Ridge sees security gaps since Sept. 11 attacks

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Monday criticized what he said are ongoing gaps in the nation's security, including insufficient funding for the Coast Guard and the lack of a system to develop and distribute vaccines.

Ridge cited a handful of areas that the Obama administration and the next Congress should address during a speech in Washington at an event hosted by The Ripon Society.

"Fund the Coast Guard adequately," Ridge said. The Coast Guard is overloaded with missions but only gets "crumbs" in the budgeting process, he said.

The former Republican lawmaker from Pennsylvania was appointed nine years ago -- only days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks -- by then-President George W. Bush to head the newly created Office of Homeland Security. Ridge became the country's first secretary of Homeland Security but resigned in 2004 and has become a business and security consultant for private firms.

In his remarks, Ridge said the national response to the H1N1 virus last year showed the country does not have an adequate system for developing, storing and distributing vaccines in response to a public health emergency.

Observing that almost nine years have passed since anthrax spores were mailed to congressional offices and news outlets, he said, "I think that's a huge gap."

Ridge said the Obama administration and new Congress should consider overhauling the Homeland Security Department by creating regional centers around the country. He said he proposed establishing regional directors when the Bush administration was creating the new department, but his plan was rejected.

Such directors could develop close relationships with state governors in their regions, he said. And he questioned whether the government's response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 would have been better if regional structure had been in place. He said he doubted that storm victims would have had to seek shelter in the Louisiana Superdome or that buses would have been left unused in parking lots had that structure been in place.

Ridge called for the creation of a broadband public safety network that enables first responders to communicate with each other. The issue is still contentious, with the FCC at odds with key lawmakers, who have proposed allocating communications spectrum to public safety agencies for creation of an emergency network.

"I guess we're getting closer," he said. "But why did it take nine years? The spectrum is there."

And Ridge said the government should streamline the development and acquisition of technology that can improve homeland security programs. He said agencies like Homeland Security and the Justice Department have cumbersome processes and should collaborate more on technology development.