[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 41 (Monday, October 15, 2001)]
[Pages 1434-1439]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Executive Order 13228--Establishing the Office of Homeland Security and
the Homeland Security Council
October 8, 2001
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as
follows:
Section 1. Establishment. I hereby establish within the Executive
Office of the President an Office of Homeland Security (the ``Office'')
to be headed by the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.
[[Page 1435]]
Sec. 2. Mission. The mission of the Office shall be to develop and
coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to
secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks. The Office
shall perform the functions necessary to carry out this mission,
including the functions specified in section 3 of this order.
Sec. 3. Functions. The functions of the Office shall be to
coordinate the executive branch's efforts to detect, prepare for,
prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks
within the United States.
(a) National Strategy. The Office shall work with executive
departments and agencies, State and local governments, and private
entities to ensure the adequacy of the national strategy for detecting,
preparing for, preventing, protecting against, responding to, and
recovering from terrorist threats or attacks within the United States
and shall periodically review and coordinate revisions to that strategy
as necessary.
(b) Detection. The Office shall identify priorities and coordinate
efforts for collection and analysis of information within the United
States regarding threats of terrorism against the United States and
activities of terrorists or terrorist groups within the United States.
The Office also shall identify, in coordination with the Assistant to
the President for National Security Affairs, priorities for collection
of intelligence outside the United States regarding threats of terrorism
within the United States.
(i) In performing these functions, the Office shall work with
Federal, State, and local agencies, as appropriate, to:
(A) facilitate collection from State and local governments and
private entities of information pertaining to terrorist threats or
activities within the United States;
(B) coordinate and prioritize the requirements for foreign
intelligence relating to terrorism within the United States of executive
departments and agencies responsible for homeland security and provide
these requirements and priorities to the Director of Central
Intelligence and other agencies responsible for collection of foreign
intelligence;
(C) coordinate efforts to ensure that all executive departments and
agencies that have intelligence collection responsibilities have
sufficient technological capabilities and resources to collect
intelligence and data relating to terrorist activities or possible
terrorist acts within the United States, working with the Assistant to
the President for National Security Affairs, as appropriate;
(D) coordinate development of monitoring protocols and equipment for
use in detecting the release of biological, chemical, and radiological
hazards; and
(E) ensure that, to the extent permitted by law, all appropriate and
necessary intelligence and law enforcement information relating to
homeland security is disseminated to and exchanged among appropriate
executive departments and agencies responsible for homeland security
and, where appropriate for reasons of homeland security, promote
exchange of such information with and among State and local governments
and private entities.
(ii) Executive departments and agencies shall, to the extent
permitted by law, make available to the Office all information relating
to terrorist threats and activities within the United States.
(c) Preparedness. The Office of Homeland Security shall coordinate
national efforts to prepare for and mitigate the consequences of
terrorist threats or attacks within the United States. In performing
this function, the Office shall work with Federal, State, and local
agencies, and private entities, as appropriate, to:
(i) review and assess the adequacy of the portions of all Federal
emergency response plans that pertain to terrorist threats or attacks
within the United States;
(ii) coordinate domestic exercises and simulations designed to
assess and practice systems that would be called upon to respond to a
terrorist threat or attack within the United States and coordinate
programs and activities for training Federal, State, and local employees
who would be called upon to respond to such a threat or attack;
(iii) coordinate national efforts to ensure public health
preparedness for a terrorist attack, including reviewing vaccination
policies
[[Page 1436]]
and reviewing the adequacy of and, if necessary, increasing vaccine and
pharmaceutical stockpiles and hospital capacity;
(iv) coordinate Federal assistance to State and local authorities
and nongovernmental organizations to prepare for and respond to
terrorist threats or attacks within the United States;
(v) ensure that national preparedness programs and activities for
terrorist threats or attacks are developed and are regularly evaluated
under appropriate standards and that resources are allocated to
improving and sustaining preparedness based on such evaluations; and
(vi) ensure the readiness and coordinated deployment of Federal
response teams to respond to terrorist threats or attacks, working with
the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, when
appropriate.
(d) Prevention. The Office shall coordinate efforts to prevent
terrorist attacks within the United States. In performing this function,
the Office shall work with Federal, State, and local agencies, and
private entities, as appropriate, to:
(i) facilitate the exchange of information among such agencies
relating to immigration and visa matters and shipments of cargo; and,
working with the Assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs, ensure coordination among such agencies to prevent the entry of
terrorists and terrorist materials and supplies into the United States
and facilitate removal of such terrorists from the United States, when
appropriate;
(ii) coordinate efforts to investigate terrorist threats and attacks
within the United States; and
(iii) coordinate efforts to improve the security of United States
borders, territorial waters, and airspace in order to prevent acts of
terrorism within the United States, working with the Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs, when appropriate.
(e) Protection. The Office shall coordinate efforts to protect the
United States and its critical infrastructure from the consequences of
terrorist attacks. In performing this function, the Office shall work
with Federal, State, and local agencies, and private entities, as
appropriate, to:
(i) strengthen measures for protecting energy production,
transmission, and distribution services and critical facilities; other
utilities; telecommunications; facilities that produce, use, store, or
dispose of nuclear material; and other critical infrastructure services
and critical facilities within the United States from terrorist attack;
(ii) coordinate efforts to protect critical public and privately
owned information systems within the United States from terrorist
attack;
(iii) develop criteria for reviewing whether appropriate security
measures are in place at major public and privately owned facilities
within the United States;
(iv) coordinate domestic efforts to ensure that special events
determined by appropriate senior officials to have national significance
are protected from terrorist attack;
(v) coordinate efforts to protect transportation systems within the
United States, including railways, highways, shipping, ports and
waterways, and airports and civilian aircraft, from terrorist attack;
(vi) coordinate efforts to protect United States livestock,
agriculture, and systems for the provision of water and food for human
use and consumption from terrorist attack; and
(vii) coordinate efforts to prevent unauthorized access to,
development of, and unlawful importation into the United States of,
chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosive, or other related
materials that have the potential to be used in terrorist attacks.
(f) Response and Recovery. The Office shall coordinate efforts to
respond to and promote recovery from terrorist threats or attacks within
the United States. In performing this function, the Office shall work
with Federal, State, and local agencies, and private entities, as
appropriate, to:
(i) coordinate efforts to ensure rapid restoration of transportation
systems, energy production, transmission, and distribution systems;
telecommunications; other utilities; and other critical infrastructure
facilities after disruption by a terrorist threat or attack;
(ii) coordinate efforts to ensure rapid restoration of public and
private critical information systems after disruption by a terrorist
threat or attack;
[[Page 1437]]
(iii) work with the National Economic Council to coordinate efforts
to stabilize United States financial markets after a terrorist threat or
attack and manage the immediate economic and financial consequences of
the incident;
(iv) coordinate Federal plans and programs to provide medical,
financial, and other assistance to victims of terrorist attacks and
their families; and
(v) coordinate containment and removal of biological, chemical,
radiological, explosive, or other hazardous materials in the event of a
terrorist threat or attack involving such hazards and coordinate efforts
to mitigate the effects of such an attack.
(g) Incident Management. The Assistant to the President for Homeland
Security shall be the individual primarily responsible for coordinating
the domestic response efforts of all departments and agencies in the
event of an imminent terrorist threat and during and in the immediate
aftermath of a terrorist attack within the United States and shall be
the principal point of contact for and to the President with respect to
coordination of such efforts. The Assistant to the President for
Homeland Security shall coordinate with the Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs, as appropriate.
(h) Continuity of Government. The Assistant to the President for
Homeland Security, in coordination with the Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs, shall review plans and preparations for
ensuring the continuity of the Federal Government in the event of a
terrorist attack that threatens the safety and security of the United
States Government or its leadership.
(i) Public Affairs. The Office, subject to the direction of the
White House Office of Communications, shall coordinate the strategy of
the executive branch for communicating with the public in the event of a
terrorist threat or attack within the United States. The Office also
shall coordinate the development of programs for educating the public
about the nature of terrorist threats and appropriate precautions and
responses.
(j) Cooperation with State and Local Governments and Private
Entities. The Office shall encourage and invite the participation of
State and local governments and private entities, as appropriate, in
carrying out the Office's functions.
(k) Review of Legal Authorities and Development of Legislative
Proposals. The Office shall coordinate a periodic review and assessment
of the legal authorities available to executive departments and agencies
to permit them to perform the functions described in this order. When
the Office determines that such legal authorities are inadequate, the
Office shall develop, in consultation with executive departments and
agencies, proposals for presidential action and legislative proposals
for submission to the Office of Management and Budget to enhance the
ability of executive departments and agencies to perform those
functions. The Office shall work with State and local governments in
assessing the adequacy of their legal authorities to permit them to
detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, and recover from
terrorist threats and attacks.
(l) Budget Review. The Assistant to the President for Homeland
Security, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget (the ``Director'') and the heads of executive departments and
agencies, shall identify programs that contribute to the
Administration's strategy for homeland security and, in the development
of the President's annual budget submission, shall review and provide
advice to the heads of departments and agencies for such programs. The
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security shall provide advice to
the Director on the level and use of funding in departments and agencies
for homeland security-related activities and, prior to the Director's
forwarding of the proposed annual budget submission to the President for
transmittal to the Congress, shall certify to the Director the funding
levels that the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
believes are necessary and appropriate for the homeland security-related
activities of the executive branch.
Sec. 4. Administration.
(a) The Office of Homeland Security shall be directed by the
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.
(b) The Office of Administration within the Executive Office of the
President shall provide the Office of Homeland Security
[[Page 1438]]
with such personnel, funding, and administrative support, to the extent
permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, as
directed by the Chief of Staff to carry out the provisions of this
order.
(c) Heads of executive departments and agencies are authorized, to
the extent permitted by law, to detail or assign personnel of such
departments and agencies to the Office of Homeland Security upon request
of the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, subject to the
approval of the Chief of Staff.
Sec. 5. Establishment of Homeland Security Council.
(a) I hereby establish a Homeland Security Council (the
``Council''), which shall be responsible for advising and assisting the
President with respect to all aspects of homeland security. The Council
shall serve as the mechanism for ensuring coordination of homeland
security-related activities of executive departments and agencies and
effective development and implementation of homeland security policies.
(b) The Council shall have as its members the President, the Vice
President, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the
Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the
Secretary of Transportation, the Director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the Director of Central Intelligence, the Assistant to the President for
Homeland Security, and such other officers of the executive branch as
the President may from time to time designate. The Chief of Staff, the
Chief of Staff to the Vice President, the Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs, the Counsel to the President, and the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget also are invited to
attend any Council meeting. The Secretary of State, the Secretary of
Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, the
Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the
Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the Assistant to the
President for Domestic Policy shall be invited to attend meetings
pertaining to their responsibilities. The heads of other executive
departments and agencies and other senior officials shall be invited to
attend Council meetings when appropriate.
(c) The Council shall meet at the President's direction. When the
President is absent from a meeting of the Council, at the President's
direction the Vice President may preside. The Assistant to the President
for Homeland Security shall be responsible, at the President's
direction, for determining the agenda, ensuring that necessary papers
are prepared, and recording Council actions and Presidential decisions.
Sec. 6. Original Classification Authority. I hereby delegate the
authority to classify information originally as Top Secret, in
accordance with Executive Order 12958 or any successor Executive Order,
to the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.
Sec. 7. Continuing Authorities. This order does not alter the
existing authorities of United States Government departments and
agencies. All executive departments and agencies are directed to assist
the Council and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security in
carrying out the purposes of this order.
Sec. 8. General Provisions.
(a) This order does not create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United
States, its departments, agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or
employees, or any other person.
(b) References in this order to State and local governments shall be
construed to include tribal governments and United States territories
and other possessions.
(c) References to the ``United States'' shall be construed to
include United States territories and possessions.
Sec. 9. Amendments to Executive Order 12656. Executive Order 12656
of November 18, 1988, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:
(a) Section 101(a) is amended by adding at the end of the fourth
sentence: ``, except that the Homeland Security Council shall be
responsible for administering such policy with respect to terrorist
threats and attacks within the United States.''
[[Page 1439]]
(b) Section 104(a) is amended by adding at the end: ``, except that
the Homeland Security Council is the principal forum for consideration
of policy relating to terrorist threats and attacks within the United
States.''
(c) Section 104(b) is amended by inserting the words ``and the
Homeland Security Council'' after the words ``National Security
Council.''
(d) The first sentence of section 104(c) is amended by inserting the
words ``and the Homeland Security Council'' after the words ``National
Security Council.''
(e) The second sentence of section 104(c) is replaced with the
following two sentences: ``Pursuant to such procedures for the
organization and management of the National Security Council and
Homeland Security Council processes as the President may establish, the
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency also shall assist in
the implementation of and management of those processes as the President
may establish. The Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
also shall assist in the implementation of national security emergency
preparedness policy by coordinating with the other Federal departments
and agencies and with State and local governments, and by providing
periodic reports to the National Security Council and the Homeland
Security Council on implementation of national security emergency
preparedness policy.''
(f) Section 201(7) is amended by inserting the words ``and the
Homeland Security Council'' after the words ``National Security
Council.''
(g) Section 206 is amended by inserting the words ``and the Homeland
Security Council'' after the words ``National Security Council.''
(h) Section 208 is amended by inserting the words ``or the Homeland
Security Council'' after the words ``National Security Council.''
George W. Bush
The White House,
October 8, 2001.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:12 p.m., October 9,
2001]
Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on
October 10.