By CHRIS STROHM, CongressDaily
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I/D-Conn., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, used the confirmation hearing for a top Homeland Security Department official today to criticize the poor coordination of border security efforts. With John Morton there to answer questions about his nomination to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Lieberman complained about "unacceptable turf wars" between federal agencies along the nation's Southwest border. Collins said she fears a recent decision by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to create a border czar will only exacerbate coordination problems and lead to more confusion.
Morton had to navigate through the politically charged topic of how to limit illegal immigration while clamping down on guns and money being smuggled from the United States to Mexican drug cartels. By all accounts, it appears the committee will approve his nomination and he will be confirmed by the Senate.
Lieberman decried turf wars between ICE, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and called on Morton to help bring the problem to "a rapid halt." Morton said he is aware of the turf battles and pledged to focus on solving them immediately. He added that he personally knows key Justice Department officials, who he said will help solve the problems. Morton also said he will seek authority for ICE agents to conduct drug investigations, which can only be done on a limited basis through an agreement with the DEA. He said he would seek legislation for the authority if needed.
Collins expressed concern the Obama administration is relying on a proliferation of czars to address problems. She said she was specifically concerned about Napolitano's recent appointment of Alan Bersin, a former U.S. attorney, to be the border czar within the Homeland Security Department. Collins said she worries his responsibilities will conflict with chiefs of ICE and Customs and Border Protection. Morton said he is not concerned the roles will conflict and described Bersin as an adviser who will not have an operational role. On a related matter, Morton said in answers to written questions that he supports proposals that would require employers throughout the country to use the E-Verify system to confirm their employees are legally allowed to work in the country.
Lieberman's committee also considered the nomination of W. Craig Fugate to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fugate is widely viewed as a qualified and skilled emergency manager and is expected to be confirmed. Answering the most politically charged question of his confirmation hearing, Fugate expressed support for keeping FEMA within Homeland Security, as opposed to an independent agency under White House control. "That debate, as far as I'm concerned, is over," he said.
By KATHERINE MCINTIRE PETERS, Government Executive
Ever since the Federal Emergency Management Agency was absorbed into the Homeland Security Department after its creation in 2003, bureaucrats and elected officials have debated the merits of that decision. After weighing the arguments for and against making FEMA a stand-alone agency again, the department's inspector general found such a reorganization could have significant negative repercussions.
"Removing FEMA from DHS at this point would cause considerable upheaval, to both FEMA and the department," IG Richard Skinner wrote in a report [PDF] released Tuesday.
FEMA benefits from the wealth of resources and capabilities inherent in Homeland Security, such as search and rescue, communications, law enforcement, intelligence, infrastructure protection, and the ability to surge personnel from other DHS agencies during emergencies, the report concluded.
FEMA's response to hurricanes Gustav and Ike last fall illustrated the point: Customs and Border Protection provided security and aerial surveys of the damaged regions; the Transportation Security Administration supported 20 commodity distribution locations with 366 employees; and the Coast Guard performed search-and-rescue missions.
The IG noted in the three years before the department was established, FEMA and the Coast Guard conducted joint exercises 13 times; in the three years after DHS was created, the agencies held 59 such exercises.
By AMY HARDER
While the incoming administration has its work cut out for itself in terms of revamping the Department of Homeland Security, the new 111th Congress isn't off the hook, either.
At a discussion this morning hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, current and former congressional staffers called for more cohesive oversight of DHS, which now answers to more than 100 committees or subcommittees throughout Congress. The discussion was part of a two-day conference, concluding today, on how the incoming Congress and new president should deal with domestic security issues.
David Olive, onetime chief of staff to former Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., and co-founder of government relations firm Olive, Edwards & Cooper, noted that the name of the panel, "Congressional Chaos," was fitting for the state of DHS congressional oversight.
"That's exactly what it seems like for people on the outside looking in," Olive said. "And that's exactly how it seems for the people in the inside looking out."
Olive called upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to address the issue, which he said was a bipartisan problem. "It was created under Republican leadership and has continued under Democratic leadership. It will continue to be a problem until the Speaker herself weighs in," Olive said. "Thus far, she's not willing to do that."
By AMY HARDER
The Federal Emergency Management Agency should not be taken out of the Department of Homeland Security, at least early on in Barack Obama's administration, according to a panel of security experts this morning at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The discussion was part of a two-day conference, concluding Thursday, on how the incoming Congress and new president should confront the country's myriad domestic security issues.
Whether or not FEMA should remain under DHS has been a topic of contention among homeland security experts ever since Katrina. In "Change For America: A Progressive Blueprint For The 44th President" from the Center For American Progress and the New Democracy Project, former DHS Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin suggests that such a move might make the agency more effective by providing it with a more "direct line" to the president. But CSIS panelists today disagreed.
"You can't take FEMA out now without doing too much damage to the system," said Daniel Kaniewski, former special assistant to the president for Homeland Security and senior director for response policy. Kaniewski, now a counselor at the Homeland Security Policy Institute, worked extensively on Hurricane Katrina relief efforts during his time at the White House. He stressed that if FEMA were taken out of DHS, the department would simply develop its own disaster-response capabilities, so, in practice, nothing would substantially change.
Matt Mayer, a former counselor to the deputy secretary at DHS and current visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said that where FEMA is located within the government is not the issue. "I don't care if FEMA is inside or outside DHS. That's not what's key," Mayer said. "The key question is, what does FEMA actually do on a day-to-day basis?" When that question is answered, the placement of the agency could then be addressed, he said.
Michael Wermuth, director of the RAND Homeland Security Program, downplayed FEMA's importance in disaster relief. "Despite opinions to the contrary," he said, "the federal government does not have the primary responsibility." It's the states that first and foremost are responsible, he said, adding that because of the "over-federalization" of disaster response, money and other resources have been disproportionately spread around the country.
Panelists agreed that Obama and the 111th Congress should not make any major changes to DHS right away. "Don't do anything drastic" in the first 100 days that would "create more turmoil" in the department, Wermuth advised, adding that he did not expect that to happen. "I'm guessing it won't change dramatically in the early months," he projected. "There are a lot of other things that are on the new administration's plate that will take some precedence over the organizational structure of the Department of Homeland Security."
Check back later in the week for more coverage on the CSIS transition conference.
By AMY HARDER
More than 20 national security experts, including officials from the Homeland Security and Defense departments, will convene Wednesday and Thursday to discuss how President-elect Barack Obama's administration should confront the county's myriad domestic security issues.
Hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the two-day conference features six panels on topics such as disaster response, infrastructure protection, the National Guard's role and department oversight. Speakers include Paul McHale, assistant secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs; Mike Hickey, vice president of Verizon and chair of the Communications Sector Coordinating Council; and Col. Leslie J. Carroll, deputy chief of staff for operations in the U.S. Army Reserve Command. A representative from the transition team at DHS will also be attending, although the specific person has not yet been confirmed.
Ethan Wais, a spokesman for CSIS, said he expects nearly 250 people to attend the conference, which has reached the maximum number of participants. NationalJournal.com will be covering the event at the CSIS office on K Street. Check back later this week for more.
Continue reading CAP's 'Blueprint' For Obama: Examining DHS.
