Senate Approves Thompson
Amendment to Reduce Government Bureaucracy and Improve
Accountability in Homeland Security Efforts
Tuesday,
September 17, 2002
Washington
,
DC
- The U.S. Senate today adopted an amendment offered by
Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) to the National Homeland Security
and Combating Terrorism Act.
The Thompson amendment strikes portions of the
legislation which would create a National Office for Combating
Terrorism in the White House and the development of a
duplicative national homeland security strategy.
The
Thompson amendment was agreed to by a voice vote, after two
failed attempts by Senators to kill or alter the amendment.
A vote to table, or set aside, the Thompson amendment
failed by a vote of 41-55 last week, with seven Democrats and
one Independent voting with Republicans to keep the amendment
pending. An
attempt by Senators to offer a scaled back version of the
Thompson amendment was eventually withdrawn after it was
evident that there was not support to pass it.
That cleared the way for the Thompson amendment to be
adopted.
"This
bill, as it is drafted now, mandates the development of a
national strategy," Thompson said. "We have a
national strategy, and we have had it since July. I don't know
whether the idea is to set the old one aside and come up with
a new one or submit the one the President has already put out
again. This was a good idea back several months ago, but time
has passed and things have changed."
Thompson
opposed the creation of a statutory, Senate-confirmed White
House position, that would have been created by the bill.
He pointed out that the proposed office was redundant
and unnecessary, because the White House has already
established the Office of Homeland Security, currently headed
by
Governor
Tom
Ridge
, and an Office of Combating Terrorism, which is part of the
National Security Council.
Both of these offices currently perform the functions
and responsibilities sought for the proposed statutory White
House Office. Thompson also opposed the bill's requirement to
develop an additional homeland
security strategy even though the White House already released
one this summer.
While
the President has also expressed his desire to have a
confidential Homeland Security Advisor to advise him on
domestic security issues, the director of the proposed
statutory office would have been Senate-confirmed, and
therefore required to testify before Congress.
"What
concerns me about this bill is that in more than one instance
there is an attempt to diminish the President's
authority," said Thompson.
"What I am suggesting is that the President ought
to have a little flexibility in the White House to have a
confidential advisor of his choosing to coordinate not only
what is going on in the new Department, but the important
homeland security entities that are not in the new Department.
The Secretary of Homeland Security will be Senate confirmed,
the therefore required to testify before Congress.
This amendment does not diminish the authority of the
Congress."
Thompson
also expressed his concern that the budget review and
certification authorities given to the new office would have
given the director of the new office the ability to decertify
- in essence veto - the defense budget, though this official
would not have to balance the many competing needs of the
Department.
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A
copy of the Thompson amendment that was adopted may be
obtained at http://thompson.senate.gov |