| Mega-Security Agency Faces Fight | |
Exactly what is President Bush asking Congress to do in creating a Department of Homeland Security? How soon and how likely is it to happen?
Creation of the Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, would represent the most sweeping realignment of the federal government since 1945, when President Harry Truman asked Congress to combine all of the military branches into the Department of Defense and to create the CIA. Even with lessons learned from World War II fresh in their minds, lawmakers took two years to grant Truman's wishes by passing the National Security Act of 1947. Truman's plan, in fact, was not fully implemented until 1958, after two major amendments to the 1947 law.
How significant are the changes President Bush has proposed? Consider these facts:
• Starting with over 170,000 employees and an initial annual budget of $37 million, the Department of Homeland Security would be the third largest federal agency, exceeded in size only by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
• The Department of Homeland Security would become a Cabinet-level agency. Since the heads or "secretaries" of Cabinet agencies work directly as advisors to the White House and hold positions in the line of presidential succession, Congress is very careful in approving them. Congress last approved a Cabinet agency in 1988 -- the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Eight existing federal agencies will be moved in their entirety from their current departments to the Department of Homeland Security. Parts of several other agencies will be partially absorbed by the new department.
Agencies moved in their entirety
- Federal Emergency Management Administration
Currently an independent agency -
Coast Guard
from the Department of Transportation - Transportation Security Administration
from the Department of Transportation - Customs Service
from the Treasury Department - Immigration and Naturalization Service
and U.S. Border Patrol
from the Department of Justice - Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
from the Department of Agriculture - Secret Service
from the Department of Justice
Agencies to be partially absorbed include: the Commerce Department's Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office; the National Domestic Preparedness Office and the National Infrastructure Protection Center; and the Office of Federal Protective Service and the Federal Computer Incident Response Center at the General Services Administration.
• Department
of Homeland Security Planning Document
A .pdf file containing complete organizational charts and
operational details of the new department
How soon will this happen?
House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) has urged approval of
the Department of Homeland Security by Sept. 11 -- the one-year anniversary of
the terrorist attacks. The rest of Congress, however, is not likely to ride that
fast a track. Among factors likely to slow down Congress' approval are:
• A total of 88 committees and subcommittees with jurisdiction over various areas of homeland security will need to consider and approve all or parts of the plan.
• Under the federal budget process, All 13 spending bills of the FY 2003 federal budget must be considered and approved by Oct. 1.
• The plan involves a huge mass of what politicians most like to fight over - money.
• The mid-term congressional elections come up in November.
• Congress normally takes the entire month off August off and is scheduled to do so this year.
• Finally, not everybody in Congress is for the plan.
What the critics say:
While President Bush's plan enjoys bi-partisan support in Congress, as did
President Truman's in 1945, there have been objections raised:
•
Neither federal agency most in need of "realignment" to prevent terrorism -- the FBI and CIA -- will be incorporated by or answerable to the Department of Homeland Security. While the FBI and CIA will act as information providers to the Department of Homeland Security, their daily operations will not be otherwise affected.• The bureaucratic "turf-wars" certain to develop between the agencies affected will tend to divert their attention from current security duties, thus actually increasing our vulnerability to terrorist attacks during the congressional approval process.
• Simply rearranging various elements of government will not address the basic problems leading to America's susceptibility to terrorist attacks. As Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) said, "The question is whether shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic is the way to go."
