"Homeland Security" chief seeks more tax funds for agents & programs (11/23/2001)

Josey1

Homeland chief seeks funds for agents, programs By ALISON MITCHELL The New York Times WASHINGTON - Tom Ridge, the director of homeland security, said Wednesday that he would seek substantial spending increases in President Bush's next budget, placing a priority on new agents and equipment for strapped federal law enforcement agencies and urgent improvements in public health centers.In the wake of the anthrax attacks that have perplexed investigators, Ridge cited a need to "immediately upgrade" the nation's public health system by financing more laboratories, training more epidemiologists and ensuring that every region has a "minimum capacity" to handle various situations of bioterror."We need to be stronger," Ridge said. "We need to be larger. We need to be better." He said that he thought that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had responded well to the anthrax crisis, but he also saw a system that needed "to grow and be more flexible."He also indicated that he would take a hard look at existing lines of authority across the government. "I think we'll look at it up and down," he said, raising the possibility that the overlapping agencies that police the nation's air and water, borders and food supply could be merged or reshaped.In an interview in his White House office, Ridge said he had not decided how many more federal workers are needed or the precise sums he wants for homeland security."It begins with 'b' and ends with 's,' " he said, signaling billions. "It's a lot."The interview was the first time in Ridge's tumultuous six weeks in his new job that he had spoken broadly about his priorities for next year.His influence over the president's new budget will test his ability to put a stamp on agency budgets and missions.Ridge said that law enforcement agencies such as the Coast Guard, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency need new workers to handle standard tasks that had been put aside or downgraded in importance.Ridge, the former governor of Pennsylvania who campaigned at Bush's side when the president ran against big government, acknowledged with some self-deprecation the oddity of now being an apostle of a more robust federal government."I was the governor who used to argue devolution," he said with a grin. "Hey, remember me? 'Trust the states.' "But he said the federal government's mission had changed on Sept. 11 and he invoked the preamble of the Constitution, which speaks of providing for the "common defense." http://web.star-telegram.com/content/fortworth/2001/11/22/topstory/fw010101-1122-XA006-1.htm