For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 8, 2002
Radio Address by the President to the Nation
The Cabinet Room
Go to the Department of Homeland Security Portal Page
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Nearly nine months have passed since
September the 11th, and America is leading the world in a titanic
struggle against terror. The first and best way to secure America's
homeland is to attack the enemy where he hides and plans, and we are
doing just that.
We have also concluded that our government must be reorganized to
deal most effectively with the new threats of the 21st century. So I
have asked the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent
Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, with an overriding and
urgent mission: securing the American homeland, and protecting the
American people.
The Department of Homeland Security will unite essential agencies
that must work more closely together, among them the Coast Guard and
the Border Patrol, the Customs Service, Immigration officials, the
Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Employees of this new agency will come to work
every morning knowing that their most important job is to protect their
fellow citizens.
The Department of Homeland Security will be charged with four
primary tasks. This new agency will control our borders and prevent
terrorists and explosives from entering our country. It will work with
state and local authorities to respond quickly and effectively to
emergencies. It will bring together our best scientists to develop
technologies that detect biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, and
to discover the drugs and treatments to best protect our citizens. And
this new department will review intelligence and law enforcement
information from all agencies of government, and produce a single daily
picture of threats against our homeland. Analysts will be responsible
for imagining the worst, and planning to counter it.
What I am proposing is the most extensive reorganization of the
federal government since the 1940s. During his presidency, Harry
Truman recognized that our nation's fragmented defenses had to be
reorganized to win the Cold War. He proposed uniting our military
forces under a single Department of Defense, and creating the National
Security Council to bring together defense, intelligence, and
diplomacy. President Truman's reforms are still helping us to fight
terror abroad, and now we need similar dramatic reforms to secure our
people at home.
Only the United States Congress can create a new department of
government, so I'm asking for your help in encouraging your
representatives to support my plan. We face an urgent need, and we
must move quickly, this year, before the end of the congressional
session.
All in our government have learned a great deal since September the
11th, and we must act on every lesson. We are stronger and better
prepared today than we were on that terrible morning. And with your
help, and the support of the Congress, we will be stronger still.
Thank you for listening.
END
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