HOMELAND SECURITY DEPARTMENT
There were gaps in the U.S. system for detecting
and deterring terrorist acts in the homeland. That
became clear September 11, 2001. The Depart-
ment of Homeland Security is the GEORGE W.
BUSH administration’s plug for those gaps.
The department’s main goal is to protect U.S.
citizens against terrorists. It brings together peo-
ple from 22 agencies to protect the nation’s bor-
ders, help state and local safety officials better
respond to catastrophes, research treatments
against biological threats, and coordinate intelli-
gence on terrorists. The administration’s ration-
ale: better communication is the key to achieving
those goals; the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity is the key to better communication.
Republicans drew up legislation January 23,
2002, to create the department. In November of
that year, the U.S. House and Senate passed the
Homeland Security Act, and President Bush
signed it. The cabinet department melded 22
agencies as varied as the Coast Guard, Customs
Service, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, and the Transportation Security
Administration. It was the biggest change in U.S.
government since the DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
276 HOLOGRAPH
WEST’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 2nd Editionwas created in 1947. Former Pennsylvania gov-
ernor and Vietnam veteran Tom Ridge became
the first secretary of the department.
The department is divided into five teams,
called directorates: Border and Transportation
Security; Emergency Preparedness and Response;
Science and Technology; Information Analysis
and Infrastructure Protection; and Management.
The primary goal of the largest directorate,
Border and Transportation Security, is to keep
terrorists out of the United States. It has a dual
focus: enforcing immigration laws and keeping
the country’s transportation systems safe. This
division incorporates sectors of the Department
of Immigration and Naturalization, U.S. Cus-
toms Service, the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, the Federal Law Enforce-
ment Training Center and the Transportation
Security Administration. One newly created
agency within this directorate is to attend to
visas, work permits, applications for citizenship,
and new-citizen services. Another agency will
handle border security against illegal immigra-
tion, drugs, and terrorists. Another agency is in
charge of securing the nation’s airports.
The Directorate of Emergency Preparedness
and Response is charged with ensuring that the
nation is prepared for and able to recover from
terrorist attacks and natural disasters. This divi-
sion is to work with the FEDERAL EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT AGENCY to coordinate the first
response to catastrophes, often by local and state
police and fire units. The division is also to
develop a curriculum for training people at the
local, state, and federal levels to respond to a ter-
rorist act.
In case of a biological attack, the Directorate
of Science and Technology is responsible for
sponsoring the development of vaccines, anti-
dotes, and treatments. This division will work
with national laboratories and universities,
channeling the nation’s best resources to protect
its people.
The Information Analysis & Infrastructure
Protection directorate will fuse information
from the nation’s intelligence-gathering agen-
cies, including the National Security Agency, the
CIA, and FBI. This directorate’s job is twofold:
to gather and share information that can help
the government prevent TERRORISM and catch
terrorists; and to protect the nation’s infrastruc-
ture, such as food supplies, information net-
works, and banking systems.
The first job is to use information efficiently.
One of the often-heard criticisms of U.S. intelli-
gence-gathering agencies is that they do not
share information. The Information Analysis &
Infrastructure Protection directorate is designed
to solve that problem, and, ideally, this agency
will ensure that information flows efficiently
among state and local police, as well. The Home-
land Security Advisory System is a key compo-
nent of this information-sharing plan.
The advisory system uses designated colors
to alert public safety officials and citizens to a
possible terrorist threat. The system includes
five degrees of danger: The first is green, or
low risk of terrorist attacks. Second is blue, or
general risk of attacks. The third degree is yel-
low, or significant risk of terrorist attacks.
Fourth is orange, or high risk. The fifth degree,
red, means there is a severe threat of a terrorist
attack. The system serves two purposes: to warn
the public and to standardize safety efforts of the
nation’s police, fire, health, and other safety
agencies. The higher the degree of danger, the
more protective measures safety officials are to
take. The warning system spells out those meas-
ures. Some of the precautions to be taken during
a red alert, for example, are closing public and
government buildings and restricting trans-
portation systems. During a green alert, how-
ever, safety agencies are advised to train
employees on the Homeland Security Advisory
System and determine where their communities
are vulnerable to attack.
The Directorate of Information Analysis &
