Homeland Plan Heads To Congress

In a Rose Garden ceremony Tuesday morning, President Bush, joined by congressional leaders of both parties, formally unveiled his administration's first national strategy for homeland security, CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller reports.

"This comprehensive plan lays out clear lines of authority and clear responsibilities," Mr. Bush declared, as he submitted his plan to Congress.

The 90-page White House document, released in softcover book format, envisions changes in state and federal laws, including increasing the military's ability to operate within the United States, and it outlines dozens of long-range initiatives to improve homeland security.

Key to the Bush strategy is creation of a new Cabinet-level department to implement the plan.

"The current structure of our government is a patchwork, to put it best, of overlapping responsibilities, and it really does hinder our ability to protect the homeland," the president said.

"By acting together to create a new and single Department of Homeland Security, we'll be sending the world a signal that the Congress and the administration will work together to protect the American people."

Also Tuesday, the Select House Committee on Homeland Security will hear Tuesday from Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

All urged Congress to quickly approve legislation, creating the new department, which reflects Mr. Bush's priorities. "It is needed, and it is needed now," Mineta told the panel.

Yet there remained reluctance on Capitol Hill to accept many proposed changes. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., took issue with the president's proposal to transfer much of the nation's public health apparatus under the control of the new agency.

"Many of us feel that we should build on the strengths of these existing programs rather than create potential confusion," Kennedy said at a hearing of the Senate health committee that he chairs.

The select House panel will assemble legislation to create the new Homeland Security agency out of recommendations made by other House committees, many of which conflict with Mr. Bush's own proposals. The administration is urging lawmakers to stick with the president's blueprint.

Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge told the CBS News Early Show the plan is aimed at reducing vulnerability to attack.

"We've got agencies that are out there trying to identify the actors and try to eliminate the threat," he said. "This new agency will come up with a new strategic product for this country and that's where we get the information from the CIA and from the FBI. We'll take that and then match that against our infrastructure."

Many lawmakers, especially Democrats, had criticized Mr. Bush for proposing a new department before a strategy for dealing with domestic terrorism was completed.

The strategy, the first of its kind in U.S. history, says its goals are to prevent terrorism, reduce vulnerability to attacks and minimize damage from any that do occur. It leaves little doubt that groups such as al Qaeda are all but certain to strike again.

"Our society presents an almost infinite array of potential targets that can be attacked through a variety of methods," a summary of the strategy says. "We must be prepared to adapt as our enemies in the war on terrorism alter their means of attack."

The White House document recommends numerous changes in state and federal laws and outlines dozens of long-range initiatives to improve homeland security.

For example, the strategy suggests that states adopt similar laws for getting a driver's license to guard against ease of access by terrorists and that states make terrorism insurance more readily available to businesses and property owners.

On the federal level, it says extradition agreements with other nations should be expanded, that the federal government should get greater authority to call out the National Guard and that the president should have greater power to transfer money appropriated by Congress to deal with terrorist threats inside U.S. borders.

In addition to the new Cabinet-level agency, the strategy recommends several key initiatives, such as securing international shipping containers, augmenting vaccine stockpiles, enhancing the FBI's analytical capabilities, improving cooperation among different levels of federal, state and local governments and upgrading computer security.

Ridge disputed a Brookings Institute study that said far too much time would be spent by bureaucrats dealing with paperwork and not enough time fighting terrorism.

"One of the best ways for us to minimize if not eliminate all of that is for the Congress to accept the president's request that the new secretary and his team be given freedom to manage," he said.

Ridge also took issue with a decision by the House Appropriations Committee to reject the president's proposal to permit the new department's secretary to transfer up to 5 percent of each year's budget within programs without consulting Congress. Ridge said that power would help negate predicted transition costs of $3 billion and is critical to permit quick response to emerging or unforeseen terrorist threats.

Lawmakers jealously guard their constitutional power of the purse, however. House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the panel's chairman, said it was unlikely Congress would grant Mr. Bush's request for broad transfer authority.