[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 133 (Friday, October 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1815]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               GIVE TOM RIDGE THE AUTHORITY TO DO HIS JOB

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 4, 2001

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is Tom Ridge's last day as Governor 
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
  On Monday, former Governor Ridge takes on a huge assignment as 
Director of the Office of Homeland Security--a job critically important 
in fashioning our government's response to terrorism.
  To be effective, he needs tools that Congress must provide. Today, my 
colleague from Nevada, Mr. Gibbons, and I introduced legislation that 
does just that.
  The bill, the Office of Homeland Security Act of 2001, creates a 
Cabinet-level position subject to Senate confirmation.
  The Director of Homeland Security is given authority to review, 
certify, or reject the terrorism-related budgets of the more than 40 
federal departments and agencies. This power is essential to assure 
coordination and integration of the many programs needed to prevent, 
prepare for, and respond to terrorist attacks.
  The people working today to protect our nation are spread among 
federal, state and local agencies. They are involved in collecting and 
analyzing intelligence, patrolling our borders, protecting critical 
infrastructure, and identifying and treating health effects of various 
attacks on our population.
  The Gibbon-Harman-LaHood-Roemer-Castle-Boehlert bill assigns the 
Director for Homeland Security the responsibility for:
  Directing the creation of a national strategy for homeland security 
and developing a national budget to carry out this strategy;
  Certifying or rejecting agencies' budget requests;
  Coordinating all federal homeland security activities, and certifying 
or rejecting federal agencies' budgets for the activities;
  Directing the development of a comprehensive national threat 
assessment;
  Overseeing information sharing among Federal, State, and local 
agencies involved in intelligence collection and law enforcement; and
  Conducting a review of the legal authorities still needed to prevent 
and respond to terrorist threats.
  Every day that Governor Ridge does not have these powers, his ability 
to do his job will decrease.
  I urge my colleagues to join us in securing passage of this bill as 
quickly as possible.

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