Lawmakers push for national homeland security agency

Lawmakers on Thursday urged the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee to expedite action on the myriad of bills that aim to create a homeland security agency.

After President Bush in October appointed Tom Ridge to head the new White House Office of Homeland Security, numerous lawmakers criticized Ridge's lack of budgetary authority and introduced bills to strengthen his position. Now, Democrats and Republicans are uniting in an effort to ensure that Ridge's office is adequately equipped to protect the homeland.

Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., introduced a bill, S. 1534, that would create a National Homeland Security Agency. The agency would plan and coordinate federal activities related to border patrol, emergency management, critical infrastructure protection and computer-related defense activities. On Thursday, the committee heard debate on the bill from lawmakers who introduced similar bills and from other experts.

"I think we have no time to spare," Specter testified, asking Lieberman and ranking Republican Fred Thompson of Tennessee to vote on the bill as soon as possible to get it to the Senate floor.

Reps. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., and Jane Harman, D-Calif., and Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., testified in support of empowering Ridge. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., asked that his bill, S. 2020, which would establish a Department of National Border Security, be considered in tandem with S. 1534.

Thornberry, who introduced a measure to establish a National Homeland Security Agency, said he soon would introduce a new version of that bill, H.R. 1158.

The measure would consolidate key homeland security agencies into one department. The consolidated agencies would be : the Border Patrol, the Customs Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Commerce Department's Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office and Institute of Information Infrastructure Protection, and the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center and National Domestic Preparedness Office. The department also would include a research and development organization.

In addition, Thornberry's bill would create a White House National Office for Combating Terrorism and mandate that the Senate confirm the head of that office. S. 1534 would consolidate agencies much like H.R. 1158 would.

Harman and Tauscher co-sponsored H.R. 1158. Tauscher said another portion of the bill, that would make a "real difference," would create an Office of Science and Technology within the new agency. "This office will better channel the wealth of expertise at our nation's defense laboratories to detect and counter the terrorist threat," she said.

Industry experts from organizations such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Border Trade Alliance and the Brookings Institution echoed support for strengthening Ridge's office via legislation.

S. 1534 will incorporate aspects of similar bills and will be reintroduced "shortly," the lawmakers said. Harman said once that bill is ready, she and other House lawmakers will introduce a sister bill in that chamber.

After the hearing, Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels told reporters the White House is open to the idea of a new homeland security agency. Previously, the White House had asked Congress to hold off on legislation in order to give the Office of Homeland Security time to develop a strategy for protecting the nation. Ridge is expected to announce his strategy in June.

Separately on Thursday, the White House issued a statement detailing all initiatives and accomplishments undertaken by the federal government since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.