Panel laments 'reactive' approach to homeland security
The United States remains highly vulnerable to terrorist attacks despite unprecedented efforts to tighten homeland security over the past year, according to a panel chaired by former senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman.
The panel found that billions of dollars in new security funding has failed to fix weaknesses in information sharing and transportation security, or to improve the ability of thousands of state and local "first responders" to deal with terrorist attacks. It also observed that the federal government has taken a "reactive" approach to homeland security, moving quickly to shore up security lapses revealed on Sept. 11, but doing little to counter future threats.
"The federal government is dedicating an extraordinary amount of energy and resources in response to the specific character of the Sept.11 attacks," said the panel's report, which was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank based in New York. "A reactive mindset is inevitably wasteful in terms of resources and can distract agencies from anticipating more probable future scenarios and undertaking protective measures."
The panel singled out transportation security as an area where federal resources have been misplaced. While the government's focus on aviation security was "understandable" given the events of Sept. 11, "the vulnerabilities are greater and the stakes are higher in the sea and land modes than in commercial aviation," the report said. The panel's project director was Stephen Flynn, a transportation security expert and Council on Foreign Relations fellow.
The panel offered several suggestions for upgrading homeland security, including approving the creation of a new Homeland Security Department, as President Bush has proposed. To improve information sharing between federal, state and local law enforcement officials, it urged the State Department to share its terrorist watch lists with 650,000 state and local police officials.
The panel also called on the National Guard to assume a greater role in homeland security. Congress should create new units to work with local first responders, the panel's report recommended, and triple the number of elite Guard civil support teams trained to respond to attacks with weapons of mass destruction.
The panel recommended that federal agencies immediately release funds to help states and cities buy protective gear and provide terrorism training to first responders. In February, President Bush proposed giving $3.5 billion to first responders and shifting all federal first responder training programs to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But the initiative has stalled in the Senate, where many members believe FEMA should share responsibility for first responder training with the Justice Department, which has run its own training programs since 1997.
States have received $1.2 billion in federal grants from the Health and Human Services Department to help the public health system respond to bioterrorist attacks.
COMMENTS
- Panel laments? Well let them lament then. When you write legislation that excludes (and sometimes takes away) basic rights, you're going to have a problem with the American people. Especially if they are blue collar. The working men and women of this country have been taking a beating for the last 20 years. The Bush Administration wants a strong homeland security department. So does everyone else. The problem is trust. Everyone trusts the president with the war on terrorism but, virtually no one trusts him on taking care of their jobs, or anything else relating to the middle class. The legislation that languishes in the Senate, languishes for a reason. They are poorly written laws designed to strip workers of their already meager salaries, health benefits and rights. Now it seems that everyone is supposed to be indignant because the homeland security legislation is stalled. Well I'm not. I am glad its stalled. Right along with the "Freedom to Manage" act. Legislation that is written to exclude working people that have been slugging it out for years is wrong. This administration's approach is to throw out the baby with the bath water. Here are some idea's - How about a three year moratorium on all immigration so the INS can catch up with the three million people they can't find? How about firing top management officials at the agencies that are not getting the job done? How about waiving "Posse Comitatus" and putting the U.S. Military on the borders? How about keeping American jobs in America? How about repealing NAFTA? When some of these idea's are implemented or addressed, I might be willing to trust this administration. Until that happens—Let them LAMENT! Anonymous Posted February 24, 2003 5:06 PM
