Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Creating the new DOHS

Friday, Nov. 22, 2002 | 9:51 a.m.

MORE THAN A YEAR HAS PASSED since Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut proposed the creation of a Homeland Security agency or department. It was a good idea because of the intelligence gaps exposed in our government by the 9-11 attack. It was first openly opposed by the Bush White House. About five months ago the administration wrapped its arms around the idea and a thorough reorganization of several federal agencies into a massive department was presented to Congress.

The Democratic Senate leadership worked with their GOP colleagues and most of the bill became acceptable to both sides of the aisle. They even found room to compromise about what federal employees in the new department could retain as benefits and union representation. The president insisted that the administration wanted those employees unclassified with little or no union protection when firing and hiring issues are determined. His insistence that these protections not accompany employees to the new department resulted in no bill being passed prior to adjournment for the 2002 election campaigns. The president campaigned effectively in several states by making this an issue that defeated at least two Democrats and the GOP gained the majority in the Senate for the next Congress.

With this new muscle the House and Senate returned for a lame-duck session that passed the Homeland Security bill with few changes. The president had earned and won a political victory. The Senate couldn't effectively challenge what he wanted in the new law. But this wasn't good enough for the GOP-run House where the leadership turned the bill into their own gift shop. These were gifts that had nothing to do with the purpose of the bill creating a Department of Homeland Security.

USA Today briefly listed these additions as follows:

The House passed the bill including the listed goodies and then left town. Several Republican senators were embarrassed by these additions but viewed the immediate bill passage a must. Most of them saw the additions for the first time when it arrived in the Senate and they were upset.

GOP leader Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi found House Speaker Dennis Hastert in Turkey and got a promise to help undo the troubling parts of the law when the new Congress goes into session in January. It will be most interesting to see if this promise is kept and if the president will use his newfound political muscle to clean up the law creating the Department of Homeland Security.

It would have been so much better to have passed a clean bill without the garbage added by the House. The security of our nation is important enough so that any law affecting it should be passed without additions which bother the conscience of legislators.