Memo to Congress: Streamline Homeland Security Oversight

It is time for Congress to advance the global war on terrorism by restructuring its archaic committee scheme. Reducing bureaucratic demands on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) while continuing to exercise oversight is essential to our governmental process.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, underscored the need for reform in all sectors of government. The creation of the DHS was the largest reorganization of the federal bureaucracy in 57 years. The primary purpose was to enhance cohesiveness by reducing conflict and increasing cooperation among the 22 government organizations that now comprise the security agency.

But a massive restructuring without reform of the Congress is at best a half measure; at worst it is counterproductive. The kind of structural maladies that led to the creation of DHS still flourish on Capitol Hill, diminishing the effectiveness of that vital department. Congress for two years has steadfastly refused to reform despite the obvious costs to the nation.

Those costs are best illustrated by a revealing exchange during a May 19 hearing of the 9/11 Commission between Thomas H. Kean, commission chair, and Homeland Security Secretary Thomas J. Ridge. Prodded by Kean, Ridge said he reports to 88 committees and subcommittees in Congress with oversight responsibilities for portions of DHS. In 2003, Ridge and his top lieutenants testified at more than 145 committee and subcommittee hearings.

Like other units of DHS, the Coast Guard is inundated with requests for time and information from congressional panels. From March 2003 through June 2004, Coast Guard officials appeared at 32 congressional hearings.

Figures like those prompted Ridge to appeal for Kean’s help: “We would welcome any recommendations you might have to reduce that [congressional oversight] process … the present configuration is unacceptable.”

Moreover, there is worse to come. By mid-May of this year, Ridge said, senior DHS officials had testified at more than 100 hearings, indicating they may break the 200 mark before year’s end.

Jolted, Kean replied, “I just thought my ears weren’t right,” and said the congressional requirements were “ridiculous … all of us understand congressional oversight and the importance of it. But to spend that much of your time reporting to 88 different congressional committees is taking you away from what you are hired to do.”

No one wants to give up power. But a major rewiring of federal agencies requires similar retooling on Capitol Hill. Congress understood this in the aftermath of World War II, when the military establishment and the congressional committee system were restructured virtually in tandem. President Harry S. Truman proposed the creation of a unified defense department in 1945. A major effect of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 was the merger of the Senate’s Naval Affairs and Military Affairs committees to create the Committee on Armed Services. The number of House committees was reduced from 48 to 19.

Reform was not easy. Creation of the unified department was delayed for months as the Naval Affairs Committee wrangled over the wisdom of concentrating so much power in one agency. On the Hill, infighting was fierce. Some chairmen who lost standing committees demanded subcommittees, unraveling part of the legislative reforms Congress had hoped to achieve through consolidation. But the leadership in the administration and Congress had the political will to complete a tough but critical task.

It is time for today’s House and Senate leaders to rise above their members’ turf battles and serve the interests of the nation. Each chamber should have a permanent standing committee with authority for the tasks assigned to DHS. This would diminish the demand for agency time and effort, and resolve many of the jurisdictional issues that arise as different authorizing committees deal with assorted parts of the department.

It also would make life easier for the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee in each chamber. The chairmen of the appropriations panels, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., created their subcommittees as DHS was established, setting a precedent for others to follow.

Reform of the committee structure is a tedious, thankless task, but one that desperately needs to be done. Our nation will be stronger for it.

Sheila M. McNeill, National President