President Bush Proposes New
Homeland Security Department

One of the first responses by the Bush Administration after Sept.11 to the threat of terrorist attack which had suddenly become so real with the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon was the establishment on Oct. 8 of the Office of Homeland Security, headed by former Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge. In addition to Ridge's appointment as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, a Homeland Security Council, modeled on the National Secrecy Council, was created to advise and assist the President on all aspects of homeland security. The challenge was and still is formidable. The United States, a democratic state more inclined toward the free flow of people, goods, and ideas than the dictates of tight security for public and private installations, faces threats at home that compelled significant rethinking of many aspects of public and private life alike. From the time Ridge arrived in Washington to take up the position, his duties and responsibilities have been the subject of severe controversy. Many Members of Congress and outside observers believed he lacked the budgetary authority and control over involved departments that would be required to execute the job's responsibilities effectively.

Disagreement over the appropriate arrangements for homeland security implementation has been a long-running affair. Prior to Sept.11, the numerous commissions and task forces that had investigated the proper organization of U.S. homeland security had come to differing conclusions on the matter. The positions of two of the most important investigations on the subject, the Hart-Rudman U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century and Virginia Governor James Gilmore's Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction illustrate the difference.

Gov. Gilmore's panel recommended a model based upon the 'drug tsar' or Office of National Drug Control Policy, a coordination entity within the Executive Office of the President. Gov. Gilmore's agency would have had been established at Cabinet level, and led by senior staff subject to Senate confirmation. It would have been responsible for producing a homeland security strategy and accompanying budget, and the director of the office would have had the power to decertify any other agency's budget that did not meet the strategy's needs. The agency would also have been responsible for producing performance assessments to measure progress toward reducing threat levels. It would have had its responsibilities set forth by statute. The organization of the Office of Homeland Security as outlined in October directive followed this approach to a degree, though without the Senate confirmation for the office's Director, an approach that has led to a protracted struggle between Congress and the Administration over whether Ridge should testify on the Hill.

The Hart-Rudman Commission's proposal, on the other hand, advocated the establishment of a lead agency to protect against and respond to a terrorist attack. The department would have been at Cabinet level with three main streams of activity. The prevention function would have incorporated the Border Patrol, Coast Guard, and Customs Service. A Critical Infrastructure Protection directorate would have assumed control of a number of smaller offices that deal with information and computer security. Finally a response function would have drawn in the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a domestic preparedness office from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A National Crisis Action Center would also have been created to respond to crisis.

The President's plan, as presented on June 6, follows the Hart-Rudman Commission's proposals to a large degree while adding a fourth major activity, that of leading "the federal government's efforts in preparing for and responding to the full range of terrorist threats involving weapons of mass destruction." A Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures division would, under the President's plan, group the Civilian Bio-defense Research Programs from Health and Human Services, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from the Department of Energy, Agriculture's Plum Island Animal Disease Center, and a new National Biological Warfare Defense Analysis Center. A number of agencies not specified in the Hart-Rudman Commission's report will be drawn into the four divisions, as well as the Secret Service, which will report directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Only Congress can approve the establishment of the new department, and it is expected that trouble will arise on Capitol Hill as committee chairmen argue over rearranged oversight responsibilities.

A recent Brookings report surveyed the high and low points of a single agency approach. Re-allocating key functions to a single department does clarify the whole situation, streamlining efforts previously involving up to fifty federal agencies. Consolidation of far-flung agencies would ease communication and may eventually provide savings from certain redundant functions. Yet the department cannot hope to include other major important agencies with some role in homeland security. Examples are Defense, Justice, including the FBI, and the intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency. Co-ordination functions were also highlighted as a possible difficulty, with any single department head having to act as co-ordinator possibly being seen as partial toward the department he or she supervised. With the specific intention to retain the Office of Homeland Security and the Homeland Security Council within the White House however, these anticipated coordination functions may prove less severe than previously feared.

A further organizational challenge is that of government agencies with two or more functions, now proposed for transfer to the new Department. Some functions have clearly been transferred to the right place, such as the chemical, biological, and radiological defense functions of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. However the nuclear stewardship functions are likely to be leased back to the Energy Department. The Coast Guard, has a happier transition from the Transportation Department, where its maritime safety functions are perfectly suited, to the new department, where its border defense and enforcement tasks are better fitted. Other agencies, such as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, will end up within the new department yet carrying out major functions unrelated to homeland security.

Overall, the President's proposal seems like the right action to take in response to the threats the U.S. faces. The plan is on an ambitious schedule, with establishment planned for Jan.1, 2003. The 88 separate committees that will oversee the plan within the House and Senate may well slow the implementation of the proposal down severely. However, initial reaction is generally positive, and it is very likely that it will be fully implemented, if not quite in the exact form or to the exact timetable currently outlined.

 

Colin Robinson CDI Research Analyst crobinson@cdi.org

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