The Department of Homeland Security

In the wake of the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush issued an executive order creating an Office of Homeland Security within the Executive Office of the President, and appointed Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge to lead the new agency. Ridge's mission was to coordinate the efforts of various existing federal agencies to protect the nation against future terrorist threats.

In the spring of 2002, emerging news stories suggested that prior to September 11, 2001, agencies within the national intelligence community -- including the FBI, the CIA, and the super-secret National Security Agency -- all had information relating to the possibility of a terrorist attack, but they failed to share it with one another or take effective action to prevent the attacks. The criticism directed at the Bush Administration following the release of these news stories appeared to encourage President Bush to propose elevating Homeland Security from the status of a White House Office to that of a full-blown Cabinet Department.

Under the president's proposal, which he termed "the most significant transformation of the U.S. government in over a half-century," the Department of Homeland Security would contain four divisions: Border and Transportation Security; Emergency Preparedness and Response; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures; and Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. The legislation authorizing the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security is currently awaiting congressional approval. In January 2003, following congressional approval, Tom Ridge was formally sworn in as secretary of the new department.