Homeland Security: Department Organization and Management - Implementation Phase

Publication Date: August 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

Type:

Abstract:

After substantial congressional entreatment, President George W. Bush gave impetus to the creation of a Department of Homeland Security when, on June 6, 2002, he proposed the establishment of such an entity by the 107th Congress. The President transmitted his department proposal to the House of Representatives on June 18, where it was subsequently introduced by request (H.R. 5005). The House approved the bill in amended form on July 26. The Senate did not begin consideration of the legislation until after the August congressional recess. Senate deliberations on the matter were slower due to partisan and parliamentary factors as well as a few highly contentious issues, such as the civil service protections and collective bargaining rights of the employees of the new department. When both houses of Congress reconvened after the fall elections, a new, compromise department bill was introduced in the House (H.R. 5710), which considered and adopted the measure on November 13. Six days later, the Senate approved the original House bill (H.R. 5005), as modified with the language of the compromise legislation (H.R. 5710), which had been offered as an amendment. The House cleared the Senate-passed measure for the President's signature (P.L. 107-296; 116 Stat. 2135). Ultimately, President Bush largely obtained what he wanted in the legislation mandating the department.

Overseeing the implementation of the legislation mandating the new Department of Homeland Security, and possibly refining it and making some technical modifications, is within the purview of the 108th Congress. Some legislators, for example, want to eliminate provisions protecting manufacturers from liability lawsuits, broaden the criteria for the creation of university-based centers for homeland security, and make the department subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (H.R. 237, H.R. 484, S. 6, S. 28, S. 41, S. 105). The department's charter also contains some contradictory provisions, such as those concerning the appointment of an officer for civil rights and civil liberties. Other implementation issues include Senate confirmation of presidential nominees for department leadership positions, creation of initial budgets for the new department, and assessing the various reports to Congress required of the new department. This report will be updated as events recommend during the 108th Congress. CRS Report RL31148, Homeland Security: The Presidential Coordination Office, assesses the operations and status of the Office of Homeland Security; CRS Report RL31493, Homeland Security: Department Organization and Management -- Legislative Phase, assesses the development and enactment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.