WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi praised President Bush's proposal to create a new Department of Homeland Security, calling it "a bold, correct and logical step" in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against New York and the Pentagon.
"President Bush’s decisive proposal mirrors President Harry S. Truman’s seminally important National Security Act of 1947. Truman grasped the fundamental changes following World War II and reoriented America’s national security institutions to meet the new reality. The free world now confronts a new war and a new reality, and our President is taking the courageous steps that history will judge to have been the right and only steps," Principi said.
"America's veterans understand the need to defend our country and freedom. I look forward to working with Congress to support creation of the Department of Homeland Security," he said.
Principi noted that VA will work closely with the new department through VA's role as a back-up medical system to the country during emergencies and natural disasters. VA's ongoing efforts in emergency preparedness range from purchasing and maintaining stockpiles of pharmaceuticals to training teams of professionals who assist communities with the psychological after-effects of traumatic events.
"Our primary mission will always be to serve America’s veterans," Principi said. "But I assure the Nation’s 25 million veterans that we will stand tall with our federal, state, and local colleagues to protect them, their families, and their communities."
If approved by Congress, the Department of Homeland Security would replace VA as the youngest federal department. VA became a federal department in 1989, although its roots go back to colonial times.
