Lawmakers mull Homeland Security reorganization plan

The Homeland Security Department's new reorganization plan generally received positive support in Congress Thursday, but House lawmakers in particular expressed concern that the plan fails to address several security needs and gaps.

DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff testified before the House and Senate homeland security committees Thursday, one day after he announced a major departmental reorganization intended to refocus and improve homeland security operations and management.

Lawmakers said they generally support the reorganization and expressed confidence in the direction Chertoff is taking the department. Many House legislators, however, had deferred criticism of DHS in the five months since Chertoff took over, saying they were awaiting results of the review. But any honeymoon Chertoff enjoyed with the House appeared to end on Thursday.

"There is a great deal of anxiety on the Hill and in the country about how well the Department of Homeland Security is doing," Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., told Chertoff. "And I think the biggest challenge for you is to try and restore confidence ... You have got to show the country that there is a leader now in charge of homeland security and someone who is not going to let these things drift off."

He added: "We expect you now to lead this department, and it's time for action, it's time to get this thing moving in the right direction. We are confident that you can do it, but we need to see action."

Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate identified several common areas of concern, such as border security, the absence of a comprehensive transportation security plan and the need for more mass transit security resources.

Chertoff emphasized throughout the day that the department will use a risk-based model that balances and prioritizes the use of resources based on threats, vulnerabilities and what the consequences of an attack would be.

"I wouldn't want to leave the public with the impression that nothing has been done. Quite the contrary is true," he said. "We are in fact certainly safer than we were certainly before 9/11. In fact, we're safer than we were last year."

The reorganization plan calls for the creation of new undersecretaries, directorates and offices, while some existing components will be merged or abolished altogether. For example, a policy office headed by an undersecretary will be created to coordinate operations across the department.

Under the plan, the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate is being eliminated. The information analysis operation will be merged into an office of intelligence and analysis, run by a chief intelligence officer, while infrastructure protection will be merged into a new Preparedness Directorate, ran by an undersecretary.

The old Border and Transportation Security Directorate will be dismantled. BTS components, such as the Transportation Security Administration, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, will now report directly to Chertoff.

Some of the changes will require congressional approval, such as the confirmation of new undersecretaries and the abolition of the Border and Transportation Security Directorate. No lawmakers said Thursday that they planned to block any of the proposed changes.

Chertoff said more details and policy proposals will be coming in the next weeks and months, especially with regard to changes in the areas of border security, interior enforcement and immigration reform.

House and Senate lawmakers generally said they support the creation of a policy shop, chief intelligence officer, chief medical officer and assistant secretary for cyber- and tele-communications.