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Statement of Susan M. Collins

Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs

"Department of Homeland Security's budget for FY05"

February, 09 2004

I want to welcome Secretary Ridge here this morning and to thank him for making his third appearance before the Governmental Affairs Committee.

I want to also welcome back our friend and colleague, the Committee's ranking member, Senator Joe Lieberman. I know he never actually left the Senate, but somehow it still feels as if we're getting him back-and I want him to know that he has been missed.

It has been nearly two and one-half years since an unconscionable act of war was committed against the United States. The American people responded to the attacks of September 11th with courage-courage that was evident that horrible day in the heroic actions of the passengers on Flight 93, in the firefighters and police officers at Ground Zero, and in the Pentagon employees who led their co-workers to safety through fire, smoke, and rubble.

That courage is also evident today in the men and women of our armed forces on the front lines in the war on terrorism and in the ordinary Americans across the country who carry on normal, productive lives, refusing to be terrorized by terrorism.

The federal government responded by recognizing that this was a different kind of war with a different kind of enemy. We saw that this enemy used as a weapon the freedom and openness that Americans cherish but that it despises. We realized that our efforts to defend our nation against this unconventional enemy were hampered by the lack of a unified strategy. To revisit a phrase used so often in the aftermath of September 11th, we were not connecting the dots. And turf battles, communication gaps, and interagency rivalries could no longer be tolerated. The stakes were too high.

The Department of Homeland Security, whose budget we review here today, is the single greatest manifestation of our efforts to create that unified strategy, to connect those dots, to coordinate an urgent new mission. This Committee played a key role in creating the Department.

Having created the Department, we have also endeavored to help it succeed. We have confirmed eight talented and dedicated individuals, including Secretary Ridge, who are leading the Department. We have conducted hearings and investigations on a wide range of homeland security issues, from the President's plan to better coordinate intelligence analysis and sharing, to unraveling the tangles of international terrorism financing, to protecting American agriculture from sabotage, to securing our ports. We have approved bills to reform the Department's multi-billion dollar state grant program, to provide cutting edge technology to first responders, to help the Department attract talented individuals with sought-after skills, and to ensure accountability within DHS's financial system.

The Department is nearing the completion of its first year. Therefore, this budget is the first that can be reviewed in the context of actual performance and accomplishments. This Committee is its first stop on Capitol Hill. I am pleased to note that, under Secretary Ridge's leadership, there have been many significant accomplishments. The melding of 22 federal agencies with more than 170,000 employees has occurred with some of the resistance we expected, but without the widespread turf battles many predicted. The level of cooperation and coordination within this new Department, though certainly not perfect, is a vast improvement over the previous, ad hoc structure. The initial focus upon airport security has been expanded to include other vulnerabilities such as seaport security. Our first responders-the local and state emergency personnel on the front lines-are getting more funding, training and guidance than ever before to carry out their vital missions.

Of course, there are concerns. While our first responders have received more resources, they need more assistance than this budget provides, and they still need a streamlined grant process that includes greater flexibility in how they can use federal resources. While response capabilities have improved, prevention lags. Advanced counter-terrorism technologies have yet to reach the front lines. While the addition of personnel at our points of entry has brought us greater security at our borders, many smaller border communities face new restrictions that have tremendously disrupted their daily lives. And while our urban areas are receiving unprecedented federal assistance, the concerns and vulnerabilities of our small cities, small towns and small states must not be overlooked. Perhaps more than any other area, this one gets shortchanged in the Department's budget request.

As the Department pursues programs to make our country more secure, it is inevitable that a tension between security and privacy will arise. Americans treasure their civil liberties and expect their government to protect them wherever possible. Where privacy must be compromised in order to prevent terrorism, the government has an obligation to tell people clearly what information it is gathering and why it is necessary.

I am concerned about revelations that two airlines turned over passenger information to government agencies without any public notice or privacy safeguards. We simply cannot gain security if we lose trust. As the Department of Homeland Security develops its new passenger pre-screening program, "CAPPS 2," it must be open and forthright with the American people so that they can determine whether the added security is worth the privacy cost. Programs such as this one must be crafted with care to minimize the impact on personal privacy and must be subject to close congressional scrutiny.

The Department of Homeland Security's budget that we are examining today makes substantial investments in areas that are critical to our nation's safety. I cannot say that I agree with all of the proposed budget's details-particularly in the areas of grants to states, communities, and first responders, the Coast Guard, and port security-but I commend the Secretary for making tough choices in a lean budget year.

The war on terrorism is a different kind of war. We are proceeding to blaze a path in uncharted territory, making mistakes, getting a little lost, and then finding our way and making progress. I appreciate the difficulty of the mission assigned to the Department of Homeland Security, and I know the Department leadership is committed to accomplishing that mission without sacrificing the freedom and openness our enemy seeks to destroy.