[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 23 (Friday, February 27, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1886-S1887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, it has been nearly 2\1/2\ years since a 
monstrous act of war was committed against the United States. The 
American people responded to the attacks of September 11 with courage--
courage that was evident that horrible day in the heroic actions of the 
passengers on Flight 93, in the firefighters and police officers at 
Ground Zero, and in the Pentagon employees who led their co-workers to 
safety through fire, smoke, and rubble.
  That courage is evident today in the men and women of our Armed 
Forces on the front lines in the war on terrorism and in the ordinary 
Americans

[[Page S1887]]

across the country who carry on normal, productive lives, refusing to 
be terrorized by terrorism.
  President Bush and Congress responded by recognizing that this was a 
different kind of war with a different kind of enemy. Together we saw 
that this enemy used as a weapon the freedom and openness that 
Americans cherish but that it despises. We realized that our efforts to 
defend our Nation against this unconventional and unprincipled enemy 
were hampered by the lack of a unified strategy. To revisit a phrase 
used so often in the aftermath of September 11, we were not connecting 
the dots. We knew that turf battles, communication gaps, and 
interagency rivalries could no longer be tolerated. The stakes were too 
high.
  The Department of Homeland Security is perhaps the most significant 
manifestation of the efforts undertaken by the President and Congress 
to create that unified strategy, to connect those dots, to coordinate 
this urgent new mission. The Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 
which I chair, played a key role in creating the department and is 
helping it to succeed.
  My committee swiftly confirmed eight talented and dedicated 
individuals to lead the department, including Secretary Ridge himself. 
We have held hearings and investigations on a wide range of homeland 
security issues, from the President's plan to better coordinate 
intelligence analysis and sharing, to unraveling the tangled web of 
international terrorism financing, to protecting American agriculture 
from sabotage, to securing our seaports. We have approved bills to 
reform the department's multi-billion dollar State grant program, to 
provide cutting edge technology to first responders, to help the 
department attract talented individuals with sought-after skills, and 
to ensure accountability within DHS's financial system.
  Now the department is 1 year old. And in the span of just 1 year, the 
Department of Homeland Security, under the leadership of Secretary Tom 
Ridge, has made significant, even remarkable, progress.
  The melding of 22 Federal agencies and 180,000 employees has occurred 
with some of the resistance we all expected but without the widespread 
turf battles many predicted. The level of cooperation and coordination 
within this new department, though not perfect, is a vast improvement 
over the previous, ad hoc structure. The initial focus upon airport 
security has been expanded to include other vulnerabilities, such as 
seaport and border security. The department has distributed billions of 
dollars to our first responders--the local and State emergency 
personnel on the front lines--for the equipment, training and guidance 
to carry out their vital missions. And we will continue to work with 
Secretary Ridge to ensure that a steady stream of funding is available 
for those efforts.
  Of course, challenges lie ahead for this new agency, for the 
President and for this Congress. As we change, so does our enemy. As we 
address vulnerabilities, he seeks out new ones to exploit. As we move 
to protect our most high-profile targets in our major cities, we must 
always be aware that our small cities, towns and countryside are at 
risk as well. As we improve security at our borders, we must strive to 
keep them open to friendship and to commerce. As we defend our Nation 
against future attacks, we must never sacrifice the liberty that makes 
our Nation so worthy of being defended.
  In an address given February 23 before the Homeland Security 
Institute, Secretary Ridge offered a first anniversary assessment of 
his department's accomplishments. He charted an ambitious but necessary 
course for its second year, and he described his vision for the years 
ahead.
  Secretary Ridge pledge that the department will pursue the 
development of new technologies to combat terrorism. Analysis tools and 
detection equipment are keys to thwarting nuclear, chemical and 
biological attacks before they occur. We must, as he said, button up 
our lab coats and push the scientific envelope by forging new 
partnerships among government, the private sector, national 
laboratories and university research centers.
  The Secretary pledged to strengthen information sharing among the 
public and private sectors and to create standards for communications 
and equipment. ``Interoperability'' is a cumbersome word, but it is one 
we all should add to our vocabularies. Only by improving communications 
and ensuring that equipment works across jurisdictions will our front-
line defenders and our first responders be able to better detect 
attacks and to coordinate their efforts during an emergency.
  Secretary Ridge pledged to integrate our port and border security 
systems in a way that does not impede the flow of trade and travel 
across our borders, a critical goal for border States like Maine. The 
department's first year produced much progress: screeners, air marshals 
and state-of-the-art technology have made air travel safer. Traffic 
through our ports and our borders, which nearly ground to a halt after 
the attacks, is moving with speed, efficiency and greater security: 
more than 500 million people, 130 million motor vehicles, and millions 
more railcars and containers are processed at our borders every year. 
At the same time, container inspection has been expanded from our own 
shores to 16 key overseas ports.
  Borders will always be a point of vulnerability for any free society. 
In partnership with the private sector and our international allies, we 
can reduce that vulnerability without unduly impeding the flow of 
legitimate commerce.
  The Committee on Governmental Affairs stands ready to assist the 
Department as it begins its second year. We will continue to provide 
the department with the authority it needs to protect our Nation, and 
we will continue our aggressive oversight of its programs and 
activities. At times, we may disagree with the department, but our goal 
is always to improve the department and to recognize the extraordinary 
progress made by Secretary Ridge and Deputy Security Loy, their 
talented leadership team, and the dedicated men and women in the 
department who work each and every day to strengthen our security.

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