*EPF310 11/20/2002
U.S. Senate Passes Homeland Security Legislation
(Bill goes to House on November 22 for final vote) (1070)

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

Washington -- The U.S. Senate approved legislation November 19 to create the Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, which President Bush has sought to strengthen the nation's ability to detect and fight the threat of terrorism.

By a vote of 90-9, the Senate passed the legislation, which initiates the largest reorganization of the federal government since 1947 when the national security apparatus was created by the Truman administration at the outset of the Cold War. The U.S. House of Representatives, which had already approved the bill November 13, is expected to agree to several minor technical corrections to the legislation November 22 before sending it to Bush for signature into law. The new department will come into existence 60 days after the president's signature.

Bush had pledged to the American people after the general election November 5 that creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was his highest priority to prepare for and to prevent further terrorist attacks on the United States.

"The United States Congress has taken an historic and bold step forward to protect the American people by passing legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security," Bush said following the Senate action. "This landmark legislation, the most extensive reorganization of the federal government since the 1940s, will help our nation meet the emerging threats of terrorism in the 21st century.

"This bill includes the major components of my proposal -- providing for intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection, strengthening our borders, improving the use of science and technology to counter weapons of mass destruction, and creating a comprehensive response and recovery division."

The new Cabinet-level federal agency actually brings together 22 existing federal agencies with more than 170,000 employees and an initial budget of $37,400 million. Congress and the White House should next begin the process of writing an organizational plan and a budget for the new department, and it is expected to take most of next year to get the department operational.

The new department will contain four primary divisions:

-- border and transportation security;

-- emergency preparedness and response;

-- science and technology; and

-- information analysis and infrastructure protection.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Department of State welcomes the new agency in the global war on terrorism. "We stand ready to work closely with the new Department to ensure that our nation has the best possible protection," he said.

"For every nation, including the United States, defense of the homeland begins beyond its borders. In our increasingly globalized world, terrorists and other adversaries have unprecedented reach and mobility. To safeguard our citizens in such an environment requires cooperation at all levels -- local, state and federal."

Powell also said safeguarding the homeland requires the federal government to coordinate security efforts at home and abroad, and to work effectively with allies and other countries across the globe.

"Law enforcement, intelligence, the military, the private sector, ordinary citizens, and certainly the men and women of American diplomacy all have important roles to play," Powell said.

Under the measure, the new department will incorporate many familiar federal agencies including the Border Patrol, Coast Guard, Customs Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration, border inspection division of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

The INS will be abolished as an existing agency when the Homeland Security Department becomes operational, and splits it into two components, immigration enforcement and citizenship services -- both under control of the new department instead of the Justice Department where it had been.

The legislation will also move the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to the Justice Department to help boost its law enforcement mission, but leave its revenue collection functions with Treasury.

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill praised Congress for completing action on President Bush's plan.

"We will now move forward to redeploy the resources of the federal government to meet the challenge posed by terrorism," he said.�� "The men and women of the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Secret Service serve their country with great dedication.�� Bringing them together with other security agencies under one roof with a singular focus will enhance collaboration and efficiency in the federal government's efforts to protect the American people."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency will not be affected directly by creation of the new department. However, the new Homeland Security Department will have a strong, new intelligence division that will analyze many of the same threats currently analyzed by the FBI and CIA.

The legislation was held up in the Senate because the president had sought to alter current civil service personnel regulations for employees of the Homeland Security Department. The new bill permits the president to exempt employees from collective bargaining for national security reasons. Federal employee unions could appeal and delay -- but not block -- the implementation of new personnel rules.

Elements of the new legislation also include:

-- allowing specially-trained commercial airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpits of passenger airplanes.

-- extending for one year, until December 31, 2003, the deadline for airports to install explosive detection systems to screen all checked baggage.

-- preventing the Homeland Security Department from doing business with U.S. companies that have moved offshore to avoid U.S. taxes, though this provision can be waived for national or economic security reasons.

-- authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services to administer the smallpox vaccine to segments of the public if it determines there is a public health threat posed by smallpox.

-- expanding federal planning for domestic preparedness and recovery from terror attacks to include Washington, D.C., and adjoining suburbs in Maryland and Virginia.

-- extending liability protections for pharmaceutical companies that make a mercury-based vaccine additive, and companies that provide airport screening services and other companies making anti-terrorism technology.

-- creating a university-based homeland security research center that would most likely go to Texas A&M University.

-- providing for the creation of tax-deductible charitable funds that will be used to compensate the families of military personnel, FBI agents, intelligence agents and other U.S. government representatives who die in the line of duty as a result of a terrorist attack.

-- language that will make it more difficult to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act and will make it a crime for a Homeland Security Department employee to reveal information that is classified.

(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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