President Bush signed a bill Monday creating the Department of Homeland Security, a new Cabinet agency designed to guard America against terrorism, nominating current Homeland Security Advisor Tom Ridge to head it.
Ridge, the potential secretary of homeland security, was formerly the governor of Pennsylvania. According to Penn State University assistant Professor of political science Michael Berkman, the connections he made while governor helped him land the position.
\[Ridge] was always a friend of George Bush, and that goes back to when they were governors together,"" he said. ""Ridge was always on Bush's short list of guys he felt a close, personal affinity with. His name, I thought, had always been up there to do something in the administration.""
Berkman added that Ridge had the experience and persona that Bush was looking for in the Homeland Security Department.
""He's got a good background for this job,"" he said. ""Ridge was a former prosecutor and a military guy. ... I know he comes across as kind of tough, a no-nonsense guy.""
Upon nominating Ridge, President Bush complemented him on the job he had done so far as Homeland Security advisor.
""Americans know Tom as an experienced public servant and as the leader of our homeland security efforts since last year,"" Bush said. ""He's done a superb job. He's the right man for this new and great responsibility.""
The new department will put parts of 22 different federal agencies under Ridge's direction with the goal of protecting the country's borders from terrorism and general danger. This merger must be completed by September 2003. The department will take some employees from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Coast Guard and other security agencies, though not the CIA or FBI.
According to UW-Madison political science Professor David Canon, one of the biggest changes from Ridge's previous position will be the size of the new agency, expected to include up to 170,000 employees.
""Before [Ridge] had a relatively small staff, and now it's one of the biggest agencies in the government,"" Canon said.
Canon added that the department will not entirely consolidate all security operations, which could lead to problems.
""It's not like this is taking care of all the overlap problems, but the idea was that by centralizing the effort to protect the country in Homeland Security that you'll have less duplication of effort and better communications,"" he said.
