Bush seeks new agency on homeland security
Plan to be outlined in Thursday speech
msnbc.com
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WASHINGTON, June 6 — President Bush will propose the creation of a new Cabinet-level homeland security office as part of a “sweeping transformation” intended to address intelligence lapses prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, it was reported Thursday.
THE ASSOCIATED Press and Reuters said the new Cabinet spot, which must be approved by Congress, would include a new agency that acts as a clearinghouse for terrorism intelligence.
“This is a sweeping transformation, the largest since World War II and (former President Harry) Truman,” one official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. The official said the plan was not limited to intelligence gathering but was a wide-ranging reorganization of the way the government protects the United States from potential attacks.
Bush plans to announced the restructuring Thursday night. The White House will ask television networks to broadcast the speech.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is the current homeland security adviser, and Congress has been pushing a reluctant Bush to give him Cabinet status.
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush has not yet settled on a nominee, a position subject to Senate confirmation.
GOP leaders were arriving at the White House Thursday morning for a briefing on Bush’s proposal, NBC’s Campbell Brown reported. She said Democrats told her they were not invited to the meeting.
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Congress had no inkling that Bush was planning this reorganization. “I think this is a very strong departure from the current situation. We’ll have to listen to their rationale and to the Senate and House intelligence committees and see what they think about this.”
Kennedy said he wasn’t sure whether an internal reorganization was needed. “The question is whether shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic is the way to go.”
100 EXECUTIVE BRANCH ENTITIES
With 100 executive branch entities and 88 congressional committees and subcommittees now sharing jurisdiction over homeland security, coordination has become unmanageable, the official said. This source described one scene illustrating the problem: When Bush summoned relevant committee chairmen and ranking members to the White House last October, they had to be divided into two groups for separate meetings that still filled the Cabinet Room beyond capacity.
The new intelligence agency will supplement efforts of the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies, not replace them, the officials said.
The idea is to have one office that helps the intelligence agencies analyze the data they gather.
The announcement comes as Congress investigates potential security lapses prior to Sept. 11. FBI Director Robert Mueller was to testify Thursday about the agency’s failure to anticipate the terror attacks.
Mueller recently announced a major restructuring of the FBI.
The White House has stepped up efforts in recent days to shield Bush from criticism that his administration did not do enough to prevent the attacks. Bush’s announcement is designed in part to steal some attention from the congressional hearings, White House officials said.
COMMUNICATION GAP ACKNOWLEDGED
Bush, who had expressed support for the FBI and CIA in the early days of the controversy, acknowledged for the first time this week that the agencies failed to communicate adequately. But he said there was no evidence that better communication could have prevented the attacks.
Mueller conceded for the first time recently that a better analysis of warning signs might have prevented the attacks.
Ridge, a former Pennsylvania governor, has been working on a restructuring proposal since his appointment last fall — meeting heavy resistance from law enforcement and intelligence bureaucracies.
One senior White House official familiar with the tightly held plan said the proposal will include elements of Ridge’s push to consolidate border-security agencies. |
