Cabinet Agency for Homeland Security Wins Senate OK

WASHINGTON —  The Senate overwhelmingly approved the most sweeping government shakeup in half a century Tuesday, passing a bill that will create a new Cabinet department responsible for reducing the nation’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks.

The Senate vote, 90 to 9, followed House passage last week of a virtually identical measure to forge a Department of Homeland Security out of about two dozen government agencies.

For the first time, one government agency will be responsible for coordinating protection of the nation’s borders, coastlines, airports, landmarks, utilities and other major facilities, both public and private. The new agency, expected to have more than 170,000 employees, will also help lead the nation’s defense against potential chemical, biological or nuclear attacks.

Bush pushed hard for the bill after the Republican triumph in this month’s midterm elections, and Tuesday’s action handed him a major victory as the 107th Congress drew to a close with key Senate votes approving terrorism insurance and stopgap spending legislation, and a new federal appellate judge.

Bush will sign the homeland security bill as soon as lawmakers iron out minor differences between the Senate and House versions and send it to him.

The bill’s enactment will set in motion the most extensive reorganization of the executive branch since the creation of the modern Defense Department and intelligence agencies in the late 1940s.

That change was a major legacy of World War II and the Cold War. The new homeland security agency is part of Washington’s response to last year’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In a telephone call from Air Force One while flying to Prague for a NATO summit, Bush congratulated jubilant GOP leaders as the bill neared passage.

“We’re making great progress in the war on terror,” Bush said via speakerphone. “Part of that progress will be the ability for us to protect the American people at home. This is a very important piece of legislation.”

After the bill’s passage, the Senate moved toward conclusion of the lame-duck congressional session that began last week. It confirmed a conservative nominated by Bush for the federal appellate court, Dennis W. Shedd, and gave final congressional approval to a bill making the government the insurer of last resort for terrorist attacks.

Late Tuesday, the Senate approved a stopgap budget bill for a raft of government agencies, leaving decisions on increased spending proposals for the new Congress. That finished the Senate’s business for the year; the House completed its work last week.

The 108th Congress will convene Jan. 7.

In launching the new security agency, the Bush administration will face fresh challenges: appointing and winning confirmation of the department’s leading officials and finding enough money to make the department work.

Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor who serves as White House director of homeland security, is the leading candidate to head the new Cabinet department.

Funding for the agency, projected to have an annual budget of more than $38 billion, is a major question. Congress failed this year to approve billions of dollars that Bush and lawmakers from both parties had sought to bolster security programs that will be coordinated by the new agency. Leading Republicans say they will act on the funding proposals as soon as the new Congress convenes.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), one of the first lawmakers to propose a homeland security agency that would merge various functions, said the new department would help bring coherence to a scattershot federal anti-terrorism effort -- one often criticized for failing to connect crucial pieces of intelligence and then act on them.

“The dots are going to be on one board at this department, and that’s going to help our government see the terrorist threats before they attack, and therefore, to stop them,” Lieberman said.

The bill will take effect 60 days after Bush signs it. And when the 15th Cabinet department opens for business, the new secretary of Homeland Security will oversee employees drawn from about two dozen agencies now spread throughout the federal government. Only the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments will have more personnel.

Operating under the new department’s umbrella will be the Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs Service -- agencies responsible for securing airports, coastal waters and incoming cargo, respectively.

The beleaguered Immigration and Naturalization Service will be officially abolished and its functions split into two bureaus within the new department, one to guard borders and the other to serve immigrants.

Other department components include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, responsible for disaster relief, and the Secret Service, in charge of guarding the president and spearheading security measures at major national events.

The department will be organized into four major divisions: border and transportation security; emergency preparedness and response; science and technology; information analysis and infrastructure protection.

Notably absent from the department’s jurisdiction were two agencies that have been criticized for intelligence and law-enforcement breakdowns that preceded the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes: the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Lawmakers critical of the CIA and FBI may target them for overhaul in the next Congress.

Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) cautioned that the new department may not be able to work miracles from the start.

“It’s going to be difficult and it’s going to take longer than everybody thinks -- because it’s a part of the federal government,” Thompson said.

Others promised that the agency would get close congressional oversight, signaling that lawmakers are far from done with the issue.

“This is a huge undertaking. We all know this hasn’t been done for 50 years,” Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said. “We’re going to bring together 170,000 people and try to make this thing out of whole cloth? It’s going to be a tremendous challenge.”

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) fought the bill from the beginning and opposed it to the end. “The nation will have this unfortunate creature, this behemoth, this bureaucratic bag of tricks,” he said. “And it will hulk across the landscape of this city, touting its new mission and eagerly gobbling up tax dollars for all manner of things, many of which have nothing to do with saving the lives of American people.”

Voting for the bill were 48 Republicans, 41 Democrats -- including Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California -- and independent Sen. Dean Barkley of Minnesota. Opposing it were eight Democrats and independent Sen. James M. Jeffords of Vermont. Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska) did not vote.

The vote came after the Senate narrowly rejected a Democratic amendment to strip several special-interest provisions from the legislation, a proposal Republicans said could have derailed the bill.

As it was, the bill’s final passage culminated a lengthy and at times clamorous debate that began shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.

One of Bush’s first acts following the attacks was to name Ridge to coordinate federal anti-terrorism efforts from within the White House. But Democrats, led by Lieberman, clamored for more. They wanted a new Cabinet officer with budget authority and power to give orders to far-flung security personnel.

Bush initially resisted. But in a nationally televised address June 6, he shifted course. He embraced the idea of a new department and unveiled a massive reorganization plan that had been a closely kept secret.

The legislation that emerged from Congress more than five months later largely followed Bush’s blueprint -- though at 484 pages, it was much longer than his original 52-page bill.

In the House debate, Bush rolled over most opposition to the merger from senior Republicans who sought to protect bureaucratic turf. He wanted the Coast Guard in the new department. Some lawmakers wanted it out. He won.

Bush wanted agriculture inspectors in the department to help defend against bioterrorism. Some lawmakers wanted them out. He got most of what he wanted -- the inspectors at border points, seaports and airports.

In the Senate, leading Democrats fiercely objected to language Bush sought to revise normal government personnel rules, giving him more leeway to hire, fire, demote and promote within the department. Democrats proposed to restrict Bush’s power to waive collective bargaining rights for more than 40,000 employees within the department now represented by unions.

The clash over workers’ rights remained unresolved when Congress recessed a few weeks before the Nov. 5 election. Bush campaigned across the country for GOP candidates who would back him in the dispute.

When elections yielded GOP victory, Bush pressed for the bill to be finished on his terms during the lame-duck session. Ultimately, Democrats were forced to accept a version that gave Bush most of the personnel powers he wanted. As a result, the new department will become a laboratory for civil service reform.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Security Overhaul

Here are the major branches of the new Department of Homeland Security:

Current Cabinet Agencies, with secretary, budget, employees:

Parts of these agencies would shift:

Agriculture -- Ann M. Veneman; $77 billion; 131,385

Commerce -- Don Evans; $6 billion; 37,000

Defense -- Donald H. Rumsfeld; $331 billion; 2,967,750

Energy -- Spencer Abraham; $19 billion; 15,000

Health and Human Services -- Tommy G. Thompson; $459 billion; 65,000

Justice -- John Ashcroft; $23 billion; 129,670

Transportation -- Norman Y. Mineta; $61 billion; 118,447

Treasury -- Paul H. O’Neill; $17 billion; 150,532

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Agencies not affected

Education -- Rod Paige; $48 billion; 4,710

Housing and Urban Development -- Mel Martinez; $31 billion; 10,300

Interior -- Gale A. Norton; $10 billion; 69,718

Labor -- Elaine Chao; $59 billion; 17,432

State -- Colin L. Powell; $16 billion; 28,967

Veterans Affairs -- Anthony J. Principi; $52 billion; 207,028

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Proposed Department of Homeland Security

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Border and Transportation Security Directorate

Move from Cabinet-level agency:

Immigration and Naturalization Service (from Justice Department, to be split into two bureaus and renamed)

Office of Domestic Preparedness (from Justice)

U.S. Customs Service and Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (both from Treasury)

Transportation Security Administration (from Transportation)

Move from other agency:

Federal Protective Service (from General Services Administration)

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Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate

Move from Cabinet-level agency:

Domestic Emergency Support Teams and National Domestic Preparedness Office (from Justice)

Office of Emergency Preparedness and other disaster response assets (from Health and Human Services)

Integrated Hazard Information System (from Commerce)

Move from other agency:

Federal Emergency Management Agency (previously independent)

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Science and Technology Directorate

Move from Cabinet-level agency:

Plum Island Animal Disease Center (from Agriculture)

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in part, and Environmental Measurements Laboratory (both from Energy)

National Bioweapons Defense Analysis Center (from Defense)

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Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate

Move from Cabinet-level agency:

National Infrastructure Protection Center (from Justice)

National Communications System (from Defense)

National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center and energy security programs (both from Energy)

Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (from Commerce)

Move from other agency:

Federal Computer Incident Response Center (from General Services Administration)

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Also in new department:

Move from Cabinet-level agency:

Coast Guard (from Transportation)

Animal and plant border inspectors (from Agriculture)

Secret Service (from Treasury)

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Moving to Justice Department:

Move from Cabinet-level agency:

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (from Treasury)

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Estimated total employees: 170,000

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Estimated budget: more than $38 billion

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Sources: Homeland security bill text -- Researched by Times graphics reporter Tom Reinken