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U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Steps Down By Joe Fiorill WASHINGTON — The first leader of the young U.S. Homeland Security Department resigned yesterday to spend more time with his family, culminating a decision-making process he said began in earnest when President George W. Bush was re-elected last month (see GSN, July 30). Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said he would remain in his post until Feb. 1 but could leave earlier if a successor is named. “I think we’ve accomplished a great deal in a short period of time,” Ridge said at a press conference here yesterday. “There will always be more work for us to do in Homeland Security.” The former Pennsylvania governor oversaw the largest U.S. government reorganization in more than half a century. Established in 2002 as a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks, the 180,000-employee department took in newly created institutions and integrated 22 existing agencies that had been housed in other Cabinet departments. In a statement yesterday, Bush praised Ridge for his handling of the mammoth task. Although Ridge said he could offer no specific evidence of planned attacks that were thwarted by Homeland Security, he said he was “confident that the terrorists are aware” of new U.S. air, port and border defenses and of new information-sharing among various levels and branches of government. “I’m also confident that, based on what detainees have told us, that if you increase your security and your vigilance, that that’s a deterrent,” Ridge said. Asked about any disappointments during his tenure as secretary, Ridge said he wished certain initiatives — cooperation with the European Union on matters such as border security and technology, for example — could have been started earlier than they were. “By and large, there have been no disappointments,” though, he said. Among the department’s early accomplishments, Ridge cited new protections at ports, innovations in security technology and cooperation with state and local governments and private companies. “Homeland Security has never been to me just a department,” he said. “It is about the integration of a country.” Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in a statement that Ridge “should be particularly commended for successfully working to increase cooperation among federal, state and local homeland-security officials and first responders. He greatly improved the communication with those who are on the front lines in the event of an attack and strengthened the preparedness of communities throughout America.” Virginia Governor Mark Warner's top emergency-preparedness adviser, George Foresman, said today that he once feared the creation of Homeland Security would “interrupt the nation's momentum” in preparing for terrorist attacks after Sept. 11, 2001. He said, however, that Ridge has done “a phenomenal job” to assuage his fears. “While there were some bumps along the way, there was not a major interruption of momentum,” Foresman said at a conference in Baltimore. Heritage Foundation homeland-security expert James Carafano said Ridge’s greatest contribution was “in forging a national homeland-security strategy, a strategic approach to fighting terrorism.” “The fundamental principle of that strategy was building a layered defense, a balance of initiatives working together to prevent, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks,” Carafano said in a statement. Carafano cited in particular the Container Security Initiative and the National Incident Management System (see GSN, Oct. 20; GSN, Nov. 16). Ridge’s successor, said Carafano, must deepen the integration of Homeland Security’s different agencies, make the department’s grant program for emergency response more risk-based and less arbitrary and clarify federal leadership roles in areas such as biological defense. House of Representatives Select Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) said Ridge’s accomplishments have been far-reaching. “Under his stewardship, we have made our homeland more secure on virtually every front,” Cox said. “While more remains to be done, the job of securing the American homeland is certainly well begun. These achievements are all the more remarkable given the enormous internal management challenges Secretary Ridge faced upon taking over a new department made up of 22 previously independent legacy agencies.” Said Cox’s Democratic counterpart on the committee, Jim Turner (D-Texas), “Secretary Ridge had the difficult task of overseeing the largest government reorganization since World War II, and his efforts will have a lasting and positive impact on the security of our nation.” Asked about the reasons for his resignation, Ridge said a government official’s whole family “puts the public-service uniform on” and mentioned a desire for more time to devote to activities such as his son’s rugby games. Virginia’s Foresman said the United States can lessen the impact of Ridge’s departure by focusing on broad goals that have been established since Sept. 11. “What we are doing in America will transcend a change in leadership, but it will demand a consistent vision for the future,” he said.
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