To Be a Major Homeland Security Announcement
RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush will announce a major restructuring of homeland security programs as Congress investigates intelligence lapses prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, The Associated Press has learned.
The package, to be unveiled by Bush Thursday night, includes creation of an agency to act as a clearinghouse for terrorism intelligence, according to several White House officials who called the effort one of the biggest restructuring efforts since World War II.
The White House will ask television networks to broadcast the speech.
The new agency is part of the package put together by Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, officials said. It will supplement efforts of the FBI, the CIA and other intelligence agencies, not replace them, the officials said.
The idea is to have one office that helps the intelligence agencies analyze the data they gather.
The announcement comes as Congress gears up its investigation into potential security lapses prior to Sept. 11. FBI Director Robert Mueller was to testify Thursday about the agency’s failure to anticipate the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The White House has stepped up efforts in recent days to shield Bush from criticism that his administration did not do enough to prevent the attacks. Bush’s announcement is designed in part to steal some attention from the congressional hearings, White House officials said.
Bush, who had expressed support for the FBI and CIA in the early days of the controversy, acknowledged for the first time this week that the agencies failed to communicate adequately. But he said there was no evidence that better communication could have prevented the attacks.
Mueller conceded for the first time recently that a better analysis of warning signs might have prevented the attacks.
Ridge, a former Pennsylvania governor, has been working on a restructuring proposal since his appointment last fall _ meeting heavy resistance from law enforcement and intelligence bureaucracies.
One senior White House official familiar with the tightly held plan said the proposal will include elements of Ridge’s push to consolidate border-security agencies.