GIVE RIDGE THE POWERS 'DRUG CZAR' DOESN'T HAVE

For the nation's new "terrorism czar" to succeed, the nation will have to
do things differently than we have with the position Congress created to
fight another shadowy war -- the "drug czar."

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge is President Bush's choice to lead a new White
House Office of Homeland Security. The governor's task is to ensure that
the United States has the ability to prevent and protect against all forms
of attack on American soil and respond to attacks if prevention fails.

As with drug enforcement, responsibility for internal security is diffused,
spread among 40 federal bureaus and offices of 20 agencies.

Gov. Ridge must have the authority, as the Director of National Drug
Control Policy does not, to reorganize them to focus on the scale of the
threat.

That may mean creating a new agency, and the Commission on National
Security in the 21st Century offers one model.

The commission, which former Sens. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., and Gary Hart,
D-Colo., led, submitted its final report in February after studying
terrorism for three years.

Members propose a new structure that can plan, coordinate and oversee the
various agencies involved in homeland security.

Building on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the commission's plan
adds the Customs Service, Border Patrol and Coast Guard while keeping them
as individual entities.

The new agency would oversee protection of the nation's electrical
utilities, water and sewage systems, transportation networks and
communications and energy systems.

It would include a National Crisis Action Center to monitor emergencies and
coordinate with state and local governments. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.,
and Rep. William Thornberry, R-Texas, say they will introduce legislation
creating such a super-agency.

President Bush says Gov. Ridge will be a Cabinet-level officer, which is
appropriate. As such, the position should require Senate confirmation.
Already, some are calling him an "anti-terrorism czar." Lack of control
over government agencies, however, could hobble him just as it has hobbled
the nation's drug czars.

Gen. Barry McCaffrey, drug czar during the Clinton administration, warns
that unless Gov. Ridge has the necessary power, he could become mainly a
speaker's bureau for anti-terrorism efforts.

Terrorist attacks can take many forms, including the use of biological and
chemical weapons of mass destruction. Gov. Ridge thus will have to
strengthen public health systems and increase training of hospital workers
and investment in equipment to detect new threats.

He will have to create clear lines of communication with the CIA, FBI and
other intelligence sources and improve visa controls.

Each year, thousands of people who enter the country with temporary visas
never go home, and no centralized computer system exists to track them.
Last year, 4.5 million people received visas for tourism, business or
study. Others slip in because the Border Patrol, short of money, shifts
resources to the political hot spot of the moment.

Congress provided $9.7 billion this year to battle terrorism, but it's
dispersed over many agencies.

Twelve years ago, after Congress declared "war" on illegal drugs, the first
President Bush named the first drug czar. Few would argue that the position
has had any major beneficial impact on winning the "drug war." Unless Gov.
Ridge gets the kind of authority and money the Rudman-Hart report lays out,
the battle report from the nation's "war" on terrorism won't be much better.