*EPF203 07/09/2002
Byliner: Tom Ridge on "Homeland Security a Cause for Our Time"
(Op-ed column from The Washington Times on Tuesday 07/09/02) (880)

(This byliner by Homeland Security Adviser Tom Ridge first appeared in The Washington Times July 9, 2002 and is in the public domain. No republication restrictions.)

(begin byliner)



Homeland Security a Cause for Our Time
By Tom Ridge

This past Fourth of July weekend has been a good time for Americans to reflect on the great causes of our past: the fight for independence -- the freeing of the slaves -- the winning of the Cold War. The great cause of our time is the war on terrorism. It is time to organize our government to win it.

That's the purpose of President Bush's plan to create a Department of Homeland Security. Today, no single government agency calls homeland security its primary mission. Instead, responsibilities are scattered among more than 100. At least four agencies inspect foreign ships. Five are in charge of border security. Twelve protect our nation's critical infrastructure. Even the simple act of distributing potassium iodide, a drug that counters the effects of radiation, is divided among several competing agencies.

The president's plan would unify all homeland security duties into a single Cabinet department. It would affect 170,000 federal employees -- but its reach and relevance goes far beyond that. Creating a Department of Homeland Security would mean a more focused, efficient and aggressive effort to protect all Americans from terrorism.

The department would ensure that police, firefighters and hospitals have the equipment, training and communications they need. It would protect our borders, airports and seaports and monitor all visitors traveling to America on visas. It would set guidelines and conduct drills to counter weapons of mass destruction. It would lead a national scientific effort to develop cures and vaccines against bioterrorism. It would communicate serious and credible terrorist threats to public officials and the public. In short, it would bring homeland security under one roof with one clear chain of command to get the job done.

All great American causes have required collective, national innovation and stamina to succeed. Homeland security is no exception. In the war on terrorism, the front lines are our cities, counties and rural communities. That's where you'll find the potential targets, our critical infrastructure -- everything from bridges and reservoirs to natural gas pipelines and nuclear power plants.

Preventing future attacks against this infrastructure requires timely information, a thorough knowledge of the vulnerabilities, and the ability to take action. The Department of Homeland Security will provide all three. First it will integrate threat intelligence from the FBI, the CIA and other agencies that collect it.

Then it will do something unprecedented: It will match that information against our nation's entire critical infrastructure. The department will work with our partners in the private sector, which owns between 80 percent and 90 percent of it, to map that infrastructure so we can learn of our vulnerabilities and take steps to reduce them.

Homeland security is only as good as the partnerships we, make. Having a single point of contact makes it easier to build those partnerships. That's one reason the president's plan has received widespread, bipartisan support from governors, mayors and other elected officials. For them, a Department of Homeland Security will mean more responsiveness and less red tape.

Consolidating dozens of smaller bureaucracies into one organization also means more bang for the taxpayer's buck. It enables us to reduce overhead, eliminate redundancies and ensure interoperability of computer systems. The president's plan also contains commonsense managerial reforms such as performance incentives, merit pay and accountability for individual performance. It would give us a 21st century government to fight a 21st century threat.

While the department's focus is homeland security, the agencies that make up the department will continue to carry out other critical duties. FEMA will respond to natural disasters, the Coast Guard will supervise boating safety, our public health system will detect and monitor diseases such as West Nile Virus. But all Americans will be safer once we harness this expertise for homeland security.

Homeland security, in turn, has the potential to spark discovery and invention in fields such as science, technology and medicine. We can become not just a safer nation, but a stronger, healthier, more competitive one.

A half-century ago, America faced a powerful, sworn enemy with access to weapons of mass destruction. President Harry S. Truman knew we needed to, in his words, "discard obsolete organizational forms" to fight the Cold War. By creating the Department of Defense, the CIA and the National Security Council, Truman built the most powerful force for freedom the world has ever known. And though he did not live to see it, his reorganization helped set the stage for America's eventual victory in the Cold War, a goal many thought impossible.

We, too, can build the foundation for victory in the war on terrorism. It starts with the Department of Homeland Security. Let future generations of Americans know we did all we could in the great cause of our time.

(end text)

(Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania, is homeland security adviser to President Bush. This article was distributed by Scripps Howard News Service and it is in the public domain. No republication restrictons)

(end byliner)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents