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Ridge: 'Your country is ready, not waiting'Homeland secretary outlines plan for domestic security
MIAMI (CNN) -- Tom Ridge said Thursday that the mission for the 170,000 employees of the Department of Homeland Security, created this month in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, is to "unify people, priorities and programs under a single line of authority." "It all adds up to this: your country is ready, not waiting," said Ridge, who was confirmed last week as secretary by the Senate. The 15th and newest Cabinet-level department unites employees from 22 agencies under a single umbrella with the overriding mission of protecting the country from terrorists "lurking in shadows," he said. "They are insidious," Ridge told an audience of his department's employees assembled at the Port of Miami, "a vast paradox of personalities and groups, some spontaneous, some very methodical, yet they are all intent on doing us harm." Referring to the attackers, Ridge said, "We do not cower, we are coming after you -- whether you are a nation bent on tyranny, a terrorist group or cell, as the president said, 'We will prevail.'" Later Thursday, Ridge said the possibility of U.S.-led military action in Iraq could spark terrorist attacks in the United States. "As we plan for a military engagement, it would be irresponsible for us not to plan for the possibility that it might precipitate other attacks," he said. President Bush, who at first opposed creation of the department, later led the effort to establish it in an attempt to beef up the nation's readiness against terrorists. Ridge, who has been Bush's homeland security advisor since shortly after the terrorist attacks, is credited by some with persuading him to change his mind. Ridge said efforts undertaken since the attacks have already made the United States stronger and safer. But a report from the General Accounting Office Thursday did not give high marks to officials overseeing security at the nation's borders. The report showed that undercover investigators attempting to enter the United States by land, sea and air from Canada, Mexico and Jamaica were not always asked to show identification. In some cases, border patrol agents did not recognize counterfeit documents. But Ridge said that with the new department, which has a budget of $36.2 billion, "We'll be ready to answer every danger and every enemy that threatens the American people." He acknowledged that the responsibilities are daunting: Each day, more than 1 million people cross U.S. borders and 1.6 million passengers fly on domestic flights. About 2.4 million pieces of luggage pass through the nation's 429 commercial airports, and thousands of requests for visas and green cards cross the desks of immigration offices. "We cannot escape the harsh reality that we cannot completely eliminate the possibility of attack," he said. "One slip, one gap, one vengeful person can threaten the lives of our citizens at any time, in any number of ways." Under a reorganization plan Bush sent to Congress Thursday, the border agencies will be divided into two units: one for customs and another for border protection. Border agencies will be restructured under the leadership of Asa Hutchinson, former director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, who will be the new department's undersecretary for border and transportation security, Ridge said. Ridge said his department's responsibilities will not be borne solely by the federal government. "It's a national effort grounded in the knowledge that states and local agencies play the primary role in emergency response." The new department's role will be to "reinforce, train, assist and empower" the efforts and expertise of state and local agencies, he said. The private sector, which controls 85 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure, will also play a role, he said: "Each sector has its own unique vulnerabilities and calls for its own unique, distinct means of protection." The efforts of the 12 agencies that currently have oversight authority over the nation's infrastructure will be unified, he said. Customs officials, Immigration and Naturalization Service border patrol agents and employees of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will be merged into one unified force. "Instead of four faces at the border, America will have one," Ridge said. Their goal will be "to help legitimate goods and people enter the country swiftly and keep dangerous people and their weapons out," he said. The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be charged with enforcing laws once people have crossed the border, he said.
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