*EPF203 07/16/2002
Bush Releases Strategic Plan for Homeland Security
(Calls for coordinated, focused effort from Americans) (790)

By Merle D. Kellerhals, Jr.
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- President Bush July 16 unveiled a first-ever national strategy to mobilize and organize the United States homeland against terrorist attacks, saying, "This is an exceedingly complex mission that requires coordinated and focused effort from our entire society."

The "National Strategy for Homeland Security," released at the White House, identifies three key objectives: preventing terrorist attacks within the United States; reducing America's vulnerability to terrorism; and minimizing the damage and recovering from attacks that do occur.

"Unless we act to prevent it, a new wave of terrorism, potentially involving the world's most destructive weapons, looms in America's future," according to the National Strategy plan.

In a brief Rose Garden ceremony flanked by members of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, Bush said that this comprehensive, 90-page plan lays out clear lines of authority and clear responsibilities for federal, state and local officials, business leaders and the American people. The White House sent the plan to Congress.

The House Select Committee on Homeland Security and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee are conducting hearings now on the cornerstone of the Bush administration's efforts -- proposed legislation to create a Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, which would be tasked to implement much of the new National Strategy for Homeland Security. The Bush plan would bring together scores of federal agencies and approximately 170,000 federal workers with a first-year budget of $37,400 million.

"We also understand that the current structure of our government is a patchwork, to put it best, of overlapping responsibilities and it really does hinder our ability to protect the homeland," Bush said. "And so we're working with both parties in both chambers to effect a strategy that will make it more likely that not only this administration and this Congress can deal with the true threats of the 21st century, but as importantly, future administrations and future Congresses will be able to deal with the threats."

Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge appeared before the House Select Committee July 15 and will appear a second time July 16 to present the Bush administration's plan. Additionally, four cabinet secretaries are also testifying before congressional committees in support of the plan.

The strategic plan stresses one fact that dominates all homeland security threat assessments: terrorists are strategic actors and choose their targets based on weaknesses they observe in U.S. defenses and preparedness.

And the strategic plan plainly specifies that terrorists are working to obtain chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons for "the purpose of wreaking unprecedented damage on America." It says that terrorists are continuing to use conventional weapons and tactics while gaining expertise in less traditional means, such as cyber attacks on the nation's critical infrastructure.

"Our society presents an almost infinite array of potential targets that can be attacked through a variety of methods," the plan said.

The strategy identifies the terrorist network al-Qaida as the United States' most immediate and serious threat, despite success in disrupting its infrastructure in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It also acknowledges that threats are coming from other international and domestic groups.

The "National Strategy for Homeland Security" aligns and focuses homeland security functions into six critical areas:

-- intelligence and warning,

-- border and transportation security,

-- domestic counterterrorism,

-- protecting critical infrastructure,

-- defending against catastrophic terrorism, and

-- emergency preparedness and response.

"The first three mission areas focus primarily on preventing terrorist attacks; the next two on reducing our nation's vulnerabilities; and the final one on minimizing the damage and recovering from attacks that do occur," according to the plan.

A key element of the strategy rests on vastly improved intelligence and warning capabilities, the plan said. "The United States will take every necessary action to avoid being surprised by another terrorist attack. We must have an intelligence and warning system that can detect terrorist activity before it manifests itself in an attack so that proper preemptive, preventive, and protective action can be taken," the plan said.

At the heart of the National Strategy are four foundations, which cut across all levels of government, and all sectors of society. "These foundations -- law, science and technology, information sharing and systems, and international cooperation -- provide a useful framework for evaluating our homeland security investments across the federal government," the plan said.

And, the strategy notes that a national effort to enhance homeland security will entail substantially higher costs. Currently, government and business are spending in excess of $100,000 million annually on an array of homeland security measures, according to the strategic plan.

The "National Strategy for Homeland Security" can be accessed at the White House Website:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/index.html.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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