-Caveat Lector- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020606/ap_on_go_pr_wh/attacks_bush_15
Bush to Revamp Homeland Security Thu Jun 6,11:09 AM ET By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) - In a major restructuring, President Bush (news - web sites) will propose creation of a Cabinet domestic security department to take over border security, intelligence and other issues now housed in eight separate federal agencies. "The purpose is to protect the homeland from terror," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said. He said Bush is pleased with stopgap reforms enacted since Sept. 11 but, "We can and will do more." The proposal, which Fleischer called the biggest government restructuring plan since 1947, will be announced by Bush in a Thursday night address from the White House. The White House has asked television networks to broadcast the speech. The proposal, which must be approved by Congress, is part of a stepped-up effort to shield Bush from criticism that his administration did not do enough to prevent the attacks. Not coincidentally, FBI (news - web sites) Director Robert Mueller was testifying before Congress Thursday about the agency's failure to anticipate the terror attacks. Mueller recently announced a major restructuring of the FBI. On Capitol Hill, Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., said Congress had no inkling that Bush was planning this reorganization. "I think this is a very strong departure from the current situation. We'll have to listen to their rationale and to the Senate and House intelligence committees and see what they think about this." Kennedy said he wasn't sure whether an internal reorganization was needed. "The question is whether shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic is the way to go." Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is the current homeland security adviser, and Congress has been pushing a reluctant Bush to elevate the office to Cabinet status because lawmakers would have oversight authority over a new department of homeland security. As an adviser, Ridge has been able to avoid formal testimony before Congress. With pressure mounting, the White House signaled this spring that it would make the domestic security office a Cabinet agency. Ridge had planned to unveil his homeland security strategy in the fall, but the schedule was pushed up in part to counter the congressional hearings, one senior White House official said. Fleischer said the new agency will oversee border and transportation security; emergency preparedness and response; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear countermeasures; the analysis of intelligence from the FBI, CIA (news - web sites) and other agencies as well infrastructure protection. Fleischer said the FBI and CIA will remain as independent agencies, not seeing major changes under the proposal. Congress must pass legislation to implement the plan. Bush will ask for its passage by year's end. Fleischer said the plan will not cost more money; it will shuffle current operations within the government without expanding the bureaucracy Fleischer was asked whether Ridge would head the new agency. "Let me put it to you this way, Governor Ridge will be the one fighting for the creation of this department. Governor Ridge will be the voice and the face of the message for creating this department," he replied. Fleischer said "recent noise" about counterterrorism failures at the FBI and CIA did not precipitate the president's plan. But, the spokesman added, "There is the recognition that we still need to keep the FBI and CIA working closely together and this new entity will be one place where information will get pulled together." Ridge and White House congressional liaison Nicholas Calio have been consulting members of Congress. "The initial reaction from the Hill has been good but reorganizing the government has never been easy; it involves turf," Fleischer said. Bush, who had expressed support for the FBI and CIA in the early days of the controversy, acknowledged for the first time this week that the agencies failed to communicate adequately. But he said there was no evidence that better communication could have prevented the attacks. Mueller conceded for the first time recently that a better analysis of warning signs might have prevented the attacks. Ridge has been working on a restructuring proposal since his appointment last fall - meeting heavy resistance from law enforcement and intelligence bureaucracies. One senior White House official familiar with the tightly held plan said the proposal will include elements of Ridge's push to consolidate border-security agencies. With 100 executive branch entities and 88 congressional committees and subcommittees now sharing jurisdiction over homeland security, coordination has become unmanageable, the official said. This source described one scene illustrating the problem: When Bush summoned relevant committee chairmen and ranking members to the White House last October, they had to be divided into two groups for separate meetings that still filled the Cabinet Room beyond capacity. The new intelligence entity would supplement efforts of the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies, not replace them, the officials said. The idea is to have one office that helps the intelligence agencies analyze the data they gather. ___ Associated Press writer Sandra Sobieraj contributed <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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