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Homeland security called for in january 2001 { January 31 2001 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/01/31/terrorism.report.02/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2001/US/01/31/terrorism.report.02/index.html
New steps needed to prevent terrorism, panel says
January 31, 2001
Web posted at: 6:54 p.m. EST (2354 GMT)
From staff and wire reports
WASHINGTON -- A "catastrophic attack" is likely to strike the United States in the next 25 years, and the National Guard should be retrained as America's main protector against such an assault, an advisory commission on national security said Wednesday.
In its report, the panel recommended a reorganization of the State and Defense departments and more investment in education and scientific research.
Additionally, the commission recommended the creation of an independent Cabinet-level National Homeland Security Agency to coordinate a national strategy against terrorism.
"If we have a disaster and we think it is quite probable in the next 20-25 years, we're not prepared to deal with it," former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-New Hampshire and co-chairman of the commission, told CNN.
The bipartisan U.S. Commission on National Security in the 21st Century was headed by Rudman and former Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colorado, and includes former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, among its 14 members.
The panel, commissioned by the Defense Department, spent more than two years making its evaluations, which included hundreds of interviews with national security experts.
More money for science, education
The second-biggest threat is inadequate scientific research and education, something the panel said poses "a greater threat to U.S. national security ... than any potential conventional war that we might imagine."
The commission said the United States will lose its technical edge upon which national security is based if dramatic steps are not taken soon to increase the number of Americans studying advanced science, math and engineering.
As a result, the report recommends a "science and technical education act" offering loans to college students studying science, math and engineering, with the loans being forgiven if the student agrees to work for the government for a given number of years.
"We put science, and science and math education, second ... because we believe it's second only to the threat of a weapon of mass destruction (hitting) one of our cities," Gingrich said.
"The national security establishment has to look seriously at how much" is spent on such programs, Gingrich added.
'Serious gaps exist'
The proposed security agency would take over the Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs Service, the Coast Guard, the FBI counterterrorism center and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), among others. The proposed agency also would assume responsibility for cyber security from the Commerce Department and the FBI.
"Some serious gaps presently exist," said Hart, noting that more than 40 agencies currently respond to various threats or attacks. "They are not presently coordinated either to protect, prevent or respond to a major terrorist attack."
Added Rudman: "We're not talking about creating a new bureaucracy. We're talking about taking a number of bureaucracies and consolidating them into one streamlined organization."
Rudman said the nation needs to be able to respond adequately to potential terrorists who could use chemical, biological or even small nuclear devices to cause destruction in the United States.
State National Guard units would take on homeland security as their primary task under the commission's proposals. The commission also recommended a series of upgrades of U.S. intelligence gathering against potential terrorists.
Giving the Guard an elevated role is not a new idea. The Clinton administration, for instance, had planned for the Guard to operate a national missile defense system, should one be deployed.
Return power to State Department, report says
While the commission does have strong backing, many of its recommendations are likely to face stiff opposition due to the magnitude of some of the changes.
The panel also advised higher pay and better benefits for military personnel, particularly captains and majors, where attrition rates are highest.
On another front, the report argues that the National Security Council at the White House has too much power and should be strictly limited to giving the president advice on policy.
"Ever since (former Secretary of State Henry) Kissinger, it has become more and more operational," said one commission member, "because they don't have any congressional oversight to speak of so they can do whatever the president wants them to do -- a la Oliver North."
The operational power should be returned to the State Department, the commission report argued.
Bush administration officials said they will look closely at the commission's recommendations. But the proposal for a National Homeland Security Agency is sure to stir controversy, because it will take resources away from some well-entrenched agencies.
And critics like James Steinberg, who was former President Bill Clinton's deputy national security adviser, said agencies simply need better cooperation in the fight against terrorism, not another new agency.
CNN National Security Correspondent David Ensor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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