For Immediate Release
October 15, 2002
Homeland Security Advisor Ridge Discusses Homeland Security Department
10:40 A.M. EDT
GOVERNOR RIDGE: Good morning all. I want to thank my colleagues,
Secretary Norton and Evans and Mineta and Thompson for joining us this
morning. As was released to you, I believe earlier this morning, the
President's Cabinet, in a very unique letter, have asked Senator
Daschle and Senator Lott, as they continue to consider the creation of
the department of homeland security, to deal with an issue that is
critical to the President's national security authority.
In a letter sent to the Hill this morning, signed by the 14 Cabinet
heads, we remind the Senate leadership that under the existing
legislation being considered by the Senate of the United States, while
the President would have national security authority as it relates to
the 14 existing departments, the way it is presently written, the new
department, the proposed department of homeland security would not have
this same authority.
And the reason we are calling your attention to this is we think
it's a rather perverse set of circumstances. Whereas the President
would have national security authority as it relates to every other
department in his Cabinet, at this time we're at war -- a war that
the President has said, and I think America understands a war against
terrorism, that's going to take a great deal of patience in a
relentless pursuit of these terrorists around this country and around
the world, as we propose the creation of a new department of homeland
security, the Senate is prepared to take away an authority that
presently exists as it applies to the 14 other Cabinet level
departments, but would not apply to the new department of homeland
security. A rather perverse set of circumstances.
So we call on the Senate leadership to do two things: One, to make
sure that the President would retain -- remember, they are literally
taking authority away -- existing authority from the President of the
United States. We call on the Senate leadership to insist that the
President be able to have the same kind of executive authority,
executive discretion over the new department of homeland security in
the measure that is being presently considered.
And two, that they pass, that they work this week or next week,
however long it takes, and pass the legislation and get it to the
conference committee so that the House and the Senate can work out
their differences, to get to the President's desk a measure that
protects this country, that preserves his national security authority,
that permanently reorganizes the government as we deal with the
enduring vulnerability of this country against the threat of
international terrorism.
Now, I've asked Secretary Mineta -- obviously, oversees one of
the largest departments in the federal government -- to share with
you a couple of thoughts about the ability for the President to retain
-- retain -- they are using the department of homeland security
legislation -- again, I can't reiterate it enough -- to actually
take away presidential authority that exists today as we stand here.
But if some of the Senate had their way, once this bill was passed, the
President would not have this authority as it relates to the new
department. So I've asked Secretary Mineta to share a couple thoughts
with you about it.
SECRETARY MINETA: Thank you very much, Governor Ridge. For the
past 40 years, ever since federal workers were allowed to unionize, the
President has retained government-wide authority to exempt federal
agencies from collective bargaining requirements if the agency's
primary function revolves around national security work. In 1978, this
position was codified into federal law, and it has worked well ever
since.
And I speak from experience. I am the Cabinet officer who has had
the most recent experience of building a new agency, the Transportation
Security Administration, the largest undertaking of its kind since
World War II. The flexibility called for in the President's request
for legislation that establishes the department of homeland security
was critical to our success in standing up the TSA, and I
wholeheartedly endorse this approach.
The enemy is fast and nimble, and we must be, as well. And so this
proposal ensures that the President will have the tools to meet a
rapidly changing threat.
GOVERNOR RIDGE: Again, we call on the Senate leadership to make
sure that the President retains his executive discretion and
prerogative as it relates to national security in this new department,
and two, that they go about the business of fashioning the new
department and getting -- working with this administration and with
their House colleagues to get a measure to the President's desk that
protects this country, so that he can sign it.
Yes.
Q Are there any negotiations going on at all between the
White House and --
GOVERNOR RIDGE: Yes, there are. Obviously, we have continued to
work with Senator Nelson and Senator Chafee and Senator Breaux,
continue at the staff level to exchange language with them. We made
some compromises, working with the House. They were satisfactory
addressing the needs of some of the House members, and certainly some
of the concerns that the President has. We have basically taken the
same posture with our friends in the Senate. And we continue to
exchange language.
It appears now they may be in not only this week, but potentially
next week, so the opportunity to get something done still exists and we
want to continue to find that common ground so we can get a measure to
the conference committee and get a bill to the President.
Q Are you done compromising?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: No, our door -- the door is still open. We
continue to exchange ideas. We continue to exchange language. Again,
we understand that the -- certain members of the Senate have some
very specific concerns. We share some of those same concerns. But we
both start from the same premise: One, we understand that these men
and women that presently work for the federal government are patriots
all. They have been doing homeland security work for years, if not
decades -- long before we even fashioned the notion that we would
reorganize the government around a new department of homeland
security. That is a given.
And yet there are still legitimate concerns that some of the
members of the Senate have with regard to their collective bargaining
rights. We've assured them they've got all these -- the civil
service protections that they've had. Whistle-blower protection, Hatch
Act protection, civil rights protection -- those are preserved.
There's still some other language we're working on.
As the same time as we try to address their concerns, they need to
understand -- and that's the reason for this very unique letter that
went to the Hill today -- for the President to have national security
authority, as it relates to the existing 14 departments and agencies,
but not to be given -- actually to have that authority withdrawn by
action of the Senate, have that authority taken away, as it relates to
the new department of homeland security, just seems to be perverse and
just it's the wrong thing for the Senate to be even considering at this
time. So we ask them take care of that issue and we'll continue to
work with the Senate to find common ground.
Q Governor, this issue involves labor-management issues
that's been sort of that the core of both parties' bases. Is it really
politically possible to do anything on this before the elections?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: Well, I think it is. I think if you take a look
at the good-faith effort between members of the House and the
administration, we're able to fashion language that addressed concerns
of the legislative body, as well as the executive branch. We know the
same language and the same approach has been rejected by the Senate.
It doesn't mean that we can't continue to work, and certainly doesn't
mean we shouldn't continue to work with the leadership up there and
with some of the individual members to see if we can find the right
language that satisfies everybody.
Q Governor, just to change the topic a little, given the
recent spate of incidents involving apparent terrorism, is there any
thought of changing the color code from yellow up to orange?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: As you know, the Attorney General, the Office of
Homeland Security and those involved with that decision-making process
review the intelligence information on a daily basis. Last week, in
response to the bin Laden statement, the Zawahiri statement, and I
think that time there may have been the explosion in Yemen with the
tanker, the FBI sent out an alert to state and local law enforcement
and different -- several different Cabinet departments and agencies,
alerted the private sector to review the protective measures that
they've undertaken, and if, in light of those statements, they thought
they should ratchet some of the protective measures and enhance
security, we encourage them to do so.
But again, that's an assessment we make on a day-to-day basis, and
we'll continue to do so.
Q Governor, you said that there are existing protections, as
far as whistle-blowers are concerned, to protect workers from being
either hired or fired on political bases. Where are those in what you
all have proposed? What is it that protects the workers?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: There is specific language -- well, there is
specific language and assurance that has been given -- specific
language in the House bill and within the Senate bill. Right now most
of the debate and the disagreement is to whether or not the President
should be able to exercise his national security authority, in the
light of a conflict between a collective bargaining matter and a
national security interest.
But the traditional, historic, civil service protections -- Hatch
Act, whistle-blower, civil rights -- those protections exist. That's
no longer a Senate piece of this debate. That has been defused by
agreement between the legislative branch and the executive branch.
Q Governor, different subject, sir?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: Yes.
Q As you know, the Beltway region has been terrorized
recently by these sniper shootings. Is this type of crime something
that your office is focused on and you're concerned with at this
point? What role exactly are you all playing?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: I will tell you that anyone -- I think the
entire country is concerned about these series of murders. And
everyone within the White House, beginning with the President of the
United States on his daily briefings, gets reports from the FBI as to
the current state of the investigation. So it appears that the law
enforcement community, both federal, state and local, is cooperating at
an unprecedented level. Of course, those of you who have been
following it know that they have had some leads and they're getting a
lot of tips that they're following up very, very aggressively.
Someone asked me the other day if it's a terrorist attack, and I
think the families believe it is, the community is terrorized. Whether
or not it may fall in a more limited definition of an attack predicated
upon or in an attempt to achieve some political result remains to be
seen. I don't think we can foreclose that. Certainly, the FBI and no
one in the White House has foreclosed it.
But right now, we're just hoping that citizens continue to come
forward, be as helpful as they possibly can. The law enforcement
community is working as hard as they possibly can. As I said before,
we have a daily briefing every morning with the President of the United
States, and part of the President's briefing is a status report on the
investigation relative to these murders.
Q When you say you don't think you can foreclose on it, are
you talking about you don't think you can foreclose links to
international terror?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: I think it would be premature to draw any
conclusions until we get all of the facts and ultimately apprehend the
individual or individuals responsible.
Q Is there any reason to believe that it is?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: There's no reason to believe one way or the
other.
Q No evidence --
GOVERNOR RIDGE: No evidence at this point. But, again,
unfortunately, under these horrific circumstances, you don't want to
draw any premature conclusions. We need to apprehend the individual or
the individuals first, and then determine what diabolical, what evil,
what mind-set causes someone to murder innocent -- innocent people.
Q Governor, back to homeland security. If it doesn't pass in
the next two weeks, is it never going to happen?
GOVERNOR RIDGE: Well, I am an optimist that we still have an
opportunity to get it done in the next couple weeks at least get a
measure through the Senate, get it into -- hopefully -- I believe
it will be coming back after the election, and if we can get a good
measure through the Senate, get it with the conferees with the House.
We could have a measure -- again, we need a measure that the
President will sign on his desk by the end of the year. I still think
it can be done.
Obviously, I believe that it needs to be done sooner or later, and
in terms of maximizing our effort as a country, to reorganize
ourselves, the way to bring maximum security, to take advantage of all
these hundreds of thousands of people who have been working on homeland
security issues, to ultimately do the best we can with the human
resources and the technology that we have available to improve our
security, I think we need the department. So I believe we'll get it
sooner or later and the President and everybody else in this country, I
think, would rather have it sooner.
Thank you.
END 11:00 A.M. EDT
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