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CQ HOMELAND SECURITY Chertoff, Analysts Assess DHS 2007 Performance Differently Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff pointed to greater departmental unity, improved emergency response times and shortened airport security wait times as signal achievements in 2007, while outside experts took a different view of DHS performance over the past year. In a speech that both catalogued the department’s 2007 successes and its expectations for 2008, he pleaded for streamlined congressional oversight of DHS, and said he had not given up on the possibility of comprehensive immigration overhaul legislation. Chertoff said his priorities for 2008 are securing identification documents, increasing cybersecurity and avoiding public complacency about homeland security. As for 2007, he specifically cited improved response times of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and one accomplishment he said had not received much media attention: a decline in peak wait times for airport security that “rarely exceeded 13 minutes” during the Thanksgiving travel period. Read the DHS Achievements Fact Sheet. Despite those improvements, experts that CQ Homeland Security interviewed Wednesday were less enthusiastic about the department’s record than the secretary. David Heyman, director of the homeland security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said DHS has taken “a lot of excellent baby steps . . . but the major challenges that we’ve faced since 9/11 still remain major challenges - controlling our border, defining how to secure our global commerce, and telling mayors of cities around America what it takes to be prepared.” Critical elements of homeland security that are not yet fully implemented include identification for transportation workers, regulations for general aviation and small boats, and a plan to thwart use of improvised explosives devices within the United States, he said. P.J. Crowley, director of homeland security at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, said “Chertoff’s greatest failure . . . is he has yet to battle for sufficient resources to do what his department needs to do,” such as implementing recently expanded responsibilities in overseeing chemical security and air cargo. Frank J. Cilluffo, a homeland security expert at George Washington University, pointed out that countering the radicalization of terrorists was not even mentioned in DHS’ six-page list of achievements in 2007. Preventing radicalization is “at the heart” of homeland security and should be more of a priority at the department, he said. Randall J. Larsen, director of the Institute for Homeland Security, cited the lack of recovery planning for ports as a DHS failure, but highlighted the department’s classified bioterrorism threat assessment as a major achievement. James Carafano, a senior research fellow for national security issues at the conservative Heritage Foundation, found the speech an unhappy exercise. “It’s sad that the secretary has to do this,” Carafano said, arguing that DHS is “misperceived.” “It’s actually done a lot of good,” Carafano said, citing thwarted terrorist attacks and a variety of less public but successful work such as investigations, counterterrorism operations, intelligence collection and data sharing. Congressional Reaction “We need to improve employee morale and expand the reach of the agency to protect as many vulnerable targets as we can,” Lieberman said in a statement. Susan Collins of Maine, the ranking Republican on the panel, also had praise for the department, but added in a statement that first-responder communications, information sharing, information technology management and human capital management also need improvement. Democrat Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, was more direct and more specific. “As this administration winds down, it’s vital that Secretary Chertoff complete the ‘to-do’ list that I gave him,” a six-item list that includes filling critical vacancies at the department, and completing border security initiatives Read the CQ Homeland Security special report on the to-do list (Oct. 22, 2007). Eleanor Stables can be reached at estables@cq.com. Source: CQ Homeland Security |
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