Senate panel moves to force Ridge testimony

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Reuters via Forbes - May 22, 2002
http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2002/05/22/rtr610912.html

U.S. Senate panel moves to force Ridge testimony

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - Frustrated by Homeland Security
Director Tom Ridge's refusal to testify before Congress, a committee
of the Democratic-led U.S. Senate approved legislation on Wednesday
to require him to do so.

On a party-line 7-3 vote, the Governmental Affairs Committee sent to
the full Senate a bill to elevate Ridge's White House office to a
Cabinet-level department, which would make it accountable to
Congress.

The measure also would give Ridge budget authority over a number of
federal agencies as he moves to bolster domestic security in the
aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Also on Wednesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a
spending bill over White House objections that includes a provision
aimed at compelling Ridge to testify.

Both measures require passage by the full Senate and Republican-led
House of Representatives and President George W. Bush's signature to
become law.

Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday said the office could be
elevated to a Cabinet-level department following an ongoing review by
Ridge, who has said he opposes such a move.

"We could conceivably end up with everything from a Cabinet-level
department or a new agency, an agency in the executive office of the
president, or an arrangement similar to what we have now," Cheney
told CNN's "Larry King Live."

"Everything's on the table, at this point," Cheney added.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been angered by Ridge's
refusal to testify before them on Bush's requested $38 billion for
homeland security for fiscal 2003, which begins Oct. 1.

While Ridge has appeared at closed-door congressional meetings,
members say they want him on the record at a public hearing.

CONGRESSIONAL THREATS

Bush created the Office of Homeland Security after the Sept. 11
attacks on the United States. The administration said the president
saw the head of it as an adviser who should report to him, not
Congress.

But last month, under pressure from Democrats and Republicans as well
as threats by Congress to subpoena Ridge, a former Pennsylvania
governor, the administration expressed a willingness to restructure
the office and work with Congress.

Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a
Connecticut Democrat, said shortly before Wednesday's vote, "I think
if we move this legislation ahead, we will strengthen Governor Ridge
and the forces for reform."

The three votes against the legislation came from Republicans,
including Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, the panel's ranking
minority member.

"It's premature," Thompson said of the bill.

He argued that Congress should examine the office's long-term
strategy for national security and possible restructuring, expected
by about July 1, before moving on the measure.

But the committee's Democratic majority sent the bill to the full
Senate, where proponents are hopeful it will win passage. Its fate
remains uncertain in the House.

"It's no slam dunk," a Democratic aide said, noting that the measure
would trigger turf fights among federal agencies.

"It all depends on where the administration comes down on it," added
John Feehery, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois
Republican.

The bill would fold into a new Department of National Homeland
Security a half dozen agencies or parts of them, including Coast
Guard, Customs Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the
Immigration and Naturalization Service's Border Patrol.

In addition, it would create within the White House a National Office
for Combating Terrorism, which also would be accountable to Congress.

Copyright 2002, Reuters News Service

 
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