    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [November 25, 2002]
    [Pages 2125-2128]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Signing the Homeland Security Act of 2002
    November 25, 2002

        Thanks for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome, and welcome to the
    White House.
        Today we are taking historic action to defend the United States and
    protect our citizens against the dangers of a new era. With my
    signature, this act of Congress will create a new Department of Homeland
    Security, ensuring that our efforts to defend this country are
    comprehensive and united.
        The new Department will analyze threats, will guard our borders and
    airports, protect our critical infrastructure, and coordinate the
    response of our Nation to future emergencies. The Department of Homeland
    Security will focus the full resources of the American Government on the
    safety of the American people. This essential reform was carefully
    considered by Congress and enacted with strong bipartisan majorities.
        I want to thank Tom Ridge, the Homeland
    Security Adviser, for his hard work on this initiative. I want to thank
    all the members of my Cabinet who are here for their work. I want to
    thank the Members of Congress who are with us today, particularly those
    Members of Congress who were essential to the passage, many of whom
    stand up here on the stage with me. One Member not with us is our mutual
    friend from Texas, Phil Gramm. I appreciate his
    hard work. I thank the work of Senator Fred Thompson and Senator Joe Lieberman. I appreciate Zell Miller and Don
    Nickles' hard work as well. We've got a lot of
    Members from the House here, and I want to thank you all for coming. I
    particularly want to pay homage to Dick Armey, who shepherded the bill to the floor of the House of
    Representatives. I'll miss him. I'm not so sure everybody will.
    [Laughter] But I appreciate your time here. I thank Tom DeLay for making sure the bill got passed. I thank Rob
    Portman for his hard work. And I want to thank
    Ellen Tauscher as well for her leadership
    on this issue.
        I appreciate Kay James of the Office of
    Personnel Management, who worked so hard to make sure this effort was
    understood by everybody in our Government. And I want to thank the other
    administration officials who are here, many of whom are going to be
    responsible for seeing to it this new Department functions well.
        I want to thank all the local and State officials who are here with
    us today--I see Governors and county judges, mayors--for coming. My own
    mayor, the Mayor of Washington, DC, I
    appreciate you coming, Mr. Mayor. I want to thank the local and State
    law enforcement officials who are here, the chiefs of police and fire
    chiefs who are with us today. I see the chief of my city now is here as
    well. Thank you, Mr. Chief, for coming.
        I want to thank the union representatives who are here. We look
    forward to working with you to make sure that your people are treated
    fairly in this new Department. I want to thank the Federal workers who
    are here. You're charged with being on the front line of protecting
    America. I understand your job. We look forward to working with you to
    make sure you get your job done. I want to thank the President's
    Homeland Security Advisory Council as well, and thank you all for
    coming.

    [[Page 2126]]

        From the morning of September the 11th, 2001, to this hour, America
    has been engaged in an unprecedented effort to defend our freedom and
    our security. We're fighting a war against terror with all our
    resources, and we're determined to win.
        With the help of many nations, with the help of 90 nations, we're
    tracking terrorist activity; we're freezing terrorist finances; we're
    disrupting terrorist plots; we're shutting down terrorist camps; we're
    on the hunt, one person at a time. Many terrorists are now being
    interrogated. Many terrorists have been killed. We've liberated a
    country.
        We recognize our greatest security is found in the relentless
    pursuit of these coldblooded killers. Yet, because terrorists are
    targeting America, the front of the new war is here in America. Our life
    changed and changed in dramatic fashion on September the 11th, 2001.
        In the last 14 months, every level of our Government has taken steps
    to be better prepared against a terrorist attack. We understand the
    nature of the enemy. We understand they hate us because of what we love.
    We're doing everything we can to enhance security at our airports and
    powerplants and border crossings. We've deployed detection equipment to
    look for weapons of mass destruction. We've given law enforcement better
    tools to detect and disrupt terrorist cells which might be hiding in our
    own country.
        And through separate legislation I signed earlier today, we will
    strengthen security at our Nation's 361 seaports, adding port security
    agents, requiring ships to provide more information about the cargo,
    crew, and passengers they carry. And I want to thank the Members of
    Congress for working hard on this important piece of legislation as
    well.
        The Homeland Security Act of 2002 takes the next critical steps in
    defending our country. The continuing threat of terrorism, the threat of
    mass murder on our own soil, will be met with a unified, effective
    response. Dozens of agencies charged with homeland security will now be
    located within one Cabinet Department with the mandate and legal
    authority to protect our people. America will be better able to respond
    to any future attacks, to reduce our vulnerability and, most important,
    prevent the terrorists from taking innocent American lives.
        The Department of Homeland Security will have nearly 170,000
    employees, dedicated professionals who will wake up each morning with
    the overriding duty of protecting their fellow citizens. As Federal
    workers, they have rights, and those rights will be fully protected. And
    I'm grateful that the Congress listened to my concerns and retained the
    authority of the President to put the right people in the right place at
    the right time in the defense of our country.
        I've great confidence in the men and women who will serve in this
    Department and in the man I've asked to lead it. As I prepare to sign
    this bill into law, I am pleased to announce that I will nominate
    Governor Tom Ridge as our Nation's first Secretary
    of Homeland Security. Americans know Tom as an experienced public
    servant and as the leader of our homeland security efforts since last
    year. Tom accepted that assignment in urgent circumstances, resigning as
    the Governor of Pennsylvania to organize the White House Office of
    Homeland Security and to develop a comprehensive strategy to protect the
    American people. He's done a superb job. He's the right man for this new
    and great responsibility.
        We're going to put together a fine team to work with Tom. The Secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, will be nominated for the post of Deputy Secretary.
    And Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, now the
    Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, will be nominated
    to serve as Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security.

    [[Page 2127]]

        The Secretary-designate and his team have an
    immense task ahead of them. Setting up the Department of Homeland
    Security will involve the most extensive reorganization of the Federal
    Government since Harry Truman signed the National Security Act. To
    succeed in their mission, leaders of the new Department must change the
    culture of many diverse agencies, directing all of them toward the
    principal objective of protecting the American people. The effort will
    take time and focus and steady resolve. It will also require full
    support from both the administration and the Congress. Adjustments will
    be needed along the way. Yet this is pressing business, and the hard
    work of building a new Department begins today.
        When the Department of Homeland Security is fully operational, it
    will enhance the safety of our people in very practical ways. First,
    this new Department will analyze intelligence information on terror
    threats collected by the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency, and
    others. The Department will match this intelligence against the Nation's
    vulnerabilities and work with other agencies and the private sector and
    State and local governments to harden America's defenses against terror.
        Second, the Department will gather and focus all our efforts to face
    the challenge of cyberterrorism and the even worse danger of nuclear,
    chemical, and biological terrorism. This Department will be charged with
    encouraging research on new technologies that can detect these threats
    in time to prevent an attack.
        Third, State and local governments will be able to turn for help and
    information to one Federal domestic security agency, instead of more
    than 20 agencies that currently divide these responsibilities. This will
    help our local governments work in concert with the Federal Government
    for the sake of all the people of America.
        Fourth, the new Department will bring together the agencies
    responsible for border, coastline, and transportation security. There
    will be a coordinated effort to safeguard our transportation systems and
    to secure the border so that we're better able to protect our citizens
    and welcome our friends.
        Fifth, the Department will work with State and local officials to
    prepare our response to any future terrorist attack that may come. We
    have found that the first hours and even the first minutes after the
    attack can be crucial in saving lives, and our first-responders need the
    carefully planned and drilled strategies that will make their work
    effective.
        The Department of Homeland Security will also end a great deal of
    duplication and overlapping responsibilities. Our objective is to spend
    less on administrators in offices and more on working agents in the
    field, less on overhead and more on protecting our neighborhoods and
    borders and waters and skies from terrorists.
        With a vast nation to defend, we can neither predict nor prevent
    every conceivable attack. And in a free and open society, no Department
    of Government can completely guarantee our safety against ruthless
    killers who move and plot in shadows. Yet our Government will take every
    possible measure to safeguard our country and our people.
        We're fighting a new kind of war against determined enemies. And
    public servants long into the future will bear the responsibility to
    defend Americans against terror. This administration and this Congress
    have the duty of putting that system into place. We will fulfill that
    duty. With the Homeland Security Act, we're doing everything we can to
    protect America. We're showing the resolve of this great Nation to
    defend our freedom, our security, and our way of life.
        It's now my privilege to sign the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:30 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to District of Columbia

    [[Page 2128]]

    Mayor Anthony A. Williams and Metropolitan Police Chief Charles H.
    Ramsey. H.R. 5005, approved November 25, was assigned Public Law No.
    107-296. S. 1214, the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002,
    approved November 25, was assigned Public Law No. 107-295.