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CNN Live At Daybreak

Broad Support in Washington for President's Homeland Security Agency Proposal

Aired June 07, 2002 - 06:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, there appears to be broad support in Washington for the president's Homeland Security agency proposal.

Our Jonathan Karl tells us about that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The immediate reaction on Capitol Hill was overwhelmingly positive.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: The news that the president is going to be moving for a cabinet officer for homeland defense is very, very good news.

KARL: Democrats were quick to point out that they are the ones who have been pushing for a Department of Homeland Security, while the White House, until now, has resisted the idea.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: I congratulate the president for -- if this is a change, which it is from where he was, I congratulate him for making it, because I think it's in the interest of the security of every citizen of America.

KARL: Before announcing the plan, the president met privately late Wednesday with the two top Republicans in Congress to assure them the new department would not expand the federal bureaucracy.

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R-MS), MINORITY LEADER: My hope is that it could actually lead to some savings with the efficiencies and the lack of duplication that -- or reduction of duplication.

KARL: Despite the early signs of broad support, getting the president's proposal through Congress will be a monumental task, a point underscored by this chart included in the plan; 88 committees and subcommittees can claim jurisdiction over homeland defense, from the powerful Appropriations Committees to the House Agricultural Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture.

REP. JANE HARMAN (D), INTELLIGENCE CMTE.: I would say that the war on terrorism has just expanded to the war on turf.

KARL: Although the president wants the new department in place by the end of the year, the Senate has only 60 legislative days left, the House on 50 days, making it extremely difficult to meet that deadline.

Representative David Obey, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, was one of the few to criticize the plan, accusing the president of using it to distract attention from the embarrassing revelations about pre-September 11 intelligence foul-ups.

REP. DAVID OBEY (D), WISCONSIN: I am not sure these changes are massive. I am not sure these changes mean much of anything. I think they will attract attention, so that you don't have attention focused on the problems that have been talked about the last week.

KARL (on camera): Senator Ted Kennedy also reacted skeptically, suggesting improving existing agencies may make more sense right now than creating a new one. Kennedy told reporters, the question is whether shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic is the way to go.

Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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