Rice proposes State Department reorganization

Saying the State Department's structure was more effective at combating the threat from the Soviet Union than dealing with the spread of international terrorism, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proposed a reorganization of the department Friday.

"Rather than deterring a single state with a massive nuclear arsenal, we must defend ourselves against shadowy networks of stateless enemies, some looking to buy, others looking to sell the world's most dangerous weapons," Rice said in an address at State Department headquarters in Washington.

Rice's proposal would merge the department's Arms Control and Nonproliferation Bureaus into a new Bureau for International Security and Nonproliferation. It will include a new office focusing exclusively on terrorist efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

The proposal also would change the name of the Verification and Compliance Bureau to the Bureau of Verification, Compliance and Implementation, and expand its mandate to cover the implementation of arms control treaties.

Rice's proposal will involve some shifting of staff within the department. "With the personnel freed up by this merger, we plan to strengthen our Bureau of Political Military Affairs," Rice said.

"Today, protecting America from weapons of mass destruction requires more than deterrence and arms control treaties," Rice said. "We must also go on the offensive against outlaw scientists, black market arms dealers and rogue state proliferators."

Rice's proposal also would:

• Rename the undersecretary for global affairs the undersecretary for democracy and global affairs.
• Launch a comprehensive review of the country's democracy promotion strategies.
• Create a new deputy assistant secretary for democracy.
• Create a new advisory committee for the secretary to get advice from experts outside the government on democracy promotion.
• Transfer reporting responsibilities of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement to the undersecretary for political affairs.

Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, D-Calif, however, criticized the initiative in a statement, saying, "While some mergers make sense, this one is completely off the mark. By mixing two bureaus with distinct missions--the arms control bureau negotiates new and implements existing arms control commitments and the other focuses on limiting the spread of weapons of mass destruction--Secretary Rice is actually undercutting both missions and reducing the relevance of the State Department in these areas, at a time when we can least afford it."