[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 23 (Monday, June 10, 2002)]
[Pages 963-965]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Address to the Nation on the Proposed Department of
Homeland Security

June 6, 2002

    Good evening. During the next few minutes, I want to update you on 
the progress we are making in our war against terror and to propose 
sweeping changes that will strengthen our homeland against the ongoing 
threat of terrorist attacks.
    Nearly 9 months have passed since the day that forever changed our 
country. Debris from what was once the World Trade Center has been 
cleared away in a hundred thousand truckloads. The west side of the 
Pentagon looks almost as it did on September the 10th. And as children 
finish school and families prepare for summer vacations, for many life 
seems almost normal.
    Yet, we are a different nation today, sadder and stronger, less 
innocent and more courageous, more appreciative of life, and for many 
who serve our country, more willing to risk life in a great cause. For 
those who have lost family and friends, the pain will never go away, and 
neither will the responsibilities that day thrust upon all of us.
    America is leading the civilized world in a titanic struggle against 
terror. Freedom and fear are at war, and freedom is winning. Tonight 
over 60,000 American troops are deployed around the world in the war 
against terror: more than 7,000 in Afghanistan; others in the 
Philippines, Yemen, and the Republic of Georgia, to train local forces. 
Next week Afghanistan will begin selecting a representative government, 
even as American troops, along with our allies, still continuously raid 
remote Al Qaida hiding places.
    Among those we have captured is a man named Abu Zubaydah, Al Qaida's 
chief of operations. From him and from hundreds of others, we are 
learning more about how the terrorists plan and operate, information 
crucial in anticipating and preventing future attacks.
    Our coalition is strong. More than 90 nations have arrested or 
detained over 2,400 terrorists and their supporters. More than 180 
countries have offered or are providing assistance in the war on 
terrorism. And our military is strong and prepared to oppose any 
emerging threat to the American people.
    Every day in this war will not bring the drama of liberating a 
country. Yet, every day brings new information, a tip or arrest, another 
step or two or three in a relentless march to bring security to our 
Nation and justice to our enemies.

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    Every day I review a document called the threat assessment. It 
summarizes what our intelligence services and key law enforcement 
agencies have picked up about terrorist activity. Sometimes the 
information is very general, vague talk, bragging about future attacks. 
Sometimes the information is more specific, as in a recent case when an 
Al Qaida detainee said attacks were planned against financial 
institutions.
    When credible intelligence warrants, appropriate law enforcement and 
local officials are alerted. These warnings are, unfortunately, a new 
reality in American life, and we have recently seen an increase in the 
volume of general threats. Americans should continue to do what you're 
doing. Go about your lives, but pay attention to your surroundings. Add 
your eyes and ears to the protection of our homeland.
    In protecting our country, we depend on the skill of our people, the 
troops we send to battle, intelligence operatives who risk their lives 
for bits of information, law enforcement officers who sift for clues and 
search for suspects. We are now learning that before September the 11th, 
the suspicions and insights of some of our frontline agents did not get 
enough attention.
    My administration supports the important work of the intelligence 
committees in Congress to review the activities of law enforcement and 
intelligence agencies. We need to know when warnings were missed or 
signs unheeded, not to point the finger or blame but to make sure we 
correct any problems and prevent them from happening again.
    Based on everything I've seen, I do not believe anyone could have 
prevented the horror of September the 11th. Yet, we now know that 
thousands of trained killers are plotting to attack us, and this 
terrible knowledge requires us to act differently.
    If you're a frontline worker for the FBI, the CIA, some other law 
enforcement or intelligence agency and you see something that raises 
suspicions, I want you to report it immediately. I expect your 
supervisors to treat it with the seriousness it deserves. Information 
must be fully shared so we can follow every lead to find the one that 
may prevent tragedy.
    I applaud the leaders and employees at the FBI and CIA for beginning 
essential reforms. They must continue to think and act differently to 
defeat the enemy.
    The first and best way to secure America's homeland is to attack the 
enemy where he hides and plans, and we're doing just that. We're also 
taking significant steps to strengthen our homeland protections, 
securing cockpits, tightening our borders, stockpiling vaccines, 
increasing security at water treatment and nuclear powerplants.
    After September the 11th, we needed to move quickly, and so I 
appointed Tom Ridge as my Homeland Security Adviser. As Governor Ridge 
has worked with all levels of government to prepare a national strategy 
and as we have learned more about the plans and capabilities of the 
terrorist network, we have concluded that our Government must be 
reorganized to deal more effectively with the new threats of the 21st 
century. So tonight I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, 
permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission, securing the 
homeland of America and protecting the American people.
    Right now as many as a hundred different Government agencies have 
some responsibilities for homeland security, and no one has final 
accountability. For example, the Coast Guard has several missions, from 
search and rescue to maritime treaty enforcement. It reports to the 
Transportation Department, whose primary responsibilities are roads, 
rails, bridges, and the airways. The Customs Service, among other 
duties, collects tariffs and prevents smuggling, and it is part of the 
Treasury Department, whose primary responsibility is fiscal policy, not 
security.
    Tonight I propose a permanent Cabinet-level Department of Homeland 
Security to unite essential agencies that must work more closely 
together: Among them, the Coast Guard, the Border Patrol, the Customs 
Service, Immigration officials, the Transportation Security 
Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Employees 
of this new agency will come to work every morning knowing their most 
important job is to protect their fellow citizens.
    The Department of Homeland Security will be charged with four 
primary tasks: This

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new agency will control our borders and prevent terrorists and 
explosives from entering our country; it will work with State and local 
authorities to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies; it will 
bring together our best scientists to develop technologies that detect 
biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, and to discover the drugs and 
treatments to best protect our citizens; and this new Department will 
review intelligence and law enforcement information from all agencies of 
Government and produce a single daily picture of threats against our 
homeland. Analysts will be responsible for imagining the worst and 
planning to counter it.
    The reason to create this Department is not to create the size of 
Government but to increase its focus and effectiveness. The staff of 
this new Department will be largely drawn from the agencies we are 
combining. By ending duplication and overlap, we will spend less on 
overhead and more on protecting America. This reorganization will give 
the good people of our Government their best opportunity to succeed by 
organizing our resources in a way that is thorough and unified.
    What I am proposing tonight is the most extensive reorganization of 
the Federal Government since the 1940s. During his Presidency, Harry 
Truman recognized that our Nation's fragmented defenses had to be 
reorganized to win the cold war. He proposed uniting our military forces 
under a single Department of Defense and creating the National Security 
Council to bring together defense, intelligence, and diplomacy. Truman's 
reforms are still helping us to fight terror abroad, and now we need 
similar dramatic reforms to secure our people at home.
    Only the United States Congress can create a new department of 
Government. So tonight I ask for your help in encouraging your 
Representatives to support my plan. We face an urgent need, and we must 
move quickly, this year, before the end of the congressional session. 
All in our Government have learned a great deal since September the 
11th, and we must act on every lesson. We are stronger and better 
prepared tonight than we were on that terrible morning, and with your 
help and the support of the Congress, we will be stronger still.
    History has called our Nation into action. History has placed a 
great challenge before us: Will America, with our unique position and 
power, blink in the face of terror, or will we lead to a freer, more 
civilized world? There's only one answer: This great country will lead 
the world to safety, security, peace, and freedom.
    Thank you for listening. Good night, and may God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 8 p.m. in the Cross Hall at the White 
House.