Vote on Homeland Security deputy expected this week

The Senate could move to approve President Bush's nomination of Adm. James Loy to serve as the Homeland Security Department's deputy secretary by the end of the week, according to a committee aide.

A spokeswoman with the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over the department, said on Tuesday that the committee plans to approve Loy's nomination Thursday, moving it to the Senate floor for a vote as soon as Thursday night or Friday.

The White House on Oct. 23 announced its intention to nominate Loy to the department's number two post, following former Deputy Secretary Gordon England's return to his post as Navy secretary on Oct. 1. The administration on Nov. 5 officially submitted Loy's nomination to the Senate.

Loy currently oversees the Transportation Security Administration at DHS, and the department has said he would continue to head that agency if nominated as deputy secretary until Bush names a successor at TSA.

Although TSA has hit road bumps over the last two years, Loy is expected to breeze through a Tuesday confirmation hearing before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of the committee, who vowed in October to expeditiously move Loy's nomination, said Tuesday in an opening statement, "There's a seat at the helm that is empty, and I can think of no finer person to fill it than the nominee before us." Sens. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, introduced Loy at the hearing. The senators, who hail from states with large coastal areas, previously had worked closely with Loy when he commanded the Coast Guard.

"He has completed large tasks as if they were small tasks," Stevens said.

In prepared comments for Tuesday's hearing, Loy said: "I believe in strategic planning, visionary thinking, accountability and performance-based management. I was able to make those things happen at the Coast Guard ... and as well laid the groundwork at TSA."

Asked about recusing himself from certain issues, Loy said he holds bonds issued by several states and acknowledged "the broad mission of [the department] may well have an economic impact on public facilities in the states." He said he is actively considering selling the bonds.

The senators also asked Loy about developing a consistent security policy across all modes of transportation to counter the tendency of terrorists to focus on softer targets. TSA's program for screening airline passenger is obviously a platform that would be considered for expansion to bus, train, cruise-ship and ferry passengers, he said.

Loy also said the department is publishing a "single departmental acquisition regulation" in December to help integrate the different procurement functions of contracting offices within Homeland Security's 22 agencies.

He also said the department soon will release a framework for exchanging sensitive but unclassified information among federal, state and local officials via a common network and standards. He also said the department is taking initial steps to create a Homeland Security Data Network to share classified information among officials.