President Bush Issues Proposed Bill to Create Department of Homeland Security

June 2002

On June 18, 2002, the text of President Bush's proposed Homeland Security Act of 2002 was delivered to the Congress of the United States. The bill would establish a Department of Homeland Security whose mission would be to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce vulnerability of the U.S. to terrorism, and minimize the damage and assist in the recovery from any attacks that may occur in the U.S. A White House summary of the proposed bill states that the Department of Homeland Security would have five major functions: information analysis and infrastructure protection; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and related countermeasures; border and transportation security; emergency preparedness and response; and coordination with other parts of the federal government; state and local governments, and the private sector.

Regarding border and transportation security, in his message to Congress which accompanied the proposed legislation, President Bush stated that "terrorism is a global threat and we must improve our border security to keep out those who mean to do us harm. We must closely monitor who is coming into and out of our country to help prevent terrorists from entering our country and bringing in their instruments of terror. At the same time, we must expedite the legal flow of people and goods on which our economy depends."

The proposed bill would create the position of Under Secretary of Border and Transportation Security. The following would be the primary responsibilities of that position:

• preventing the entry of terrorists and the instruments or terrorism into the U.S.;
• securing the borders, territorial waters, ports, terminals, waterways, and air, land, and sea transportation systems of the U.S., including managing and coordinating governmental activities at ports of entry;
• administering the immigration and naturalization laws of the U.S., including the establishment of rules governing the granting of visas and other forms of permission to enter the U.S. to individuals who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents of the U.S.;
• administering the customs laws of the U.S.; and
• in carrying out the above responsibilities, ensuring the speedy, orderly, and efficient flow of lawful traffic and commerce.

The proposed bill would also transfer the following agencies relevant to border and transportation security to the Department of Homeland Security, along with their functions, personnel, assets, liabilities, and the functions of the Secretaries and Administrators under whom they currently serve that relate to those agencies: the Customs Service ("Customs"), the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS"), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ("APHIS"), the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Protective Service. The transfer of any of these agencies would occur when the President so directs, but not after the end of a 12-month transition period beginning on the effective date of the proposed bill (either January 1, 2003 or 30 days following enactment of the bill).

On June 19, 2002, a conference call among the Customs trade was held which featured Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner and Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. Both the Commissioner and Director emphasized that in a new Department of Homeland Security, the voice of the trade community would continue to be heard, the Customs Modernization process (including ACE and ITDS) would proceed as planned, and Customs' trade functions would not be separated from its security functions. In effect, Customs would remain a single coordinated agency.