Bush proposes larger homeland defense

WASHINGTON -- Stung by intelligence failures, President Bush called on Congress Thursday night to remake the government with a terrorist-fighting Department of Homeland Security, warning that "thousands of trained killers are plotting to attack us."

Congress welcomed the proposal, even as lawmakers intensified their inquiry into lapses before the Sept. 11 attacks, hearing from the FBI director as well as a whistle-blower who complained about the agency's stifling bureaucracy

In a nationally broadcast address, Bush acknowledged that "suspicions and insights of some of our front-line agents did not get enough attention" and he urged employees of the CIA, FBI and other intelligence agencies to report anything that raises concerns.

"We need to know when warnings were missed or signs unheeded -- not to point the finger of blame, but to make sure we correct any problems, and prevent them from happening again," the president said in his 13-minute address.

The new Department of Homeland Security would inherit 169,000 employees and $37.4 billion in budgets from the agencies it would absorb, including the Secret Service, the Coast Guard and the embattled immigration and customs services. The White House said it was the biggest government overhaul in a half-century.

Bush spoke from a lectern placed in the threshold of the White House's Blue Room, with Washington's stormy evening sky visible through the window over his shoulder -- a fittingly gloomy setting for his words of warning.

"America is leading the civilized world in a titanic struggle against terror," the president said, a small American flag pin on his lapel. "Freedom and fear are at war -- and freedom is winning."

Homeland security adviser Tom Ridge, who aides say is virtually certain to be Bush's nominee to head the Cabinet post, conducted a blitz of TV interviews after the presidential speech.

"We're asking the country to do a big thing at a time of crisis and I believe they're going to do it," Ridge said.

Bush hopes to have the department in place by Jan. 1.

The new department would have four divisions:

Border Transportation and Security, which would take over the Immigration and Naturalization Service from the Department of Justice, the Customs Service from Treasury and the Coast Guard from the Department of Transportation.

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection, which would draw from several agencies including the FBI and CIA to fuse and analyze information about potential threats.

Emergency Preparedness and Response, which would include FEMA, now an independent agency.

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures, which would take over the Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California. The departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture would lose divisions to this office, which would prepare the country for a full range of terrorist threats.