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The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), commonly known as Homeland Security, is a Cabinet department of the Federal Government of the United States with the responsibility of protecting the territory of the United States from terrorist attack and responding to natural disasters. The department was created from 22 existing federal agencies in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Whereas the Department of Defense is charged with military actions abroad, the Department of Homeland Security works in the civilian sphere to protect the United States within, at, and outside its borders. Its goal is to prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism. With approximately 184,000 employees, DHS is the third largest cabinet department in the U.S. federal government after the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. Homeland security policy is coordinated at the White House by the Homeland Security Council, with Frances Townsend as the Homeland Security Advisor. Other agencies with significant homeland security responsibilities include the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Energy. Initial Homeland Security Efforts after 9/11
Creation of the Department of Homeland Security The department was established on November 25, 2002, by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. After months of discussion about employee rights and benefits and "rider" portions of the bill, it was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush. It was intended to consolidate U.S. executive branch organizations related to "homeland security" into a single cabinet agency. Ridge was named secretary on January 24, 2003 and began naming his chief deputies. DHS officially began operations on January 24, 2003, but most of the department's component agencies were not transferred into the new Department until March 1st. It was the largest government reorganization in 50 years (since the United States Department of Defense was created). After establishing the basic structure of DHS and working to integrate its components and get the department functioning, Ridge announced his resignation on November 30, 2004, following the re-election of President Bush. Bush initially nominated former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik as his successor, but on December 10, Kerik withdrew his nomination citing personal reasons and saying it "would not be in the best interests" of the country for him to pursue the post. On January 11, 2005, President Bush nominated federal judge Michael Chertoff to succeed Ridge. Chertoff was confirmed on February 15, 2005, by a vote of 98–0 in the U.S. Senate. He was sworn in the same day. Controversy about adoption centered on whether the FBI and the CIA should be incorporated in part or in whole (both were not). The bill itself was also controversial for the presence of unrelated riders, as well as eliminating some standard civil service and labor protections from employees of the department. President Bush wanted the right to fire an employee within Homeland Security immediately for security reasons, for incompetence, or insubordination. Then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle wanted an appeals process that could take up to 18 months or as little as one month. A federal court injunction has blocked many aspects of the new personnel system as they relate to employee pay and discipline. Plans to proceed with the performance management aspects of the system are continuing. Daschle was voted out of office soon after. Organization DHS Organizational Chart Directorates Major Agencies As part of the reorganization within the department, on March 1, 2004 the National Incident Management System (NIMS) was created. The idea behind was to provide a consistent nationwide approach for Federal, State. local and tribal governments. Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5 all Federal departments were required to adopt the NIMS and to use it in their individual domestic incident management and emergency prevention, preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation program and activities. A few months later in December 2004 the National Response Plan (NRP) was created, in an attempt to align Federal coordination structures, capabilities, and resources into a unified, all-discipline, and all-hazards approach to domestic incident management. The NRP was built on the template of the NIMS. Headquarters Since its inception, the Department has had its temporary headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Nebraska Avenue Center, a naval complex.* No permanent headquarters location has been chosen yet. Grants DHS provides grants through a variety of programs to states, localities, first responders, and universities. CREATE - Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events - the first university center of excellence funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is an interdisciplinary national research center based at the University of Southern California. The Center comprises a team of experts from across the country, including partnerships with New York University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ready.gov Soon after the formation of Department of Homeland Security, the Martin Agency of Richmond, Virginia provided pro bono work to create "Ready.gov", a readiness website. The site and materials were conceived as early as March 2002 but were launched in February of 2003, just before the launch of the Iraq War * * *. One of the first announcements that garnered widespread public attention to this campaign was one by Tom Ridge in which he stated that in the case of a chemical attack, citizens should use duct tape and plastic sheeting to build a homemade bunker, or "sheltering in place" * * to protect themselves. As a result, the sales of duct tape skyrocketed and DHS received criticism that they were being too alarmist. * * Effectiveness The Department of Homeland Security has been dogged persistently by criticism over excessive bureaucracy and ineffectiveness. The department's initial response to Hurricane Katrina was acknowledged by the Bush administration as well as its critics to be inadequate. Following the discovery by British authorities in August 2006 of a plot to destroy commerical airliners using liquid explosives, it was revealed that DHS had consistently failed to spend research and development money on new airport screening methods, and that funds for explosive detection equipment were re-routed by the Bush Administration to cover budget shortfalls elsewhere. In August 2006, a bipartisan group of Senators on the Appropriations Committee described the Sciences & Technology Directorate, the research arm of DHS, as a "rudderless ship without a clear way to get back on course".* See also See also | |||||||||
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