White House details new homeland security proposal

The White House Tuesday delivered legislation to Capitol Hill establishing a new Homeland Security Department, a bill that would give the new Cabinet secretary broad powers to reorganize his own agency after Congress approves it and that provides for a powerful undersecretary with purview over intelligence analysis.

A White House official who briefed reporters said the administration's fiscal 2003 budget proposals and the legislation enacting the new department contain enough funding to get it up and running. But he did not rule out new requests for funding if it becomes necessary.

The Homeland Security secretary would have "managerial flexibility" for which there is precedent in the federal government, the White House official said - although he did not know if any one Cabinet official had all the "flexibility" the new secretary would possess under the administration's plan.

According to the bill, up to "5 percent of any appropriation available to the secretary in any fiscal year may be transferred between such appropriations" as long as the House and Senate Appropriations committees are given 15 days' notice.

The secretary may also change department officers' functions and alter or even discontinue their units. Entities and functions specifically transferred to the department by this legislation could not be abolished by the secretary, but they could be altered after 90 days' notice to Congress.

The secretary would have what amounts to an enhanced ability to hire and fire federal employees. The secretary could also invoke statutes "to avoid the application of any procurement statute or regulation that would impair the accomplishment of the department's mission," according to the bill. And he or she would have "very substantial flexibility to manage real property" the official said.

The powerful new undersecretary for information analysis and infrastructure protection would receive and analyze intelligence; assess vulnerabilities of potential targets; identify and support protective measures; issue warnings to localities and the public; and recommend policies on intelligence and information sharing within the federal government and with the states.

Other executive agencies must furnish the new department with "reports, assessments and analytical information relating to threats of terrorism" and relating to other agency responsibilities, even if the information is not requested, the bill states.

But, according to a detailed summary provided by the White House, this information would not include "raw" intelligence, which the new agency would have access to only "as the president provides." However, other agencies would be required to furnish raw intelligence concerning vulnerabilities to terrorism.

The official said the legislation contains minor adjustments to what the White House has announced previously. One change is that Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will not be placed within the department, although the department will have a presence within the lab. President Bush would not consider a wholesale transfer of the FBI into the new department, the official said.

The legislation would become effective 30 days after Congress approves it or by January 1, 2003, if it is passed within 30 days of the New Year.