Maine lawmakers back idea of new security department

WASHINGTON – Maine lawmakers applauded President Bush’s call for the creation of a new Department of National Security and said the move is necessary to protect the nation from present and future terrorist threats.

Because Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Rep. Tom Allen both belong to congressional committees overseeing government organizations, the two likely will play hands-on roles in hammering out the needed legislation to create the department.

“I intend to analyze the proposal with great care,” Collins said on Thursday before the president’s formal announcement. “I believe we must do all we can to ensure that our nation is as secure as it can be. We must do all we can to prevent another September 11th.”

In March, Collins, a member of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, co-sponsored legislation introduced by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., that would establish a department of national border security. The measure calls for transferring the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs Service into a new agency along with the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement and border-related responsibilities of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Allen said the creation of a new department would allow greater congressional oversight of the programs presently under the sway of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, who has been reluctant to testify publicly on Capitol Hill.

A member of the House Government Reform Committee, Allen also noted that the president now is demonstrating a reversal in position about creating a new department in Washington.

“From the beginning the president has to lead on this and this is the direction we should be moving,” he said.

However, Allen acknowledged that there could be concerns about the kind of policing powers the new department may have and how it would interact with the Department of Defense. “We are going to have to look at these things … The devil is in the details,” he said.

The president’s proposal closely mirrors legislation introduced last month by Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.

Lieberman’s ambitious legislation calls for transferring responsibilities now performed by a number of departments throughout the government to one agency. They would include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Customs Service, Immigration and Naturalization Services, Coast Guard, Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, National Infrastructure Protection Center, the FBI’s National Domestic Preparedness Office, and a portion of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture.

Although only Democrats have signed on to Lieberman’s measure as co-sponsors, Maine Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe endorsed the proposal soon after it was introduced, saying the creation of the new department and Cabinet-level position would help Washington avoid the “bureaucratic snafus and failed coordination” of the past.

As for the president’s announcement Thursday evening, Snowe said: “The new agency will provide the budget and statutory authority I believe the homeland security director needs to demonstrate the continuity of resolve that must characterize our fight against terrorism for the long term.”