Who Is In Charge?

Nobody is in charge of the Department of Homeland Security as of yet because the bill to form the department has not become a law. Since the department will become part of the President's Cabinet, he will have to appoint a Secretary of Homeland Security. The President's candidate would in turn need Senate approval. White House Homeland Security Office Director, Tom Ridge, seems to be the likely front-runner but some doubt if he wants the job and if he has the proper qualifications. Other likely candidates are former Secretary of State James Baker III, Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, and former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine.1

What U.S. Government Agencies Are Involved?

The Department of Homeland Security is organized into four divisions under the Secretary's Office. This department was formed with the primary goal to protect the United States by combining different agencies dealing with homeland security from existing departments to produce a more streamline organization.  Listed below are the agencies that could be affected, the new Homeland Security division in which they would belong, and the existing departments they would be taken from:2

     Office of the Secretary- Department of Homeland Security
· Office of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Council
· Secret Service (Treasury)
· State, Local & Private Sector Coordination

1.  Border and Transportation Security
· Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (Agriculture)
· Border Patrol 
· Coast Guard (Transportation)
· Customs (Treasury)
· Federal Protection Service (General Services Administration)
· Immigration and Naturalization Service (Justice)
· Transportation Security Administration (Transportation)

2.  Emergency Preparedness and Response
· Domestic Emergency Support Team (Justice)
· Federal Emergency Management Agency
· Health and Human Service Grants (Health & Human Services)
· Justice Department Grants (Justice)
· Metropolitan Medical Response System (Health & Human Services)
· National Air & Radiation Environmental Laboratory (Environmental Protection Agency)
· National Domestic Preparedness Office (Justice)
· National Disaster Medical System (Health & Human Services)
· National Pharmaceutical Stockpile Program (Health & Human Services)
· Nuclear Emergency Search Team
· Nuclear Incident Response (Energy)
· Office of Domestic Preparedness (Justice)

3.  Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures
· Civilian Biodefense Research Programs
· Environmental Measurements Laboratory (Energy)
· Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Energy)
· National Biological Weapons Defense Analysis Center (Defense)
· National Nuclear Security Administration (Energy)
· Office of Health and Safety Information System (Health & Human Services)
· Office of Security (Energy)
· Plum Island Animal Disease Center (Agriculture)

4.  Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection
· Computer Security Division (Commerce)
· Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (Commerce)
· Federal Computer Incident Response Center (General Services Administration)
· National Communications System (Defense)
· National Infrastructure Protection Center (Justice)
· National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (Energy)
 

What Is The Status Of The Homeland Security Act Of 2002?

On July 26, 2002, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 295 to 133. The vote breakdown between Republicans was 207 for and 11 against. The vote breakdown between Democrats was 88 for and 120 against, while both Independent Representatives voted against the bill. All major agencies in the President's original plan were kept in the bill with the exception of the INS having only to give it's border protection services to the new department.3

The Senate is still debating the Homeland Security Bill as of September 30, 2002 and there is fear that the bill will be put aside because of key issue disagreements and the need to debate the question of war in Iraq. It does not help that the November 5th elections are right around the corner giving neither party time to play around before the goal to adjourn Congress October 11, 2002. One key issue that Republicans and Democrats are fighting over is worker's rights in the new department.4 Also, the President angered the Democratic led Senate with his recent comments that the Democrats are not concerned with America's safety.5

Additional Websites

1. The Official Website of the Department of Homeland Security: http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/
2.  Assessing the Department of Homeland Security: http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/fp/projects/homeland/assessdhs.pdf

Resources:
1 Council of Foreign Relations. 2002. Terrorism: Q & A. Internet site. www.terrorismanswers.com/security/dhs_print.html. September 30.
2 CSPAN. 2002. Homeland Security Dept. Chart. Internet site. www.c-span.org/homelandsecurity/chart.asp. September 30. 
3 Congressional Quarterly. 2002. Homeland Security Passage House Roll Call Vote 367. Internet site. www.cq.com July 26.
4 Dewer, Helen. 2002. Key Legislation Falling Victim to Calendar. Internet site. www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A20319-2002Sep29.html.  September 30.
5 Allen, Mike. 2002. Bush's Words Can Go to the Blunt Edge of Trouble. Internet site. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17124-2002Sep28.html. September 29