Thompson and other Homeland Security Democrats Issue Annual Report Card for DHS
Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Homeland Security issued the following statement regarding his release of the 2006 Annual Report Card for the Department of Homeland Security:
“This report card just reiterates that the Department of Homeland Security is satisfied with mediocrity, but the American people are not. Unfortunately, being below average or getting “gentlemen’s Cs” is not acceptable in the War on Terror here at home. The agency charged with our protection must be a stellar performer, not a C- student.
“Three years ago this month, the Department of Homeland Security opened its doors and promised to protect Americans from terrorism and provide leadership at all levels of government – federal, state, and local – to protect and secure the homeland. More than 180,000 employees from 22 agencies and offices were brought together under one roof.
“As Members of the Congressional Committee that has overseen the Department from its earliest days, we are charged with monitoring the Department’s progress since its creation. What we have seen does not inspire much confidence. In the past three years, the Department’s evolution has been a troubled one. While thankfully the Department has not yet been tested by another terrorist attack, its performance fell well below expectations in the face of Mother Nature and Hurricane Katrina last year. Its failure to prepare and respond to this disaster created serious questions about how much more secure our nation is five years after 9/11. Emergency response failures, a porous border, contract mismanagement, and, most recently, the agency’s role in approving a foreign government’s purchase of U.S. port terminals have left many Americans questioning our government’s homeland security efforts. In our oversight capacity, we have more questions than answers on the Department’s progress.
“In order to fully understand the agency’s progress, Committee Democrats are instituting this annual report card for each of the significant 16 homeland security issue areas for which the Department has responsibility, we are grading the agency’s performance, and identifying what the agency must do to improve and raise its grade.”
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For more information contact:
Dena Graziano or Todd Levett at 202-226-2616.
