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Senate confirms Ridge as Homeland secretaryBush hails 'shared commitment' to security
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to confirm Tom Ridge as the first secretary of Homeland Security, a position created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Ridge, 57, is a former congressman and Pennsylvania governor. President Bush named him as his White House adviser on homeland security after the attacks. In November, Bush nominated him to lead the newly established Department of Homeland Security. "With today's historic vote, the Senate has demonstrated our shared commitment to doing everything we can to secure our homeland," Bush said in a statement after Ridge was confirmed. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, called Ridge's confirmation "a big step forward" in defending the nation against terrorism. "I'm confident that Secretary Ridge will work vigorously to secure our nation and protect Americans and to protect all of us in ways that really have to be undertaken." The Senate vote was 94-0 to make Ridge the Bush administration's 15th Cabinet secretary. He will lead a department that combines about 180,000 employees from 22 departments and will focus on protecting the country from terrorist attacks. The department will be formally launched Friday, but it's expected to take months before the department becomes fully operational. Creation of the new department represents the biggest reorganization of the federal government in more than half a century. Bush originally resisted efforts to form the new agency, and Ridge is credited with persuading him to change his mind. Though Ridge faced no Senate opposition, Minority Leader Tom Daschle accused the Bush administration of short-changing homeland security efforts in its budget. "He has done a good job in meeting the challenges that we all have faced as a country, that we in particular have faced at the federal level of government," said Daschle, D-South Dakota. But Daschle added, "You can't have security without resources." Republicans disputed that argument. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the appropriations bill now before Congress would boost domestic security spending significantly. The Transportation Security Administration alone would receive $5.3 billion, a $1.8 billion increase over last year, she said.
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