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