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President Bush Proposes National Communications System Move to New Homeland Security Department

Arlington, VA., June 05, 2002 - President Bush has recommended that the National Communications System (NCS) be a vital part of his proposal to create the Department of Homeland Security, a new cabinet position the sole mission of which is to protect the American homeland. The President spoke to the Nation on the proposal and other aspects of the war on terrorism June 6.

Composed of 22 Federal entities and responsible for national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) communications, the NCS would be one of the Federal agencies moving to the proposed Homeland Security Department.

“Because our information and telecommunications sectors are increasingly interconnected,” said the President in his proposal, “the [Homeland Security] Department would also assume the functions and assets of the National Communications System, which coordinates emergency preparedness for the telecommunications sector.”

The new Federal department would transform and move numerous similar functions from various organizations into one department, White House officials said. White House officials said they would like to see the new department up and running by the end of 2002. All told, more than 170,000 people would come under the Department of Homeland Security, pending approval from Congress. Other entities identified include the U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs Service, and the Secret Service.

In his remarks to the Nation, President Bush said the new department would make Americans safer. "Employees of this new agency will come to work each morning knowing their most important job is to protect their fellow citizens," said the President. The new department would coordinate communications with the American people, private companies and organizations and all levels of government regarding threats and preparedness. The department would aid state and local governments in training and equipping fire fighters and police -- the first responders to terrorist attacks.

The department would also coordinate efforts to protect Americans from biological attacks and the effects of other weapons of mass destruction. The department would review and independently assess information gleaned by the CIA, FBI and other intelligence agencies.

Finally, the new department would eliminate many duplicative administrative functions and place more officers, agents and resources in the field. “The reason to create this department is not to increase the size of government, but to increase its focus and effectiveness," President Bush said.

The proposed department would cover four major areas: border and transportation security; emergency preparedness and response; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear countermeasures; and information analysis and infrastructure protection.

Currently, NCS supports and operates many NS/EP programs that would provide a valuable foundation for the Homeland Security Department mission. However, until Congress approves creation of the Homeland Security Department and its plans for consolidating nearly 100 Federal entities, the NCS will continue its do perform its current mission – a mission that dates back to a 1963 memorandum signed by President John F. Kennedy that established the NCS.

NCS elements include the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications (NCC), which handles NS/EP communications response in the event of disaster or emergency, and serves as the Telecommunications Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Telecom-ISAC). In addition, the NCS operates programs such as the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS), Wireless Priority Service (WPS), the Alerting and Coordinating Network (ACN), the Computer Warning Information Network (CWIN), and Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) -- all critical programs in providing priority services and coordinating NS/EP communications restoration in the event of a national emergency.

The NCS also supports the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) – a presidential advisory committee created by Executive Order 12382 in 1982. NSTAC consists of up to 30 Presidentially appointed executives from the Nation’s telecommunications, information technology, aerospace and banking industries who, for the past 20 years, have advised the President on NS/EP communications issues.

The NCS also supports the Committee for National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications, formerly known the NCS Committee of Principals. Renamed by Executive Order 13231, the NS/EPC advises the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board on national security telecommunications issues within the Federal Government.

As part of this June 6 remarks, the President addressed allegations that U.S. intelligence services missed clues that would have thwarted the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. "Based on everything I've seen, I do not believe anyone could have prevented the horror of September the 11th," he said. "Yet we now know thousands of trained killers are plotting to attack us. And this terrible knowledge requires us to act differently.

"If you are a front-line worker for the FBI, the CIA or some other law enforcement or intelligence agency and you see something that raises suspicions, I want you to report it immediately," the President continued. "I expect your supervisors to treat it with the seriousness it deserves. Information must be fully shared so we can follow every lead to find the one that may prevent tragedy."

The President said the United States has made tremendous gains in protecting critical infrastructure. But as the Government has learned more of the threat, President Bush came to the conclusion that agencies must be reorganized to deal more effectively with the threat.

The proposal is a result of experiences gained since the terror attacks of September 11. Last October, President Bush appointed Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge as the homeland security adviser. White House officials would not say if Ridge would be the new department secretary.

Bush said during his address that more than 100 different government organizations have pieces of homeland security. "Tonight, I propose a permanent cabinet-level department of Homeland Security to unite essential agencies that must work more closely together," he said.

Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service contributed to this article

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