bringing in
instruments of terror. At the same
time, we must expedite the legal flow of people and goods on which our economy
depends.
Protecting
our borders and controlling entry to the United States has always been the
responsibility of the Federal government.
Yet, this responsibility is currently dispersed among more than five
major government organizations in five different departments. Therefore, under the President’s proposed
legislation, the Department of Homeland Security would for the first time unify
authority over major federal security operations related to our borders,
territorial waters, and transportation systems.
The Department would assume responsibility
for operational assets of the United States Coast Guard, the United States
Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (including the
Border Patrol), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the
Transportation Security Administration.
The Secretary of Homeland Security would have the authority to
administer and enforce all immigration and nationality laws, including, through
the Secretary of State, the visa issuance functions of consular officers. As a result, the Department would have sole
responsibility for managing entry into the United States and protecting our
transportation infrastructure. It would
ensure that all aspects of border control, including the issuing of visas, are
informed by a central information-sharing clearinghouse and compatible
databases.
Emergency Preparedness and
Response
Although
our top priority is preventing future attacks, we cannot assume that we will
always succeed. Therefore, we must also
prepare to minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur. The President’s proposed legislation would
require the Department of Homeland Security to ensure the preparedness of our
nation’s emergency response professionals, provide the federal government’s
emergency response to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, and aid
America’s recovery.
To fulfill these missions, the Department would oversee federal government assistance in the domestic disaster preparedness training of first responders and would coordinate the government’s disaster response efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would become a central component of the Department of Homeland Security, and the new Department would administer the grant programs for firefighters, police, emergency personnel, and citizen volunteers currently managed by FEMA, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department would manage certain crucial elements of the federal government’s emergency response assets, such as the Strategic National Stockpile. In the case of an actual or threatened terrorist attack, major disaster, or other emergency, the Secretary of Homeland Security would have the authority to call on other response assets, including Energy’s and the EPA’s Nuclear Incident Response teams, as organizational units of the Department. Finally, the Department would integrate the federal interagency emergency response plans into a single, comprehensive, government-wide plan, and ensure that all response personnel have the equipment and capability to communicate with each other as necessary.
State/Local Government &
Private Sector Coordination
The
Department of Homeland Security would consolidate and streamline relations on
homeland security issues with the federal government for America’s state and
local governments, as well as the private sector. It would contain an intergovernmental affairs office to
coordinate federal homeland security programs with state and local
officials. It would give state and
local officials one primary contact instead of many when it comes to matters
related to training, equipment, planning, and other critical needs such as
emergency response.
Secret Service
The Department of Homeland Security would
incorporate the Secret Service, which would report directly to the
Secretary. The Secret Service would
remain intact and its primary mission will remain the protection of the
President and other government leaders.
The Secret Service would also continue to provide security for
designated national events, as it did for the recent Olympics and the Super
Bowl.
Non-Homeland Security
Functions
The
Department of Homeland Security would have a number of functions that are not
directly related to securing the homeland against terrorism. For instance, through FEMA, it would be
responsible for mitigating the effects of natural disasters. Through the Coast Guard, it would be
responsible for search and rescue, navigation, and other maritime
functions. Several other border
functions, such as drug interdiction operations and naturalization, and would
also be performed by the new Department.
White House Office of
Homeland Security and Homeland Security Council
The
President intends for the White House Office of Homeland Security and the
Homeland Security Council to continue to play a key role, advising the
President and coordinating a vastly simplified interagency process.
Making Americans Safer
The
Department of Homeland Security would make Americans safer because our nation
would have:
·
One
department whose primary mission is to protect the American homeland;
·
One
department to secure our borders, transportation sector, ports, and critical
infrastructure;
·
One
department to integrate threat analyses and vulnerability assessments;
·
One
department to coordinate communications with state and local governments,
private industry, and the American people about threats and preparedness;
·
One
department to coordinate our efforts to protect the American people against
bioterrorism and other weapons of mass destruction;
·
One
department to help train and equip for first responders;
·
One
department to manage federal emergency response activities; and
·
More
security officers in the field working to stop terrorists and fewer resources
in Washington managing duplicative and redundant activities that drain critical
homeland security resources.
The New Department Would
Improve Security Without Growing Government
The
Department of Homeland Security must be an agile, fast-paced, and responsive
organization that takes advantage of 21st-century technology and management
techniques to meet a 21st-century threat.
The
creation of a Department of Homeland Security would not "grow"
government. The new Department would be
funded within the total monies requested by the President in his FY 2003 budget
already before Congress for the existing components. In fact, the President’s FY 2003 budget will increase the
resources for the component parts by $14 billion over the FY 2002 budget. We expect that the cost of the new elements
(such as the threat analysis unit and the state, local, and private sector
coordination functions), as well as department-wide management and
administration units, can be funded from savings achieved by eliminating
redundancies inherent in the current structure.
In
order to respond to rapidly changing conditions, the Secretary would need to
have great latitude in re-deploying resources, both human and financial. The Secretary should have broad
reorganizational authority in order to enhance operational effectiveness, as
needed. Moreover, the President will
request for the Department significant flexibility in hiring processes,
compensation systems and practices, and performance management to recruit,
retain, and develop a motivated, high-performance and accountable
workforce. Finally, the new Department
should have flexible procurement policies to encourage innovation and rapid
development and operation of critical technologies vital to securing the
homeland.
Working Together to Create
the Department of Homeland Security
President
Bush recognizes that only the Congress can create a new department of
government. During his June 6th
address to the nation, the President asked Congress to join him in establishing
a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing
the homeland of America, and protecting the American people. I am here to ask, as the President did, that
we move quickly. The need is
urgent. Therefore, the President has
asked Congress to pass his proposal this year, before the end of the
congressional session.
Preliminary
planning for the new Department has already begun. The formal transition would begin once Congress acts on the
President’s proposed legislation and the President signs it into law. Under the President’s plan, the new
Department would be established by January 1, 2003, with integration of some
components occurring over a longer period of time. To avoid gaps in leadership coverage, the President’s proposal
contemplates that appointees who have already been confirmed by the Senate
would be able to transfer to new positions without a second confirmation
process.
During
this transition period, the Office of Homeland Security will maintain vigilance
and continue to coordinate the other federal agencies involved in homeland
security. Until the Department of
Homeland Security becomes fully operational, the proposed Department’s
designated components will continue to operate under existing chains of
command.