Department of Homeland Security Origins in the United States
Introduction to Department of Homeland Security Origins
A debate over how to best structure the federal government to prevent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil began even before the September 11 attacks. In 1998 the U.S. secretary of defense created the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission for its cochairs, former U.S. senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman) to assess global threats to domestic security and develop a national security strategy. This commission reported in February 2001 that homeland security functions were “scattered across more than two dozen departments and agencies, and all fifty states,” and it warned of future attacks against U.S. citizens on their own soil. It recommended the creation of a new National Homeland Security Agency-integrating FEMA, the Customs Service, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Coast Guard-to coordinate government homeland security activities.
The September 11 attacks prompted intense scrutiny of the federal government’s efforts to prevent terrorism. Authorities were alarmed that important clues to the attacks were overlooked or never connected, and that the terrorists involved in the attacks had entered and remained in the United States without raising suspicions. In October 2001 President George W. Bush established the Office of Homeland Security within the White House to coordinate counterterrorism efforts.
However, some members of Congress argued that the office, created by executive order and without budgetary authority, lacked sufficient power to alter the procedures and priorities of other federal agencies involved in fighting terrorism. Congressional legislators pressed for a new Cabinet-level agency, based largely on the recommendations of the Hart-Rudman Commission, which would analyze all terrorism-related information and direct the government’s counterterrorism efforts. Although Bush initially opposed the idea, it gradually gained bipartisan support, and by mid-2002 he had embraced it. The Department of Homeland Security was created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002, signed into law on November 25, 2002. By combining dozens of federal agencies into one department, the act marked the largest reorganization of the federal government since the National Security Act of 1947 created the present-day Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the National Security Council. The DHS was officially established in January 2003. Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, who headed the White House Office of Homeland Security, became the DHS’s first secretary.” (1)
Resources
Notes and References
Guide to Department of Homeland Security Origins
In this Section
Federal Departments, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense (including Department of Defense Purpose, Department of Defense Organization, Department of Defense Liaison of Command and Department of Defense Supporting Agencies), Department of Education, Department of Energy
(including Department of Energy Purpose, Department of Energy Organization and Department of Energy Research and Development), Department of Health and Human Services (including Department of Health and Human Services History and Department of Health and Human Services Agencies and Services), Department of Homeland Security (including Department of Homeland Security Organization and Functions, Department of Homeland Security Origins and Department of Homeland Security Supporting Agencies), Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Justice (including Department of Justice Functions, Department of Justice Structure and Department of Justice Associated Agencies), Department of Labor, Department of National Defence, Department of State (including Department of State Administration and Department of State Bureaus), Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army, Department of the Interior (including Department of the Interior Functions and Department of the Interior Principal Agencies), Department of the Navy, Department of the Treasury, Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs (including the Department of Veterans Affairs Service Categories, Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Available and GI Bill of Rights) and Department of War.
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