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Homeland 4 6b { June 12 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37493-2002Jun12.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37493-2002Jun12.html
Bush Meets With New Security Advisory Council
President Signs $4.6B Bioterror Bill
By Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 12, 2002; 2:15 PM
President Bush and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge met today with a group of business, academic and government leaders they recruited to help shepherd the White House's proposal for a new department that will focus on anti-terrorism, including some who have successfully reorganized governments or handled corporate mergers.
Bush named 16 people to the Homeland Security Advisory Council on Tuesday, and several more will be appointed within the next few weeks. The group, which is supposed to work for at least the next two years on a wide range of issues involving homeland security, is headed by Joseph J. Grano Jr., chairman of UBS Paine Webber. William H. Webster, former head of the FBI and CIA, is vice chairman of the council.
"You all can play a very useful role in this process," Bush said in convening the panel. "You bring a lot of heft and a lot of experience and a lot of know-how."
Although Bush signed an order establishing the council in March, it took months to get it up and running. With Ridge planning to present Bush with a national anti-strategy in July, the members will have little time to have input in the drafting of any proposals that emerge. But Ridge said the council will have a critical role in following up with more ideas and in helping with the mechanics of setting up a new department.
"This is the ultimate focus group on challenges that the country has in designing . . . and executing a national strategy and national game plan," Ridge said.
Ridge told council members that he believed Congress will approve the new Department of Homeland Security by the end of the year and said he applauded those House leaders who want to take action by Sept. 11 in order to mark the first anniversary of the attacks at the World Trade Center and Pentagon. He said it will be a difficult process, noting that it took President Truman two years to set up the Defense Department.
Bush has said the new department marks the biggest reorganization of the federal bureaucracy since Truman's action more than 50 years ago. The department will merge all or part of 22 federal agencies, with a $37.4 billion budget and about 170,000 employees.
The council's members include James R. Schlesinger, who helped create the Energy Department in the late 1970s, Kathleen M. Bader, a vice president with Dow Chemical Co.; Jared L. Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon University; Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt (R); Sidney Taurel, chairman of Eli Lilly and Co. and D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).
One member, David Bell, vice chairman of the Interpublic Group of Companies, said he in his introductory remarks that he has extensive experience in corporate mergers.
"These are all very successful leaders whose opinions are valued," Ridge said in an interview after this morning's opening session. "They've all delivered on ideas. We've got a lot of ideas, but how do you take the idea and deliver? They not only think but they do and it's that contribution that I think is really unique."
Before meeting with the panel, Bush used a Rose Garden Ceremony to sign bioterrorism legislation that spends $4.3 billion for the stockpiling of vaccines, improving of food inspections and boosting security for water systems, calling it his "urgent duty" to prevent germ warfare.
Citing last fall's anthrax attacks, the president said "we must be better prepared to prevent, identify and respond" to bioterrorism threats, he said.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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