Tom Ridge has the toughest job in Washington. He has been given tremendous responsibility but has few people on his staff and little control of money over the agencies he must coordinate. If the Department of Homeland Security called for by the President in his recent speech passes the Congress, Ridge would have one of the most powerful jobs in Washington with approximately 170,000 people and control over a great deal of money. The President kept this proposal a well-guarded secret and took nearly everybody in the Congress and the press by surprise when he made his televised speech to the nation.

The political pundits at first pointed out that there would be a great deal of resistance to the proposal in Congress because many committee and sub-committee chairmen would be losing power. They also pointed out that there is resentment in the Congress because of the lack of consultation with members prior to the announcement. They went on to say that the President and the Republicans came into office talking about cutting down the size of bureaucracy and yet, we're creating a giant bureaucracy, the biggest one since Harry Truman put together the Department of Defense.
 
When I heard the President's announcement, my first reaction was that I was pleased that an attempt was being made to coordinate the vast bureaucracy whose job it is to protect us. The second thought that crossed my mind was that it was going to be extremely tough for any member of Congress to vote against this proposal or even work to delay its implementation. Can you imagine what would happen if a member took either of those positions and was successful in either killing or delaying the measure and then there was a terrorist attack directed at the United States? That member and those who were on that side, whether fairly or not, would be blamed for the success of the terrorist attack and probably lose their seat. It is a political risk that very few in the Congress are going to be willing to take. It is my belief that the measure will move relatively quickly and the President will get most of what he wants. The biggest problem that I find with the proposal is that it doesn't go far enough. Despite the President's statements that the FBI and CIA are now working together, I don't believe that problem has been solved. There is another fundamental problem. How do you draw a line between what is international terrorism and what is national terrorism?' It's impossible to figure out. Maybe it is time to have all the intelligence gathered by the different agencies go to one super agency for analysis regardless of its origination. I don't believe that our intelligence activities will be able to operate at their maximum efficiency until we are able to analyze all information in one location.

Some in the Congress are questioning why the President did not move the FBI and CIA into this new department. What the President proposed is better than what we have and a step in the right direction. It may make sense to pass this in the form requested by the President and give Tom Ridge, who will probably run it, the chance to see how it works in the real world. After careful evaluation, other departments can be added or deleted from the new agency. Hopefully, we will have the time to organize this department and make adjustments before we face another major crisis.

Lou Frey represented Central Florida in the U. S. Congress from 1969 to 1979. In his last election, he received 78% of the vote. He was elected one of five Republican leaders in the House of Representatives during the 93^rd and 94^th Congress. He served on...