{
  "id": "RL31421",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL31421",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101252,
      "date": "2002-05-20",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:10:13.644941",
      "title": "Homeland Security Office: Issues and Options",
      "summary": "President George W. Bush created the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) within the Executive\nOffice of the President after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a federal focal point for\ncoordinating domestic efforts against terrorism. Former Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, a\nclose friend and political ally of the President, was appointed to head the OHS. Such a high-level\nunit, it was hoped, could bring direction and coherence to federal homeland security-related activities\nthat were spread among more than 40 different departments and agencies. Yet OHS has been\ncontroversial almost since its inception. Despite some high-profile results such as highlighting\npriorities in the President's FY2003 budget and negotiating a border security accord with Canada,\nOHS remains very much an organizational work in progress--one seeking to carve out a unique\nidentity and mission. Critics have focused on the Office's informal structure and special relationship\nwith the White House, its lack of statutory authority, the essentially domestic focus of its activities,\nits alleged duplication of coordination mechanisms already in place, and its inability to exert direct\ncontrol over federal programs and budgets. Proposals have been introduced in Congress, in the\nAdministration and in various think tanks for reorganizing OHS, reshaping its mandate, or replacing\nit with an entirely new federal agency. Whether the Office will continue to exist in its present form\nis by no means assured; ultimately, its future character may well be influenced less by its ability to\ncoordinate the federal terrorism response than by its ability to create a new dialogue on anti-terrorism\ncoordination between federal authorities and their state and local counterparts.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31421",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "Science and Technology Policy"
  ]
}