Congress and the White House are currently debating the structure of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Recent press reports indicate that it may take 5-10 years for DHS to become fully operational. This may seem like an unduly long time, but don't be surprised if it in fact takes that long.
The Transition Office
President Bush has signed an executive order establishing an Office for Homeland Security (OHS) within the Office of Management and Budget for transition planning. OHS will plan and help implement the move of the 22 proposed agencies into the new cabinet level department.
The Proposed DHS Structure
Under the Bush proposal, DHS would incorporate the Coast Guard, Customs Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration and a host of smaller entities comprising more than 170,000 people.
The new department will have four primary components:
- Border and transportation security
- Emergency preparedness and response
- Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear countermeasures
- Information analysis and infrastructure protection.
The structure of DHS, as proposed by the President, would be roughly as follows.
Secretary
Secret Service
State, Local and Private Sector Coordination
Border and Transportation Security
Immigration and Naturalization Service
Employees: 39,459
Current Agency: Justice
Customs Service
Employees: 21,743
Current Agency: Treasury
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Employees: 8,620
Current Agency: Agriculture
Coast Guard
Employees: 43,639
Current Agency: Transportation
Federal Protective Service
Employees: 1,408
Current Agency: GSA
Transportation Security Administration
Employees: 41,300
Current Agency: Transportation
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Employees: 5,135
Current Agency: Independent
Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Response Assets
Employees: 150
Current Agency: HHS
Domestic Emergency Support Team
Current Agency: Interagency
Nuclear Incident Response
Current Agency: Energy
Office of Domestic Preparedness
Current Agency: Justice
National Domestic Preparedness Office
Employees: 15
Current Agency: FBI
Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures
Civilian Bio-defense Research Programs
Employees: 150
Current Agency: HHS
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Employees: 324
Current Agency: Energy
National Biological Weapons Defense Analysis Center (New)
Plum Island Animal Disease Center
Employees: 124
Current Agency: Agriculture
Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection
Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office
Employees: 65
Current Agency: Commerce
Federal Computer Incident Response Center
Employees: 23
Current Agency: GSA
National Communications System
Employees: 91
Current Agency: Defense
National Infrastructure Protection Center
Employees: 795
Current Agency: FBI
National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center
Employees: 2
Current Agency: Energy
The National Strategy for Homeland Security
On July 16, 2002 President Bush released the first National Strategy for Homeland Security. The strategy focuses on the following key areas:
- Interagency and inter-jurisdictional planning
- Wireless communication interoperability
- Standard incident management systems
- Local threat assessment and notification
- Training for first responders
- Protective measures for personnel safety based on threat assessment
Strategy for First Reponders
Under Bush's national strategy for emergency preparedness and response, DHS would develop and oversee a national system for incident management that would set guidelines for federal, state and local response to terrorist attacks or natural disasters.
State and local "first responders" would be encouraged to adopt the incident management system, which would be tied to federal grants.
For first responders -- police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel -- the plan earmarks $3.5 billion in fiscal 2003 for better preparedness, including training and equipment, in emergency situations.
Information Technology
One of DHS's major functions will be to gather and analyze homeland security threat information from many sources. DHS will identify potential threats, inform the President, issue warnings, and effective actions to counter the threats. The threat information will include:
- Information on terrorist threats from abroad now collected by the CIA.
- Information from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
- Threat information furnished by the public.
- Intelligence from the CIA, National Security Agency, and the FBI.
The Homeland Security Office's chief information officer predicts the department will have a secure portal that will include such things as the following:
- Intelligence analysis and infrastructure protection capability that relies upon data fusion technology.
- Common e-mail access to the department's 170,000 employees.
- Workflow tools, including process maps that department employees could review.
- Collaboration tools such as Microsoft NetMeeting, which provides an Internet directory and functions such as whiteboarding, file transfer, program sharing and video- or audio-conferencing.
Other DHS Functions
The department would assess the nation's infrastructure sectors -- including food, water, agriculture, health systems, energy, transportation, communications, and banking and finance -- and work to protect high risk targets such as nuclear power plants, chemical facilities, pipelines and ports. Department officials would set policy for standardized, tiered protective measures to rapidly adjust to threats. The new department would also unify the cyber-security activities of several federal agencies.
Recent DHS Procurement News
The following procurement announcements have been made since our last DHS installment.
General Dynamics has won a $611 million deal to modernize the 30-year-old search and rescue communication system for the Coast Guard.
Six companies have won contracts on a five-year, $3 billion mobile radio unit program run jointly by the Justice and Treasury departments. Known as Project 25, the procurement will include portable radios and portable repeaters and base stations. The goal is to create a single radio network for law enforcement officers working at seven agencies: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Customs Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Marshals Service and the Secret Service.
The companies awarded contracts are: Datron World Communications of Vista, Calif.; E.F Johnson Co. of Waseca, Minn.; M/A Com Private Radio Systems of Lynchburg, Va.; Daniels Electronics Ltd. of Victoria, British Columbia; Motorola Corp., of Schaumburg, Ill.; and Thales Communication Inc. of Clarksburg, Md.
More Information
Homeland Security Coverage
http://www.govexec.com/homeland/
Organization Chart for the Proposed DHS
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602reorg1.htm
Current Organization Chart for Major Cabinet Departments and Agencies Involved in Homeland Security
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602reorg5.htm
Agencies Absorbed by Homeland Security Department
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602reorg3.htm
Executive Summary of the National Strategy for Homeland Security
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020716.html
Full text of the National Strategy for Homeland Security
http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/book/index.html
