Homeland Security Post to Be Comprehensive

In creating a Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security, charged with coordinating the defense against terrorism on U.S. soil, President Bush is following the recommendation of a half-dozen recent studies of civil defense.

He is also seizing on one of the latest buzzwords to circulate through the national security community.

Even before terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the phrase “homeland defense” was increasingly used by federal officials to suggest that a special set of problems arose in defending the nation against terrorists who might use biological, chemical or--most frighteningly-- nuclear weapons.

These problems range from coordinating domestic intelligence to distributing medicine after an attack, and they are handled by more than 40 federal offices and agencies. They are considered distinct jobs from those handled by the Department of Defense, which traditionally focuses on projecting U.S. power overseas.

“Our nation has been put on notice. We’re not immune from attack. We will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans,” Bush said.

He said the new office will be led by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, 56, a Republican whom he called a true patriot and a trusted friend. Ridge was an infantry staff sergeant in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star, and was a leading candidate to become Bush’s choice for vice president. He is barred from running again for governor when his term expires at the end of next year.

The president said Ridge will be charged with developing “a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard our country against terrorism and to respond to any attacks that may come.”

It was unclear whether Ridge will have authority to control budgeting in other agencies, and at least one legislator, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), has said Congress should formally approve the position “so that it’s permanent.”

Agencies that have a role in defending against terrorism, and in responding to attacks, range from the Defense Department and National Guard to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which stockpiles pharmaceuticals for emergencies, and the Department of Justice, which trains local police and firefighters in how to respond to attacks.

Federal spending to combat terrorism has jumped from $6 billion in 1998 to about $10 billion.

And yet a variety of commissions and federal agencies have said that more coordination is needed among the various federal programs, and a stronger hand is needed to guide spending priorities.

In February, a 14-member bipartisan commission reported that the United States was vulnerable to terrorist attack and called for a Cabinet-level agency to coordinate a homeland defense. The commission was led by former Sens. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) and Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.).

As recently as Thursday, the General Accounting Office said a single official or office should coordinate anti-terrorist activities because current responsibilities are sometimes unclear or overlap.

“We can’t just be sitting around letting various agencies twiddle their thumbs,” Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told Associated Press on Thursday. “We need one person to be in charge, to coordinate it.”

“There has been a very wide range of ideas proposed, from putting the vice president in charge to having a senior official within the [White House] National Security Council,” said Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

But the Defense Department resisted taking a lead role, he said, because the job involves tasks outside its mission, such as coordinating state, local and federal officials. Moreover, the federal Posse Comitatus Act limits the use of the military in law enforcement.

“Someone who is very knowledgeable about terrorism, who could help set appropriate priorities, could be very useful,” said Dr. Henry I. Miller, a specialist in biological weapons at the Hoover Institution in Palo Alto. He said the homeland defense secretary “could neutralize the feeding frenzy” among federal officials for defense money.

Ridge will be a member of the president’s staff, a position not likely to require Senate confirmation, although it will carry Cabinet rank, the official said.

In addition, Bush announced an expansion of the White House National Security Council staff to include a deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism. There will also be an office of cyber-security in the National Security Council staff.

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Times staff writer James Gerstenzang contributed to this report.