Homeland Security

Domestic defense and national security strategy that aims to prevent attacks on U.S. territory by terrorists [Page 327]or rogue states. The concept of homeland security gained currency after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States.

Origins of Homeland Security

A month after the September 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush issued an executive order establishing the Office of Homeland Security in the White House. Headed by former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, the Office of Homeland Security was charged with developing and coordinating the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States against further terrorist threats. The office also coordinates efforts by the executive branch to detect, prevent, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States.

The same executive order established the Homeland Security Council, which was given responsibility for advising and assisting the president in all aspects of homeland security. The council aims to ensure the effective development and implementation of homeland security policies. Meeting at the president's direction, the Homeland Security Council comprises a dozen senior administration officials: the president, vice president, treasury secretary, defense secretary, attorney general, health and human services secretary, transportation secretary, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, director of central intelligence, and assistant to the president for homeland security.

Expanding Homeland Security

The concept of homeland security became firmly entrenched in U.S. public life when President Bush signed the Homeland Security Act in November 2002. This legislation granted the government new security and surveillance powers, including the right to monitor credit card transactions, telephone calls, academic transcripts, drug prescriptions, driving licenses, airline tickets, parking permits, banking records, e-mails, and Web site visits. The idea behind these new powers was to detect the presence of terrorists or potential terrorists within the borders of the United States.

In March 2002, the U.S. government adopted the Homeland Security Advisory System, based on a color-coded scale, to convey information about the level of terrorist threat to the nation. The system was criticized, however, for being vague in implementation and purpose. In response, the government introduced improvements to the threat advisory system to provide more specific guidance for citizens and local officials. Still, many consider the color-coded alerts to be politically manipulative. Critics argue that increases in alert levels seem to occur more in response to domestic political developments than to actual terrorist threats.

Congressional legislation passed in 2002 established a new cabinet-level agency called the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The creation of the DHS marked the most far-reaching transformation of the U.S. government in half a century. Intended to coordinate intelligence about terrorism and tighten U.S. domestic defenses, the DHS brought together 22 existing federal agencies, including the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Customs Service, Secret Service, and Coast Guard. The first head of the DHS was Tom Ridge.

The DHS initially introduced measures that strained U.S. relations with other countries. For example, the department imposed requirements for airlines to collect extensive information on passengers, a policy that was in clear violation of European privacy laws. After prolonged negotiations, the European Union and the United States reached a compromise on airline passenger data collection.

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