Tools for the Homeland Security Chief, by Bob Graham and Paul C. Light
Brooke Rowe
(EXCERPT) Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge has been on the job
as homeland security director a little less than a month and a half
now, and it is important to respect the president's wish that he be
given time to settle in before Congress begins to move legislation to
strengthen the authority Bush assigned him in his executive order.
But it is also important to lay down some criteria for evaluating his
new office in the weeks and months ahead. Americans need a yardstick
against which to measure this crucial job, while Congress can more
responsibly assess whether Ridge needs the additional powers that can
be granted only through permanent law.
These criteria range from the seemingly mundane to the broadest of
goals, but we're convinced that all will prove important as Ridge
finds his way in political and official Washington.
1. Ridge needs to be first in line for information.
It's hard to tell just who gets information at what point on the
homeland security front. What we do know is that Ridge needs to get
the first call from the front lines, not the last. He also needs to
have access to all paper moving in and out of the Oval Office,
including all briefing documents from the National Security Council,
if he is to have any chance of influencing key decisions.
2. He needs access to the principals.
The Office of Homeland Security cannot succeed if Ridge can't call
meetings with Cabinet members and the heads of the agencies he
coordinates. He should meet with his counterparts in the Cabinet, not
their deputies.
3. Ridge needs to be a gatekeeper in the budget and personnel process.
Two things matter in bureaucratic politics: money and people. If Ridge
is to have any hope of persuading agencies to work together, he must
be able to influence the budget process and the allocation of new
employees. Without access to these levers, his sole power rests on the
president's willingness to intervene on his behalf, which in turn
rests on Ridge's readiness to play this trump card.
Decisions are being made about the allocation of $20 billion in
emergency spending that Congress has approved for homeland security.
And the Office of Management and Budget is making th...
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1188-2001Nov22.html
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Brooke Rowe
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com