New national alert system almost completed

The federal government is close to completing a national alert system designed to allow authorities to disseminate information on terrorist threats to state and local officials quickly and efficiently, White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said on Sunday.

The government is "a couple of weeks away" from the presentation of an alert system that is based in part on systems in Indiana and New York, Ridge told the National Governors Association (NGA). Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, state and local officials have complained that the federal government is slow to share sensitive information with them or give them access to certain databases.

"We are working toward an intelligence-sharing system and a protocol to keep our governors involved," Ridge said. The system will need governors' consent.

Ridge detailed the homeland security initiatives in President Bush's proposed fiscal 2003 budget, including creating "smart border" agreements with Canada and Mexico. New Hampshire is one state using technologies to strengthen security at its border with Canada.

"You'll see some experimental technologies ... [and] some new approaches to a 21st-century border," Ridge said. "By and large, we need to establish a database" to monitor border activity. The Immigration and Naturalization Services is spearheading an effort by government and industry to develop an immigrant-tracking system. Bush has promised "several hundred million dollars" as an initial payment for such a database, Ridge said.

Ridge also will meet this week with Transportation Security Administration chief John Magaw to discuss the human and technological aspects of potential threats to airline security. "This is a great opportunity" to further study how biometrics could be used in a "trusted flyer" program, Ridge said.

But Connecticut Gov. John Rowland questioned whether Congress has a sense of urgency to pass homeland security legislation amid debate on issues such as campaign finance reform. "We're ready to help light the Congress on fire if the time is right," he said.

Ridge assured the governors that federal lawmakers are concerned for the nation's security, but it could be difficult to obtain an agreement on his forthcoming plan to streamline homeland security functions within the federal agencies currently involved in such activities. Donald Henderson, director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness at the Health and Human Services Department, said increased access to the Internet also "adds a whole new dimension" of security concerns because Web surfers can easily find information on manufacturing harmful agents such as anthrax.

"I understand the impulse to yank everything off the Net ... [but] we need to be careful we don't torpedo democracy [itself]," Tara O'Toole, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies, said during a panel discussion Monday. Although she said some removal of "particularly sensitive" information from the Web may be needed: "We need to think about what kind of society we want to live in and what we want to give up for it."