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CNN Live Today

President Bush Unveils Roadmap to Homeland Security

Aired July 16, 2002 - 13:05   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush today unveiled his roadmap to homeland security. From new driver's license rules to bioterror response teams, it's all laid out in this 71-page booklet.

CNN's Kelly Wallace has a copy, and she joins us now from the White House. I don't think she will read the entire book, but a glimpse into what it has to say.

Hi, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. I hope you don't quiz me on all 67 pages.

PHILLIPS: Yes, page 62, paragraph three.

WALLACE: I'll get back to you on that. How about that?

You know, here it is of course. And it is a lengthy booklet, really going over this administration's idea about how to protect the United States. The centerpiece, though, something the president unveiled last month, creating the new mega federal agency, merging the work of some 22 different federal departments to focus on homeland security. And so the president used an appearance in the Rose Garden with Republican and Democrats to highlight the importance of this new Department of Homeland Security.

It has a lot of support on Capitol Hill, although some lawmakers have raised some questions, for example, questioning whether the Coast Guard should be part of this new agency. In his comments, the president put a focus on the big picture. He said protecting the U.S. will not only require sacrifices by the federal government, but also by state and local officials.

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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And today, I'm sending to Congress our new national strategy for homeland security. This comprehensive plan lays out clear lines of authority and clear responsibilities -- responsibilities for federal employees and for governors and mayors and community and business leaders and the American citizens. With a better picture of those responsibilities, all of us can direct money and manpower to meet them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: And a couple of ideas for what states might have to do, setting minimum standards for state driver's licenses. The administration would also like to see states make terrorism insurance more available, and also reviewing the authority and the procedures under way in the case of any quarantine, in the case of any biological attack.

And then there's something else, the federal government looking at creating so-called red teams. These would be the intelligence experts who would go around the country almost acting like terrorists to try and find a vulnerability that exist in the country.

Of course, Kyra, a big question how much will this all cost? This administration continues to say that this new Department of Homeland Security should not cost any additional money. It's basically merging the budgets of all those departments.

Lawmakers disagree. They think it will cost a lot more money, and they think it should. The debate continues. The hope is that some passage could happen this fall to get this department up and running by January -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kelly Wallace, thank you.

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