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U.S. Response: Bush Signs Homeland Security Act, But Local Officials Await Help By Bryan Bender “We are taking historic action to defend the United States and protect our citizens against the threats of a new era,” Bush said at a White House signing ceremony attended by members of Congress as well as state and local officials who will play a leading role in homeland security. Bush named his top domestic terrorism advisor, Tom Ridge, to be the first secretary of homeland security and tapped Navy Secretary Gordon England to serve as his deputy. The new department will analyze threats, guard borders and ports, protect critical infrastructure and coordinate national responses to acts of terror, Bush said. In addition, Bush highlighted the need for the new department to research new technologies to help detect nuclear, chemical and biological threats. While Bush gave final approval to the new department, government officials across the nation have been criticizing Washington for failing to address the pressing need to help prepare local police, health and emergency response personnel who will be on the front lines of any future domestic terrorist attacks. The new department, which will include the Coast Guard, Secret Service, Border Patrol and Immigration and Naturalization Service, among many other agencies, will take more than year to be put together. “The terrorists may not wait for the new department to hit its stride before they hit our cities again,” Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) wrote in today’s USA Today. “As a nation, we must make real investments in our security. We need to provide the training, equipment and funding, which are so lacking today. Congress has shown that it is willing to invest those dollars. It is time for the president not just to sign the new law, but also to sign the check,” Byrd said. Outside Washington, the sense of accomplishment has given way to growing concern that the federal government will not allocate funds this year to train first responders for terrorist attacks that most experts say are inevitable, including $3.5 billion in grants it promised after the 2001 attacks. Facing growing budget deficits, state and local officials are having enough trouble financing traditional projects and said the failure of Congress to do more before it adjourned for the year last week puts undo pressure on them. At the Republican Governors Association meeting this past weekend in California, state officials chided both the administration and the Congress for failing to live up to promises to aid local officials in the fight against terrorism. For example, smallpox vaccines are needed immediately, according to South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow, in the event that inoculations are required in the face of a biological attack. “Now we’ve got this new kid on the block, this new priority: homeland security,” said Kansas Governor Bill Graves. “It simply creates one more huge pressure point.” The National League of Cities has called the lack of federal funds a “colossal failure of responsibility.” “They didn’t even deal with the finances for cities,” Boston Mayor Tom Menino said Sunday on CNN. “Cities have spent $2.6 billion since last September, and we are asked to be on the front lines every day. But nobody is willing to help us meet those goals.” Added Washington Mayor Anthony Williams, “Congress has a duty to see that local governments are your first line of response ... and [have] the resources to help the federal government execute a homeland security strategy. You can’t do that with nothing.” Some of the most pressing needs center on communication and information sharing, officials said. “CIA, FBI, Immigration, Secret Service, National Security Agency, all these people should be sharing data,” said Charlie Weaver, Minnesota commissioner of public safety. Outgoing Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating said federal money is needed to buy new equipment that is “interoperable.” “That’s our No. 1 challenge,” he said. Critics of the new homeland security agency say it will still have to rely on U.S. intelligence agencies — not included in the new agency — for information. The recent sniper shootings and the mixed success of federal and local coordination was cited as one example of how information flow must be improved quickly. “Ultimately, we were lucky,” said John Thomasian, director of the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices. “But so many clues were missed along the way. You can spot where it could have been solved even faster,” he said. One proposal being discussed to meet the concerns of state and local first responders calls for “emergency revenue-sharing,” a direct cash transfer from the U.S. Treasury to state accounts.
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