Senator Collins Rises in Support of Ridge Nomination

Ms. COLLINS. Under the previous order, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

For the information of my colleagues, I expect my initial statement will not exceed 12 minutes.

Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the nomination of Gov. Tom Ridge to be the first Secretary of the
Department of Homeland Security. As chairman of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, I assure my colleagues the committee thoroughly considered this nomination in an extensive hearing last Friday at which the nominee expertly and in a forthright manner answered all of the questions posed to him. Every member of the committee participated in the hearing at
some point and each member was able to pose questions to Governor Ridge.

Subsequently, the committee voted unanimously to report Governor Ridge's nomination to the full Senate. I am very pleased we are taking up this important assignment today.

The United States has made substantial progress in improving homeland security since the terrorist attacks of September 11. The new Department of Homeland Security will provide the organizational framework to help our Nation better cope with the threat of a terrorist attack. September 11, 2001, underscored the concerns raised by many experts, including the members of the Hart-Rudman Commission who warned our Nation was not adequately prepared for 21st century threats but, rather, was still operating under a cold war threat environment. The nature of the threat has changed since the end of the cold war. Change has brought with it the need to reorganize the Government in a way that will enable us to better protect our Nation and its citizens.

September 11 focused our attention on homeland security. Now we understand all too well why it is a problem if our first responders do not have compatible communication systems. Interoperability has gone from being a buzzword to a matter of life and death. Now we understand the vulnerability posed by 17 million shipping containers arriving in the United States from ports all over the world with few of them ever being searched. Now we understand our Nation's 20,000 miles of land and sea borders present countless opportunities for those who would do us harm.

We also understand we can no longer rely on an ad hoc approach to homeland security. Currently, as many as 100 Federal agencies are responsible in some way for homeland security. But not one has homeland security as its primary mission. When that many entities are responsible, none is really accountable and turf battles and bureaucratic disputes are inevitable.

The new Department of Homeland Security will work to address these problems by better securing our ports, our borders, and our critical infrastructure. It will synthesize and analyze intelligence information from multiple sources. It will coordinate security activities now undertaken separately by agencies such as the Customs Service, the INS, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The new Department will help remedy many of the current organizational weaknesses in order to better protect us against future attacks.

Congress's passage of legislation creating this new Department was only the first step in what will be a long and difficult process. The homeland security effort will take all of us working together as a team-the administration, the new Secretary, and the Congress-to ensure the success of this massive reorganization. This effort will require the new Secretary to overcome unique challenges. The Department's leadership will have to address management and reorganization issues, as well as issues related to integrating the various agencies, each with differing work rules, information technology systems, and cultures.

In addition to these challenges, the new Secretary must also ensure that the nonhomeland security functions moving to the Department are not neglected. For example, it is critically important to my home State of Maine and to coastal communities throughout our Nation that the Coast Guard's new homeland security responsibilities not divert its attention from its traditional role, including search and rescue missions. In a given year, the Coast Guard performs over 39,000 search and rescue missions.

Just recently, the Coast Guard was involved in a rescue of two fishermen from a fishing island off the coast of Maine. On a typical day, the Coast Guard saves 10 lives, interdicts 14 illegal immigrants, inspects and repairs 135 buoys, and helps more than 2,500 commercial ships navigate into and out of U.S. ports.

Because of the vital importance of these functions, Senator Stevens and I worked with many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to include strong language in the new Homeland Security Act to ensure that the Coast Guard will continue to make search and rescue and other traditional missions a priority, not an afterthought.

Another challenge for the new Department will be to effectively support those men and women who are on the front lines, our Nation's 2 million first responders, including our police officers, our firefighters, and our emergency medical personnel. The Homeland Security Act establishes a new office for State and local government coordination, but it offers no assurance that the new Department will coordinate and communicate effectively with our Nation's first responders.

Ensuring that our partners at the State and local level have sufficient attention, resources, and cooperation will require more work.

This is another advantage that Governor Ridge brings to this important job. As a Governor, he understands better than most people how important the role played by State and local governments is to our national security.

The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security will be the most significant restructuring of the Federal Government in more than 50 years. It is the most important reorganization since Congress created the Department of Defense in 1947. It will involve the merger of 22 Federal agencies and some 170,000 employees. Managing this Department will pose extraordinary challenges.

Fortunately, we have before us a man of extraordinary capacity in Gov. Tom Ridge. Governor Ridge's resume is impressive.
In addition to his current service as assistant to the President for homeland security, Governor Ridge twice was elected as Governor of Pennsylvania, served six terms in the Congress, and worked as an assistant district attorney in Pennsylvania. His resume speaks to the management and leadership skills that he possesses which will be necessary to make this effort successful.

Perhaps the clearest indication of Governor Ridge's character is something that you won't find on his resume. It is the story of his service in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam war. Governor Ridge was one of the few, if not the only, graduate of Harvard who served in Vietnam as an enlisted man, and he did so with great distinction. Infantry Staff Sergeant Ridge was awarded a Bronze Star for valor. These are impressive credentials that speak to the character of a remarkable man.

The new Department will not make us safer overnight, but its establishment must lead, and I believe will lead, to new capabilities that will make our Nation secure under the very capable leadership of Tom Ridge. Our goal must be a department that enables our country to better deter, detect, prepare for, and, if necessary, respond to a terrorist attack.

To attain this goal will require not only extraordinary leadership from the new Secretary but also the cooperation of the agencies transferred to the new Department and the full support of the Congress. Ultimately, the success of the new Department rests not just on the broad shoulders of Governor Ridge but on all of us.

Today I am hopeful the Senate will take an important step forward in making our homeland safer and more secure by promptly confirming Governor Ridge. We are asked to confirm Governor Ridge for a Cabinet post that may well be the most challenging position created by Congress during the last 50 years. I can't think of a better person to have at the helm of this new Department when it opens its doors this Friday than Governor Ridge.

For this reason it is important we act promptly so the new Department opens on Friday with a new Secretary firmly in control. I urge my colleagues to support the confirmation of Governor Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security. In my judgment, the President could not have made a better choice for this critically important position.