Further streamlining of homeland security oversight unlikely

Although Congress never fully implemented the 9/11 Commission's recommendation to streamline oversight of the Homeland Security Department, lawmakers and aides say they believe the current structure is working and getting better.

There is also no appetite for another bruising reorganization battle.

The situation has sometimes led to stalled legislation, rivalries and general frustration, lawmakers and aides acknowledged. But chairmen and members have learned to deal with the system at hand through negotiations and, as a result, oversight is better than ever and no significant pieces of legislation have been denied, these insiders said.

"Of all our recommendations, strengthening congressional oversight may be among the most difficult and important," the 9/11 Commission wrote in its final report, released in the summer of 2004.

The commission specifically recommended that the House and Senate should establish "a single, principal point of oversight and review for homeland security."

That recommendation prompted a bruising turf battle in both chambers to reorganize committee jurisdictions and structures in late 2004, ultimately leading to the establishment of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and a permanent House Homeland Security Committee.

But oversight of some agencies and programs within the Homeland Security Department were left under the jurisdiction of other committees. The Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration and the Secret Service, for example, are not within the jurisdiction of the Senate homeland security committee.

Across Capitol Hill, the House Homeland Security Committee shares oversight of the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

"Those are huge chunks of the department," said James Carafano, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. "Not only are they huge chunks of the department, but they are chunks of the department that have some pretty firm mandates from Congress."

The 9/11 Commission also expressed concern that Homeland Security officials had to appear before so many committees and subcommittees. That situation still remains. Department statistics show that Homeland Security officials have appeared before 70 committees or subcommittees so far this year, up from 47 over the same period in 2005.

When Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday, it will mark 21 appearances before Congress, which is more than former Secretary Tom Ridge made during his tenure, a department spokesman said.

"In general, the overall volume of reporting requirements and inquiries and requests for information that we receive is extraordinarily high, probably not on parallel with other departments and agencies in the federal government," the spokesman said.

"Those time demands can be burdensome," the spokesman added. But he reiterated that the department is "firmly committed" to responding to all congressional requests and inquiries quickly and completely.

From their vantage point, lawmakers acknowledge the situation is not optimal but say it is working.

"Clearly the situation is much better than it was prior to the 9/11 Commission's report, but Congress has not completely implemented the recommendations of the commission for complete consolidation of congressional oversight. I think that's unfortunate," said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Collins said she does not believe the situation is a huge problem and has not impeded important legislation. The only bill that has really been affected, she said, is chemical security legislation, on which Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., has placed a hold.

A Senate Democratic aide added that the Senate maritime security bill reported by Collins' committee was also delayed recently while Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, negotiated its provisions. Those talks ended successfully, and the bill is now on the Senate floor.

"Is it a pain in the neck for people in the administration or on the committees? Probably, yes," the aide said of the current structure. "But does it have any lasting effect? No."

The two House committees recently butted heads on reorganizing FEMA. Indeed, an aide for Transportation and Infrastructure ranking member James Oberstar, D-Minn., said Oberstar believes his committee should have sole jurisdiction over FEMA and can do a much better job of oversight than the Homeland Security Committee.

Carafano said oversight "is not as good as we would hope, but certainly I think it's heading in the right direction." He said it would depend on congressional leadership next year and public pressure for any more changes to be made.

House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., sees the credibility and oversight authority of his committee growing over time. He said he now has "about 85 percent" of what he needs, adding that the House leadership is siding more and more with his committee.

"I think [oversight is] working relatively well. Better than it has in the last three years," he said. "It's a tough business and you're talking about a lot of entrenched powers," he added. "To me, we're establishing ourselves ... I'm confident we're going in the right direction."

He said the only other major bill that has been caught in jurisdictional turf battles is the annual Homeland Security authorization bill -- a measure than has never been enacted. He described the bill as a "lingering problem" and said the House will not pass it this year.

But he held out hope for final passage of the port security bill. "If we can get a bill to the president's desk and signed, that will be a major victory," he said. The committee is also leading action on legislation for chemical security and border security.

Regardless, some still want to see the 9/11 Commission's recommendation implemented for consolidating congressional oversight.

Mary Fetchet, who lost her son in the attacks and founded the nonprofit Voices of September 11th, is calling on Congress to implement all the commission's recommendations, including those for oversight.

"I think the time for debate is over. Democrats and Republicans alike have to commit in a unified way to implementing these reforms in their totality," she said. "I don't mean to disregard the progress that they've made. I'm just frustrated by how slow going it's been and that over time they've lost a sense of urgency and focus on these issues."