Commending the Employees of the Department of Homeland Security

Floor Speech

COMMENDING THE EMPLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY -- (Senate - March 04, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator LIEBERMAN in support of S. Res. 472, commending the employees of the Department of Homeland Security on the Department's fifth anniversary, and honoring their partners at all levels of Government, the private sector, and the millions of men and women in law enforcement, the fire service, emergency-medical services, and other emergency-response professions who risk their lives to protect us.

Five years ago, on March 1, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security commenced operations as a new organizational umbrella over 22 federal agencies and with new responsibilities for developing and coordinating an integrated, all-hazards approach to planning for, mitigating against, responding to, and recovering from major disasters.

Creating DHS was a critical part of our national response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We are safer today because of the work of the Department's dedicated employees and because of their support and coordination with State, local, tribal, and non-profit agencies with emergency-management, prevention, and response responsibilities.

The Department was severely tested in the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe of 2005, and extensive investigation by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs identified serious flaws in the Department's response. But, spurred by legislation that Senator LIEBERMAN and I authored in 2006, the Department has taken significant strides in improving its response and recovery capabilities. The Department's responses to recent disasters, such as the wildfires in California, the Patriots' Day storm in Maine, and the recent tornadoes in the South, visibly demonstrate these improvements.

The task of integrating the 22 agencies and more than 200,000 employees that compose the Department has not always gone smoothly. As the Government Accountability Office justly observed in a progress report on DHS last summer, however, ``successful transformations of large organizations, even those faced with less strenuous reorganizations than DHS, can take 5 to 7 years to achieve.'' The Department has made significant progress. Congress must help it make more.

On this noteworthy anniversary, I salute the men and women of DHS and all of their partners who protect our borders, transportation hubs, critical infrastructure, seaports, and--above all--our people. This Senate resolution is a small but heartfelt expression of our gratitude, our respect, and our commitment to the future of this Department.

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