Bush Seeks Homeland Security Dept.
Thu Jun 6, 9:31 PM ET
By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) - Stung by intelligence failures, President Bush called on Congress Thursday night to remake the government with a terrorist-fighting Department of Homeland Security, warning that "thousands of trained killers are plotting to attack us."
Congress welcomed the agency-shuffling plan, even as lawmakers intensified their inquiry into lapses before the Sept. 11 attacks, hearing from the FBI director as well as a whistle-blower who complained about the FBI's stifling bureaucracy
In a nationally broadcast address, Bush acknowledged that "suspicions and insights of some of our front-line agents did not get enough attention" and he urged employees of the CIA, FBI and other intelligence agencies to report anything that raises concerns.
"We need to know when warnings were missed or signs unheeded — not to point the finger of blame, but to make sure we correct any problems, and prevent them from happening again," the president said in his 13-minute address.
The new Department of Homeland Security would inherit 169,000 employees and $37.4 billion in budgets from the agencies it would absorb, including the Secret Service, the Coast Guard and the embattled immigration and customs services. The White House said it would be the biggest government overhaul in a half-century.
