[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.