Ridge said his focus would be on drawing up a multiyear budget plan that would cut across all federal agencies and not only address the nation’s “present urgent needs but also … get ahead of the threat.”
“In other words, we will prepare not to fight the wars of the past, we must create a blueprint to win the wars of the future,” Ridge told a national security conference. “The challenge is great. But I’m absolutely confident we will succeed.”
Bush tapped Ridge soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to develop a nationwide anti-terrorism strategy. One of his biggest hurdles has been coordinating the roles of dozens of federal, state and local agencies.
The Bush administration believes Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network masterminded the September attacks, and Ridge has repeatedly urged Americans to be on alert for additional strikes.
To streamline security operations, boost oversight and save money, Ridge said he was considering the merger of some federal agencies with overlapping responsibilities.
He singled out U.S. agencies charged with inspecting food and other agricultural products.
Other candidates for consolidation include the Border Patrol, the Customs Service and the Coast Guard, officials said.
“Wherever you have multiple organizations that seem to be tasked to the same general area, for functional improvement, for economic improvement, for security enhancement, we ought to at least take a look at whether or not we need to merge functions, merge agencies,” Ridge said.
He said another priority would be providing standardized anti-terrorism training and equipment to the nation’s firefighters, police and health officials.
“We would never send soldiers into harm’s way without proper training and without proper equipment. We owe the same commitment to our domestic first responders, our domestic first line,” Ridge said.
In addition, Ridge said he would consider shifting the National Guard’s focus to homeland defense. Since the September attacks, thousands of National Guard troops have been mobilized to augment security at airports.
They are also about to begin helping protect the Capitol complex in Washington.
“If it requires changing the configuration of some units or redeploying some of the assets in a different way, certainly that has got to be something that we want to consider and we will consider,” Ridge said.
But he said regular forces of the military would only be deployed as a last resort.
With the United States stepping up the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan, Ridge said Washington remained on heightened alert for retaliatory strikes on U.S. soil.
