Since Sept. 11, the need for close coordination and cooperation among and between government agencies has become more apparent than ever.
Terrorists today can strike at any place, at any time, and with virtually any weapon. These threats have highlighted the homeland security challenges and issues facing governments, including mutual aid, incident management, planning, training, equipment, exercises and interoperability of equipment and communications.
Today no one single government agency has homeland security as its primary mission. In fact, the responsibilities for homeland security are scattered among more than 100 different government agencies at the federal level. This fact has led the president to propose a significant transformation of the U.S. government by consolidating those agencies and departments with homeland security responsibilities into a single department–the Department of Homeland Security. By combining and integrating functions that are currently fragmented, this proposal would create one department that would:
– Protect our borders, transportation, ports and critical infrastructure.
– Synthesize and analyze homeland security intelligence from multiple sources.
– Coordinate communications with state and local governments, private industry and the American people about threats and preparedness.
– Protect Americans at home against bioterrorism and other weapons of mass destruction.
– Help train and equip first-responders.
– Manage federal emergency response activities.
This new department will have in place the resources needed to do what it takes to protect our homeland. As someone who has experience in emergency management at both the state and federal level, I believe this new department will greatly improve the ability of the federal government to effectively coordinate critical programs that protect our citizens from terrorist threats. I urge members of Congress and the American people to support the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
