United States Department of Homeland Security |
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a Cabinet department of the federal government of the United
States that is concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety
of American citizens. This department was created primarily from a conglomeration of existing federal agencies in response to the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
History
The department was established on November 25, 2002 by the Homeland Security Act and officially began operation on January 24, 2003. After months of discussion about employee rights and
benefits and "rider" portions of the bill, Congress passed it shortly after the midterm elections, and it was signed into law by
U.S. President George W. Bush. It was intended to consolidate U.S.
executive branch organizations related to "homeland security"
into a single cabinet agency. The new Department is
headed by former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge.
It was the largest government reorganization in 50 years (since the United States Department of Defense was created). The department assumed a number of
government functions previously in other departments. It superseded, but did not replace the Office of Homeland Security, which retained an
advisory role.
President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2004.
Controversy about adoption centered on whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency should be incorporated in part or in whole (both were not). The
bill itself was also controversial for the presence of unrelated riders, as well as eliminating some standard civil service and labor protections from employees of the department. President
Bush wanted the right to fire an employee within Homeland Security immediately for security reasons, for incompetence, or
insubordination. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle wanted an appeals process
that could take up to 18 months or as little as one month.
On March 12, 2002, the Homeland Security
Advisory System, a color-coded terrorism risk advisory scale, was created as a Presidential
Directive to provide a "comprehensive and effective means to disseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to
Federal, State, and local authorities and to the American people." Since January 2003, it has been administered in coordination
with the DHS.
Operating units
The Department of Homeland Security is currently organized into four main divisions, incorporating many existing federal
functions (original parent agencies in parentheses):
- Border and Transportation Security
- Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection
Related legislation
- 2002 - Homeland Security Act (PL 107-296)
- 2003 - Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2004 (PL 108-90)
See also
- United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator
Technology (US-VISIT)
External links
|