Employees uncertain about proposed homeland security agency

Federal employees at such agencies as the Coast Guard and the Border Patrol welcome the idea of a separate homeland security agency, a House lawmaker said Thursday. But some employees told Government Executive they are wary of such a change. "Many folks [at the Coast Guard, the Customs Service, and the Border Patrol] feel a little out of place in their respective agencies, and are supportive of creating a separate homeland security agency," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, who introduced legislation (H.R. 1158) in March that would unite under one department the border security, cyberterrorism prevention and emergency response activities currently performed by the Customs Service, Border Patrol, Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency. Customs is located in the Treasury Department, the Coast Guard is part of the Transportation Department and the Border Patrol is part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which is, in turn, part of the Justice Department. "The Coast Guard, Customs Service, and Border Patrol are on the front lines of homeland security," Thornberry said. "Yet as it currently stands, these agencies have difficulty working together and often can't even communicate with each other." But not all Coast Guard employees are jumping at the idea of moving out of one agency and into another one so quickly, according to Cmdr. Tom Criman, chief of program measurement and evaluation at the Coast Guard. "The Transportation Department has been very supportive [of the Coast Guard]," said Criman. "We have a good working relationship with the department; it's hard to say we would be better off somewhere else." Criman said the idea to consolidate the four agencies under one roof may have merit in the future, but not right now. "With everything that has happened, I don't know that more change would be a good thing, and many people in the agency concur with that sentiment," he said. "There needs to be a lot more clarification and definition of each agency's role; jumping into a new agency at this point could be a little premature." The Coast Guard, whose resources and staff were already stretched thin prior to Sept. 11, said the agency is more focused on how to provide adequate security for the country than on agency placement, according to Cmdr. Mike Lapinski, a spokesman in the Office of the Commandant. "We are trying to figure out how to give the country the best level of maritime security right now." The National Border Patrol Council is paying a lot of attention to talk of a new homeland security agency, according to L. Keith Weeks, vice president of Local 1613 in San Diego. The National Border Patrol Council is a division of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employees' union. "In the past, we have supported being removed from the INS, but a lot [of our support for moving into a new agency] would depend on the shape and structure of that new agency," Weeks said. Weeks said any move to a new agency would have to allow Border Patrol agents to retain their collective bargaining rights. Marc Wolfson, a spokesman for FEMA, said he could not comment on the agency's position on creating a homeland security department. Thornberry joined Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., at a press conference Thursday announcing Lieberman's proposed legislation that would create a homeland defense agency. Similar to Thornberry's bill, Lieberman's legislation would create a separate homeland security agency that would oversee the day-to-day operations involved in preventing terrorism and would consolidate Customs, Coast Guard, FEMA and the Border Patrol under one department. Under an executive order signed by President Bush Monday, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge can review the budgets of programs involved in homeland security and introduce legislation that will help agencies fight terrorism. But Ridge has no legal authority to alter or reject agency anti-terrorism budgets-a factor that is a cause for concern among some lawmakers, including Thornberry and Lieberman. "There is a growing feeling in Congress that Gov. Ridge needs line and budget authority [to effectively do his job]," Lieberman said. The Bush administration released about $25 million in emergency funds to set up the Office of Homeland Security last week. Both Lieberman and Thornberry envision the new agency working alongside the White House Office of Homeland Security. "Just as National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice looks to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in carrying out U.S. policy abroad, so too would Gov. Ridge look to the Secretary of Homeland Security in carrying out U.S. policy at home," Thornberry said. Lieberman said Ridge would be the logical choice to head up a homeland security agency, but said that President Bush would make that decision. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing Friday on a proposed homeland security agency.