[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 24 (Monday, June 17, 2002)]
[Page 978]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

June 8, 2002

    Good morning. Nearly 9 months have passed since September the 11th, 
and America is leading the world in a titanic struggle against terror. 
The first and best way to secure America's homeland is to attack the 
enemy where he hides and plans, and we are doing just that.
    We have also concluded that our Government must be reorganized to 
deal most effectively with the new threats of the 21st century, so I 
have asked the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent 
Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, with an overriding and 
urgent mission, securing the American homeland and protecting the 
American people.
    The Department of Homeland Security will unite essential agencies 
that must work more closely together, among them the Coast Guard and 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 that their most important job is to protect their fellow 
citizens.
    The Department of Homeland Security will be charged with four 
primary tasks: This 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.
    What I am proposing 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. President 
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 I'm asking 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 today than we were on that terrible morning. And with your help 
and the support of the Congress, we will be stronger still.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:35 a.m. on June 7 in the Cabinet 
Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on June 8. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
June 7 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The Office of 
the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language transcript of this 
address.