This report presents
the conclusions of a task force charged with examining the
organization and operations of the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). The task force included representatives from
academia, research centers, the private sector, and congressional
staff and was chaired by homeland security experts from the Center
for Strategic and International Studies and The Heritage
Foundation. The task force evaluated DHS's capacity to fulfill its
mandate as set out in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 based on
four criteria: management, roles and missions, authorities, and
resources.
Based on this analysis,
conducted through seminars, an extensive literature search, and
interviews, the task force developed over 40 major recommendations.
Together, these proposals make the case for a significant
reorganization of the department to make it a more effective and
efficient instrument for preventing and responding to terrorist
threats.
Each section consists
of findings and recommendations agreed upon by the task force.
Major recommendations in the report include:
-
Strengthening
the Secretary of
Homeland Security's policymaking function by creating an
Undersecretary for Policy.
-
Empowering
the secretary by
establishing a "flatter" organizational structure through (1)
consolidating and strengthening agencies with overlapping missions;
(2) eliminating middle-management (directorate) layers over
border and transportation security, preparedness and response, and
information analysis and infrastructure protection; and (3) having
the agencies report directly to the secretary via the Deputy
Secretary of Homeland Security.
-
Rationalizing
government
spending by establishing a risk-based mechanism for department-wide
resource allocation and grantmaking and by developing
pre-determined "response packages" to respond to catastrophic
terrorism.
-
Clarifying
authorities and
national leadership roles for bio-defense, cyberdefense, and
critical infrastructure protection.
-
Improving
departmental
oversight by rationalizing congressional committee structure and
establishing permanent oversight committees in the House of
Representatives and the Senate.
Congress and the
Administration should develop a comprehensive plan to restructure
the department, including establishing a nonpartisan
commission to review the performance of the department and assess
its capacity to fulfill the missions outlined in the Homeland
Security Act in the areas of management, missions, authorities, and
resources and to report back within six months.
Read DHS 2.0: Rethinking the Department of Homeland Security -
by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. and David Heyman