Coordinated, Thorough Security Efforts Needed

• By Rep. Bennie Thompson
• Special to Roll Call
• Sept. 21, 2006, 3:50 p.m.

Five years ago this Wednesday, President Bush announced to Congress the creation of the Office of Homeland Security, the predecessor of the current Department of Homeland Security, to “develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks.” Five years and tens of billions of dollars later, homeland security efforts still are not coordinated or comprehensive. There is great uncertainty about the security of our nation. Just flipping through the newspapers covering the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks recently, there were widely conflicting responses to the question “Is America as safe it needs to be?”