national strategy for

homeland

security

office of homeland security

july 2002
national strategy for

homeland

security

office of homeland security

july 2002
My fellow Americans:

Since September 11, 2001, our Nation has taken great strides to improve homeland security.

Citizens, industry, and government leaders from across the political spectrum have cooperated

to a degree rarely seen in American history. Congress has passed important laws that have

strengthened the ability of our law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute terrorists

and those who support them. We have formed a global coalition that has defeated terrorists

and their supporters in Afghanistan and other parts of the world. More than 60,000 American

troops are deployed around the world in the war on terrorism. We have strengthened our

aviation security and tightened our borders. We have stockpiled medicines to defend against

bioterrorism and improved our ability to combat weapons of mass destruction. We have

improved information sharing among our intelligence agencies, and we have taken important

steps to protect our critical infrastructure.

We are today a Nation at risk to a new and changing threat. The terrorist threat to America

takes many forms, has many places to hide, and is often invisible. Yet the need for homeland

security is not tied solely to today’s terrorist threat. The need for homeland security is tied to

our enduring vulnerability. Terrorists wish to attack us and exploit our vulnerabilities because of

the freedoms we hold dear.

The U.S. government has no more important mission than protecting the homeland from future

terrorist attacks. Yet the country has never had a comprehensive and shared vision of how best

to achieve this goal. On October 8, I established the Office of Homeland Security within the

White House and, as its first responsibility, directed it to produce the first National Strategy for

Homeland Security.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security is the product of more than eight months of intense

consultation across the United States. My Administration has talked to literally thousands of

people–governors and mayors, state legislators and Members of Congress, concerned citizens

and foreign leaders, professors and soldiers, firefighters and police officers, doctors and scientists, airline pilots and farmers, business leaders and civic activists, journalists and veterans, and

the victims and their families. We have listened carefully. This is a national strategy, not a

federal strategy.

We must rally our entire society to overcome a new and very complex challenge. Homeland

security is a shared responsibility. In addition to a national strategy, we need compatible,

the white house

washington
mutually supporting state, local, and private-sector strategies. Individual volunteers must

channel their energy and commitment in support of the national and local strategies. My

intent in publishing the National Strategy for Homeland Security is to help Americans achieve a

shared cooperation in the area of homeland security for years to come. The Strategy seeks to do

so by answering four basic questions:

• What is “homeland security” and what missions does it entail?

• What do we seek to accomplish, and what are the most important goals of homeland

security?

• What is the federal executive branch doing now to accomplish these goals and what should it

do in the future?

• What should non-federal governments, the private sector, and citizens do to help secure the

homeland?

The National Strategy for Homeland Security is a beginning. It calls for bold and necessary steps.

It creates a comprehensive plan for using America’s talents and resources to enhance our

protection and reduce our vulnerability to terrorist attacks. We have produced a comprehensive

national strategy that is based on the principles of cooperation and partnership. As a result of

this Strategy, firefighters will be better equipped to fight fires, police officers better armed to

fight crime, businesses better able to protect their data and information systems, and scientists

better able to fight Mother Nature’s deadliest diseases. We will not achieve these goals

overnight... but we will achieve them.

Our enemy is smart and resolute. We are smarter and more resolute. We will prevail against all

who believe they can stand in the way of America’s commitment to freedom, liberty, and our

way of life.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE

July 16, 2002
THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY v

Table of Contents

Executive Summary.................................................................................................................vii

Introduction...............................................................................................................................1

Threat and Vulnerability ...........................................................................................................7

Organizing for a Secure Homeland.........................................................................................11

Critical Mission Areas

Intelligence and Warning ........................................................................................................15

Border and Transportation Security ........................................................................................21

Domestic Counterterrorism ....................................................................................................25

Protecting Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets..................................................................29

Defending against Catastrophic Threats .................................................................................37

Emergency Preparedness and Response ..................................................................................41

Foundations

Law..........................................................................................................................................47

Science and Technology ..........................................................................................................51

Information Sharing and Systems...........................................................................................55

International Cooperation .......................................................................................................59

Costs of Homeland Security ...................................................................................................63

Conclusion: Priorities for the Future.......................................................................................67

Acronyms.................................................................................................................................71

Appendix: September 11 and America’s Response ...............................................................A-1
This document is the first National Strategy for

Homeland Security. The purpose of the Strategy is to

mobilize and organize our Nation to secure the U.S.

homeland from terrorist attacks. This is an exceedingly

complex mission that requires coordinated and focused

effort from our entire society—the federal government,

state and local governments, the private sector, and the

American people.1

People and organizations all across the United States

have taken many steps to improve our security since

the September 11 attacks, but a great deal of work

remains. The National Strategy for Homeland Security

will help to prepare our Nation for the work ahead in

several ways. It provides direction to the federal

government departments and agencies that have a role

in homeland security. It suggests steps that state and

local governments, private companies and organizations, and individual Americans can take to improve

our security and offers incentives for them to do so. It

recommends certain actions to the Congress. In this

way, the Strategy provides a framework for the contributions that we all can make to secure our homeland.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security is the

beginning of what will be a long struggle to protect our

Nation from terrorism. It establishes a foundation

upon which to organize our efforts and provides initial

guidance to prioritize the work ahead. The Strategy will

be adjusted and amended over time. We must be

prepared to adapt as our enemies in the war on

terrorism alter their means of attack.

Strategic Objectives

The strategic objectives of homeland security in order

of priority are to:

• Prevent terrorist attacks within the United States;

• Reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism; and

• Minimize the damage and recover from attacks that

do occur.

Threat and Vulnerability

Unless we act to prevent it, a new wave of terrorism,

potentially involving the world’s most destructive

weapons, looms in America’s future. It is a challenge as

formidable as any ever faced by our Nation. But we are

not daunted. We possess the determination and the

resources to defeat our enemies and secure our

homeland against the threats they pose.

One fact dominates all homeland security threat

assessments: terrorists are strategic actors. They choose

their targets deliberately based on the weaknesses they

observe in our defenses and our preparedness. We must

defend ourselves against a wide range of means and

methods of attack. Our enemies are working to obtain

chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons

for the purpose of wreaking unprecedented damage on

America. Terrorists continue to employ conventional

means of attack, while at the same time gaining

expertise in less traditional means, such as cyber

attacks. Our society presents an almost infinite array of

potential targets that can be attacked through a variety

of methods.

Our enemies seek to remain invisible, lurking in the

shadows. We are actively engaged in uncovering them.

Al-Qaeda remains America’s most immediate and

serious threat despite our success in disrupting its

network in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Other international terrorist organizations, as well as domestic

terrorist groups, possess the will and capability to

attack the United States.

Organizing for a Secure Homeland

In response to the homeland security challenge facing

us, the President has proposed, and the Congress is

presently considering, the most extensive reorganization of the federal government in the past fifty years.

The establishment of a new Department of Homeland

Security would ensure greater accountability over

critical homeland security missions and unity of

purpose among the agencies responsible for them.2

American democracy is rooted in the precepts of federalism—a system of government in which our state

governments share power with federal institutions. Our

structure of overlapping federal, state, and local governance—our country has more than 87,000 different

jurisdictions—provides unique opportunity and

challenges for our homeland security efforts. The

opportunity comes from the expertise and commitment

of local agencies and organizations involved in

homeland security. The challenge is to develop interconnected and complementary systems that are

reinforcing rather than duplicative and that ensure

essential requirements are met. A national strategy

requires a national effort.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y vii

Executive Summary
State and local governments have critical roles to play

in homeland security. Indeed, the closest relationship

the average citizen has with government is at the local

level. State and local levels of government have

primary responsibility for funding, preparing, and

operating the emergency services that would respond

in the event of a terrorist attack. Local units are the

first to respond, and the last to leave the scene. All

disasters are ultimately local events.

The private sector—the Nation’s principal provider of

goods and services and owner of 85 percent of our

infrastructure—is a key homeland security partner. It

has a wealth of information that is important to the

task of protecting the United States from terrorism. Its

creative genius will develop the information systems,

vaccines, detection devices, and other technologies and

innovations that will secure our homeland.

An informed and proactive citizenry is an invaluable

asset for our country in times of war and peace.

Volunteers enhance community coordination and

action, whether at the national or local level. This

coordination will prove critical as we work to build the

communication and delivery systems indispensable to

our national effort to detect, prevent, and, if need be,

respond to terrorist attack.

Critical Mission Areas

The National Strategy for Homeland Security aligns and

focuses homeland security functions into six critical

mission areas: intelligence and warning, border and

transportation security, domestic counterterrorism,

protecting critical infrastructure, defending against

catastrophic terrorism, and emergency preparedness

and response. The first three mission areas focus

primarily on preventing terrorist attacks; the next two

on reducing our Nation’s vulnerabilities; and the final

one on minimizing the damage and recovering from

attacks that do occur. The Strategy provides a

framework to align the resources of the federal budget

directly to the task of securing the homeland.

Intelligence and Warning. Terrorism depends on

surprise. With it, a terrorist attack has the potential to

do massive damage to an unwitting and unprepared

target. Without it, the terrorists stand a good chance of

being preempted by authorities, and even if they are

not, the damage that results from their attacks is likely

to be less severe. The United States will take every

necessary action to avoid being surprised by another

terrorist attack. We must have an intelligence and

warning system that can detect terrorist activity before

it manifests itself in an attack so that proper

preemptive, preventive, and protective action can be

taken.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

five major initiatives in this area:

• Enhance the analytic capabilities of the FBI;

• Build new capabilities through the Information

Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Division of

the proposed Department of Homeland Security;

• Implement the Homeland Security Advisory

System;

• Utilize dual-use analysis to prevent attacks; and

• Employ “red team” techniques.

Border and Transportation Security. America historically

has relied heavily on two vast oceans and two friendly

neighbors for border security, and on the private sector

for most forms of domestic transportation security. The

increasing mobility and destructive potential of modern

terrorism has required the United States to rethink and

renovate fundamentally its systems for border and

transportation security. Indeed, we must now begin to

conceive of border security and transportation security

as fully integrated requirements because our domestic

transportation systems are inextricably intertwined

with the global transport infrastructure. Virtually every

community in America is connected to the global

transportation network by the seaports, airports,

highways, pipelines, railroads, and waterways that

move people and goods into, within, and out of the

Nation. We must therefore promote the efficient and

reliable flow of people, goods, and services across

borders, while preventing terrorists from using transportation conveyances or systems to deliver implements

of destruction.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

six major initiatives in this area:

• Ensure accountability in border and transportation

security;

• Create “smart borders”;

• Increase the security of international shipping

containers;

• Implement the Aviation and Transportation

Security Act of 2001;

• Recapitalize the U.S. Coast Guard; and

• Reform immigration services.

The President proposed to Congress that the principal

border and transportation security agencies—the

Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S.

Customs Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Animal

and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the

viii THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY
Transportation Security Agency—be transferred to the

new Department of Homeland Security. This 

organizational reform will greatly assist in the 

implementation of all the above initiatives.

Domestic Counterterrorism. The attacks of September 11

and the catastrophic loss of life and property that

resulted have redefined the mission of federal, state,

and local law enforcement authorities. While law

enforcement agencies will continue to investigate and

prosecute criminal activity, they should now assign

priority to preventing and interdicting terrorist activity

within the United States. The Nation’s state and local

law enforcement officers will be critical in this effort.

Our Nation will use all legal means—both traditional

and nontraditional—to identify, halt, and, where

appropriate, prosecute terrorists in the United States.

We will pursue not only the individuals directly

involved in terrorist activity but also their sources of

support: the people and organizations that knowingly

fund the terrorists and those that provide them with

logistical assistance.

Effectively reorienting law enforcement organizations

to focus on counterterrorism objectives requires

decisive action in a number of areas. The National

Strategy for Homeland Security identifies six major

initiatives in this area:

• Improve intergovernmental law enforcement 

coordination;

• Facilitate apprehension of potential terrorists;

• Continue ongoing investigations and prosecutions;

• Complete FBI restructuring to emphasize

prevention of terrorist attacks;

• Target and attack terrorist financing; and

• Track foreign terrorists and bring them to justice.

Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets. Our

society and modern way of life are dependent on

networks of infrastructure—both physical networks

such as our energy and transportation systems and

virtual networks such as the Internet. If terrorists

attack one or more pieces of our critical infrastructure,

they may disrupt entire systems and cause significant

damage to the Nation. We must therefore improve

protection of the individual pieces and interconnecting

systems that make up our critical infrastructure.

Protecting America’s critical infrastructure and key

assets will not only make us more secure from terrorist

attack, but will also reduce our vulnerability to natural

disasters, organized crime, and computer hackers.

America’s critical infrastructure encompasses a large

number of sectors. The U.S. government will seek to

deny terrorists the opportunity to inflict lasting harm

to our Nation by protecting the assets, systems, and

functions vital to our national security, governance,

public health and safety, economy, and national morale.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

eight major initiatives in this area:

• Unify America’s infrastructure protection effort in

the Department of Homeland Security;

• Build and maintain a complete and accurate

assessment of America’s critical infrastructure and

key assets;

• Enable effective partnership with state and local

governments and the private sector;

• Develop a national infrastructure protection plan;

• Secure cyberspace;

• Harness the best analytic and modeling tools to

develop effective protective solutions;

• Guard America’s critical infrastructure and key

assets against “inside” threats; and

• Partner with the international community to protect

our transnational infrastructure.

Defending against Catastrophic Threats. The expertise,

technology, and material needed to build the most

deadly weapons known to mankind—including

chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons

—are spreading inexorably. If our enemies acquire

these weapons, they are likely to try to use them. The

consequences of such an attack could be far more

devastating than those we suffered on September 11—

a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear terrorist

attack in the United States could cause large numbers

of casualties, mass psychological disruption, contamination and significant economic damage, and could

overwhelm local medical capabilities.

Currently, chemical, biological, radiological, and

nuclear detection capabilities are modest and response

capabilities are dispersed throughout the country at

every level of government. While current arrangements

have proven adequate for a variety of natural disasters

and even the September 11 attacks, the threat of

terrorist attacks using chemical, biological, radiological,

and nuclear weapons requires new approaches, a

focused strategy, and a new organization.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

six major initiatives in this area:

• Prevent terrorist use of nuclear weapons through

better sensors and procedures;

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y ix
x THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY

• Detect chemical and biological materials and

attacks;

• Improve chemical sensors and decontamination

techniques;

• Develop broad spectrum vaccines, antimicrobials,

and antidotes;

• Harness the scientific knowledge and tools to

counter terrorism; and

• Implement the Select Agent Program.

Emergency Preparedness and Response. We must prepare

to minimize the damage and recover from any future

terrorist attacks that may occur despite our best efforts

at prevention. An effective response to a major terrorist

incident—as well as a natural disaster—depends on

being prepared. Therefore, we need a comprehensive

national system to bring together and coordinate all

necessary response assets quickly and effectively. We

must plan, equip, train, and exercise many different

response units to mobilize without warning for any

emergency.

Many pieces of this national emergency response

system are already in place. America’s first line of

defense in the aftermath of any terrorist attack is its

first responder community—police officers, firefighters,

emergency medical providers, public works personnel,

and emergency management officials. Nearly three

million state and local first responders regularly put

their lives on the line to save the lives of others and

make our country safer.

Yet multiple plans currently govern the federal

government’s support of first responders during an

incident of national significance. These plans and the

government’s overarching policy for counterterrorism

are based on an artificial and unnecessary distinction

between “crisis management” and “consequence

management.” Under the President’s proposal, the

Department of Homeland Security will consolidate

federal response plans and build a national system for

incident management in cooperation with state and

local government. Our federal, state, and local governments would ensure that all response personnel and

organizations are properly equipped, trained, and

exercised to respond to all terrorist threats and attacks

in the United States. Our emergency preparedness and

response efforts would also engage the private sector

and the American people.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

twelve major initiatives in this area:

• Integrate separate federal response plans into a

single all-discipline incident management plan;

• Create a national incident management system;

• Improve tactical counterterrorist capabilities;

• Enable seamless communication among all

responders;

• Prepare health care providers for catastrophic

terrorism;

• Augment America’s pharmaceutical and vaccine

stockpiles;

• Prepare for chemical, biological, radiological, and

nuclear decontamination;

• Plan for military support to civil authorities;

• Build the Citizen Corps;

• Implement the First Responder Initiative of the

Fiscal Year 2003 Budget;

• Build a national training and evaluation system; and

• Enhance the victim support system.

The Foundations of Homeland Security

The National Strategy for Homeland Security also

describes four foundations—unique American

strengths that cut across all of the mission areas, across

all levels of government, and across all sectors of our

society. These foundations—law, science and

technology, information sharing and systems, and

international cooperation—provide a useful framework

for evaluating our homeland security investments

across the federal government.

Law. Throughout our Nation’s history, we have used

laws to promote and safeguard our security and our

liberty. The law will both provide mechanisms for the

government to act and will define the appropriate

limits of action.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security outlines

legislative actions that would help enable our country

to fight the war on terrorism more effectively. New

federal laws should not preempt state law unnecessarily

or overly federalize the war on terrorism. We should

guard scrupulously against incursions on our freedoms.

The Strategy identifies twelve major initiatives in this

area:

Federal level

• Enable critical infrastructure information sharing;

• Streamline information sharing among intelligence

and law enforcement agencies;
• Expand existing extradition authorities;

• Review authority for military assistance in domestic

security;

• Revive the President’s reorganization authority; and

• Provide substantial management flexibility for the

Department of Homeland Security.

State level

• Coordinate suggested minimum standards for state

driver’s licenses;

• Enhance market capacity for terrorism insurance;

• Train for prevention of cyber attacks;

• Suppress money laundering;

• Ensure continuity of the judiciary; and

• Review quarantine authorities.

Science and Technology. The Nation’s advantage in

science and technology is a key to securing the

homeland. New technologies for analysis, information

sharing, detection of attacks, and countering chemical,

biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons will help

prevent and minimize the damage from future terrorist

attacks. Just as science has helped us defeat past

enemies overseas, so too will it help us defeat the

efforts of terrorists to attack our homeland and disrupt

our way of life.

The federal government is launching a systematic

national effort to harness science and technology in

support of homeland security. We will build a national

research and development enterprise for homeland

security sufficient to mitigate the risk posed by modern

terrorism. The federal government will consolidate

most federally funded homeland security research and

development under the Department of Homeland

Security to ensure strategic direction and avoid

duplicative efforts. We will create and implement a

long-term research and development plan that includes

investment in revolutionary capabilities with high

payoff potential. The federal government will also seek

to harness the energy and ingenuity of the private

sector to develop and produce the devices and systems

needed for homeland security.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

eleven major initiatives in this area:

• Develop chemical, biological, radiological, and

nuclear countermeasures;

• Develop systems for detecting hostile intent;

• Apply biometric technology to identification devices;

• Improve the technical capabilities of first

responders;

• Coordinate research and development of the

homeland security apparatus;

• Establish a national laboratory for homeland

security;

• Solicit independent and private analysis for science

and technology research;

• Establish a mechanism for rapidly producing 

prototypes;

• Conduct demonstrations and pilot deployments;

• Set standards for homeland security technology; and

• Establish a system for high-risk, high-payoff

homeland security research.

Information Sharing and Systems. Information systems

contribute to every aspect of homeland security.

Although American information technology is the

most advanced in the world, our country’s information

systems have not adequately supported the homeland

security mission. Databases used for federal law

enforcement, immigration, intelligence, public health

surveillance, and emergency management have not

been connected in ways that allow us to comprehend

where information gaps or redundancies exist. In

addition, there are deficiencies in the communications

systems used by states and municipalities throughout

the country; most state and local first responders do

not use compatible communications equipment. To

secure the homeland better, we must link the vast

amounts of knowledge residing within each

government agency while ensuring adequate privacy.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

five major initiatives in this area:

• Integrate information sharing across the federal

government;

• Integrate information sharing across state and local

governments, private industry, and citizens;

• Adopt common “meta-data” standards for electronic

information relevant to homeland security;

• Improve public safety emergency communications;

and

• Ensure reliable public health information.

International Cooperation. In a world where the

terrorist threat pays no respect to traditional boundT H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y xi
aries, our strategy for homeland security cannot stop at

our borders. America must pursue a sustained,

steadfast, and systematic international agenda to

counter the global terrorist threat and improve our

homeland security. Our international anti-terrorism

campaign has made significant progress since

September 11. The full scope of these activities will be

further described in the forthcoming National Security

Strategy of the United States and the National Strategy

for Combating Terrorism. The National Strategy for

Homeland Security identifies nine major initiatives in

this area:

• Create “smart borders”;

• Combat fraudulent travel documents;

• Increase the security of international shipping

containers;

• Intensify international law enforcement cooperation;

• Help foreign nations fight terrorism;

• Expand protection of transnational critical 

infrastructure;

• Amplify international cooperation on homeland

security science and technology;

• Improve cooperation in response to attacks; and

• Review obligations to international treaties and law.

Costs of Homeland Security

The national effort to enhance homeland security will

yield tremendous benefits and entail substantial

financial and other costs. Benefits include reductions in

the risk of attack and their potential consequences.

Costs include not only the resources we commit to

homeland security but also the delays to commerce and

travel. The United States spends roughly $100 billion

per year on homeland security. This figure includes

federal, state, and local law enforcement and

emergency services, but excludes most funding for the

armed forces.

The responsibility of providing homeland security is

shared between federal, state and local governments,

and the private sector. In many cases, sufficient incentives exist in the private market to supply protection.

Government should fund only those homeland security

activities that are not supplied, or are inadequately

supplied, in the market. Cost sharing between different

levels of government should reflect the principles of

federalism. Many homeland security activities, such as

intelligence gathering and border security, are properly

accomplished at the federal level. In other circumstances, such as with first responder capabilities, it is

more appropriate for state and local governments to

handle these responsibilities.

Conclusion: Priorities for the Future

The National Strategy for Homeland Security sets a

broad and complex agenda for the United States. The

Strategy has defined many different goals that need to

be met, programs that need to be implemented, and

responsibilities that need to be fulfilled. But creating a

strategy is, in many respects, about setting priorities—

about recognizing that some actions are more critical

or more urgent than others.

The President’s Fiscal Year 2003 Budget proposal,

released in February 2002, identified four priority areas

for additional resources and attention in the upcoming

year:

• Support first responders;

• Defend against bioterrorism;

• Secure America’s borders; and

• Use 21st-century technology to secure the

homeland.

Work has already begun on the President’s Fiscal Year

2004 Budget. Assuming the Congress passes legislation

to implement the President’s proposal to create the

Department of Homeland Security, the Fiscal Year

2004 Budget will fully reflect the reformed organization of the executive branch for homeland security.

That budget will have an integrated and simplified

structure based on the six critical mission areas defined

by the Strategy. Furthermore, at the time the National

Strategy for Homeland Security was published, it was

expected that the Fiscal Year 2004 Budget would

attach priority to the following specific items for

substantial support:

• Enhance the analytic capabilities of the FBI;

• Build new capabilities through the Information

Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Division of

the proposed Department of Homeland Security;

• Create “smart borders”;

• Improve the security of international shipping

containers;

• Recapitalize the U.S. Coast Guard;

• Prevent terrorist use of nuclear weapons through

better sensors and procedures;

xii T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
• Develop broad spectrum vaccines, antimicrobials,

and antidotes; and

• Integrate information sharing across the federal

government.

In the intervening months, the executive branch will

prepare detailed implementation plans for these and

many other initiatives contained within the National

Strategy for Homeland Security. These plans will ensure

that the taxpayers’ money is spent only in a manner

that achieves specific objectives with clear

performance-based measures of effectiveness.

—————

1

The National Strategy for Homeland Security defines

“State” to mean “any state of the United States, the

District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,

Guam, American Samoa, the Canal Zone, the

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or

the trust territory of the Pacific Islands.” The Strategy

defines “local government” as “any county, city, village,

town, district, or other political subdivision of any

state, any Native American tribe or authorized tribal

organization, or Alaska native village or organization,

and includes any rural community or unincorporated

town or village or any other public entity for which an

application for assistance is made by a state or political

subdivision thereof.”

2

The distribution of the National Strategy for Homeland

Security coincides with Congress’ consideration of the

President’s proposal to establish a Department of

Homeland Security. The Strategy refers to a

“Department of Homeland Security” only to provide

the strategic vision for the proposed Department and

not to assume any one part of the President’s proposal

will or will not be signed into law.

THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY xiii
Our Nation learned a terrible lesson on September 11.

American soil is not immune to evil or cold-blooded

enemies capable of mass murder and terror. The worst

of these enemies—and target number one in our war

on terrorism—is the terrorist network Al-Qaeda. Yet

the threat to America is not limited to Al-Qaeda or to

suicide hijackings of commercial aircraft. The threat is

much broader, as we learned on October 4, 2001, when

we discovered that a life-threatening biological agent—

anthrax—was being distributed through the U.S. mail.

Unless we act to prevent it, a new wave of terrorism,

potentially involving the world’s most destructive

weapons, looms in America’s future. It is a challenge as

formidable as any ever faced by our Nation. But we are

not daunted. We possess the determination and the

resources to defeat our enemies and secure our

homeland against the threats they pose.

Today’s terrorists can strike at any place, at any time,

and with virtually any weapon. Securing the American

homeland is a challenge of monumental scale and

complexity. But the U.S. government has no more

important mission.

National Strategy for Homeland Security

This document is the first ever National Strategy for

Homeland Security. The purpose of the Strategy is to

mobilize and organize our Nation to secure the U.S.

homeland from terrorist attacks. This is an exceedingly

complex mission that requires coordinated and focused

effort from our entire society—the federal government,

state and local governments, the private sector, and the

American people.

People and organizations all across the United States

have taken many steps to improve our security since

the September 11 attacks, but a great deal of work

remains. The National Strategy for Homeland Security

will help prepare our Nation for the work ahead in

several ways. It provides direction to the federal

THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY 1

Introduction
government departments and agencies that have a role

in homeland security. It suggests steps that state and

local governments, private companies and organizations, and individual Americans can take to improve

our security, and offers incentives for them to do so. It

recommends certain actions to the Congress. In this

way, the Strategy provides a framework for the contributions that we all can make to secure our homeland.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security is the

beginning of what will be a long struggle to protect our

Nation from terrorism. It provides a foundation upon

which to organize our efforts and provides initial

guidance to prioritize the work ahead. The Strategy

will be adjusted and amended over time. We must be

prepared to adapt as our enemies in the war on

terrorism adjust their means of attack.

Homeland Security Defined

In the aftermath of September 11, “homeland security”

has come to mean many things to many people. It is a

new mission and a new term. The federal government

defines homeland security as follows:

Each phrase in the definition has meaning.

Concerted national effort. The federal government has a

critical role to play in homeland security. Yet the nature

of American society and the structure of American

governance make it impossible to achieve the goal of a

secure homeland through federal executive branch

action alone. The Administration’s approach to

homeland security is based on the principles of shared

responsibility and partnership with the Congress, state

and local governments, the private sector, and the

American people. The National Strategy for Homeland

Security belongs and applies to the Nation as a whole,

not just to the President’s proposed Department of

Homeland Security or the federal government.

Prevent. The first priority of homeland security is to

prevent terrorist attacks. The United States aims to

deter all potential terrorists from attacking America

through our uncompromising commitment to

defeating terrorism wherever it appears. We also strive

to detect terrorists before they strike, to prevent them

and their instruments of terror from entering our

country, and to take decisive action to eliminate the

threat they pose. These efforts—which will be

described in both the National Strategy for Homeland

Security and the National Strategy for Combating

Terrorism—take place both at home and abroad. The

nature of modern terrorism requires a global approach to

prevention.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security attaches

special emphasis to preventing, protecting against, and

preparing for catastrophic threats. The greatest risk of

mass casualties, massive property loss, and immense

social disruption comes from weapons of mass

destruction, strategic information warfare, attacks on

critical infrastructure, and attacks on the highest

leadership of government.

Terrorist attacks. Homeland security is focused on

terrorism in the United States. The National Strategy

for Homeland Security characterizes terrorism as any

premeditated, unlawful act dangerous to human life or

public welfare that is intended to intimidate or coerce

civilian populations or governments. This description

captures the core concepts shared by the various definitions of terrorism contained in the U.S. Code, each

crafted to achieve a legal standard of specificity and

clarity. This description covers kidnappings; hijackings;

shootings; conventional bombings; attacks involving

chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons;

cyber attacks; and any number of other forms of

malicious violence. Terrorists can be U.S. citizens or

foreigners, acting in concert with others, on their own,

or on behalf of a hostile state.

Reduce America’s vulnerability. Homeland security

involves a systematic, comprehensive, and strategic

effort to reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorist

attack. We must recognize that as a vibrant and

prosperous free society, we present an ever-evolving,

ever-changing target. As we shore up our defenses in

one area, the terrorists may exploit vulnerabilities in

others. The National Strategy for Homeland Security,

therefore, outlines a way for the government to work

with the private sector to identify and protect our

critical infrastructure and key assets, detect terrorist

threats, and augment our defenses.

Because we must not permit the threat of terrorism to

alter the American way of life, we have to accept some

level of terrorist risk as a permanent condition. We

must constantly balance the benefits of mitigating this

risk against both the economic costs and infringements

on individual liberty that this mitigation entails. No

mathematical formula can reveal the appropriate

balance; it must be determined by politically

accountable leaders exercising sound, considered

judgment informed by top-notch scientists, medical

experts, and engineers.

Definition

Homeland security is a concerted national

effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the

United States, reduce America’s vulnerability

to terrorism, and minimize the damage and

recover from attacks that do occur.

2 THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY
Minimize the damage. The United States will prepare

to manage the consequences of any future terrorist

attacks that may occur despite our best efforts at

prevention. Therefore, homeland security seeks to

improve the systems and prepare the individuals that

will respond to acts of terror. The National Strategy for

Homeland Security recognizes that after an attack

occurs, our greatest chance to minimize loss of life and

property lies with our local first responders—police

officers, firefighters, emergency medical providers,

public works personnel, and emergency management

officials. Many of our efforts to minimize the damage

focus on these brave and dedicated public servants.

Recover. As an essential component of homeland

security, the United States will build and maintain

various financial, legal, and social systems to recover

from all forms of terrorism. We must, therefore, be

prepared to protect and restore institutions needed to

sustain economic growth and confidence, rebuild

destroyed property, assist victims and their families,

heal psychological wounds, and demonstrate

compassion, recognizing that we cannot automatically

return to the pre-attack norm.

Principles of the National Strategy for

Homeland Security

Our efforts in the war on terrorism are rooted in the

same core American strengths and characteristics that

led us to victory in World War II and the Cold War:

innovation, determination, and commitment to the

democratic tenets of freedom and equality. With these

strengths and characteristics as our guide, eight

principles have shaped the design of the National

Strategy for Homeland Security.

Require responsibility and accountability. The National

Strategy for Homeland Security is focused on producing

results. When possible, it designates lead executive

branch departments or agencies for federal homeland

security initiatives. As the President announced on

June 6, 2002, the Strategy calls for creating the

Department of Homeland Security to clarify lines of

responsibility for homeland security in the executive

branch. The new Department would take responsibility

for many of the initiatives outlined here. The Strategy

also makes recommendations to Congress, state and

local governments, the private sector, and the

American people.

Mobilize our entire society. The National Strategy for

Homeland Security recognizes the crucial role of state

and local governments, private institutions, and the

American people in securing our homeland. Our traditions of federalism and limited government require

that organizations outside the federal government take

the lead in many of these efforts. The Strategy provides

guidance on best practices and organizing principles. It

also seeks to empower all key players by streamlining

and clarifying federal support processes.

Manage risk and allocate resources judiciously. The

National Strategy for Homeland Security identifies

priority programs for our finite homeland security

resources. Because the number of potential terrorist

acts is nearly infinite, we must make difficult choices

about how to allocate resources against those risks that

pose the greatest danger to our homeland. The

concluding chapter of the Strategy identifies a set of

priorities for the Fiscal Year 2004 Federal Budget.

Seek opportunity out of adversity. The National Strategy

for Homeland Security gives special attention to

programs that improve security while at the same time

advancing other important public purposes or

principles. We will build, for example, a national

incident management system that is better able to

manage not just terrorism but other hazards such as

natural disasters and industrial accidents. We will build

a medical system that is not simply better able to cope

with bioterrorism but with all diseases and all manner

of mass-casualty incidents. We will build a border

Objectives of the National Strategy 

for Homeland Security

Homeland security is an exceedingly complex

mission. It involves efforts both at home and

abroad. It demands a range of government and

private sector capabilities. And it calls for coordinated and focused effort from many actors who are

not otherwise required to work together and for

whom security is not always a primary mission.

This Strategy establishes three objectives based

on the definition of homeland security:

• Prevent terrorist attacks within the United

States;

• Reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism;

and

• Minimize the damage and recover from

attacks that do occur.

The order of these objectives deliberately sets 

priorities for America’s efforts to secure the

homeland.

THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY 3
management system that will not only stop terrorist

penetration but will also facilitate the efficient flow of

legitimate commerce and people.

Foster flexibility. The National Strategy for Homeland

Security emphasizes the need for a flexible response to

terrorism. The terrorist threat is ever-changing because

our terrorist enemies can strategically adapt their

offensive tactics to exploit what they perceive to be

weaknesses in our defenses. Therefore, the Strategy builds

managerial, budgetary, and structural flexibility into the

federal government’s homeland security structure and

suggests similar measures for the rest of the Nation. It

allows for the reassessment of priorities and the

realignment of resources as the terrorist threat evolves.

Measure preparedness. The National Strategy for

Homeland Security demands accountability from every

government body responsible for homeland security

initiatives. Every department or agency will create

benchmarks and other performance measures by which

we can evaluate our progress and allocate future

resources.

Sustain efforts over the long term. Protecting the

homeland from terrorist attack is a permanent mission.

Therefore, the National Strategy for Homeland Security

provides an initial set of initiatives for moving closer to

our homeland security objectives. Lead departments

and agencies should plan to sustain homeland security

initiatives for years and decades, not weeks and months.

Constrain government spending. The National Strategy

for Homeland Security does not equate more money

spent to more security earned. So in addition to new or

expanded federal programs, the Strategy also calls for

government reorganization, legal reform, essential

regulation, incentives, cost-sharing arrangements with

state and local governments, cooperative arrangements

with the private sector, and the organized involvement

of citizens. The Strategy recognizes that the capabilities

and laws we rely upon to defend America against

terrorism are closely linked to those which we rely upon

to deal with non-terrorist phenomena such as crime,

natural disease, natural disasters, and national security

incidents. The Strategy aims to build upon and improve

the coordination of these existing systems. It also seeks

to harness the extraordinary strength and creativity of

the private sector by allowing the market to solve

homeland security shortfalls whenever possible.

Implementing the National Strategy for

Homeland Security

The National Strategy for Homeland Security establishes,

for the first time in our Nation’s history, a statement of

objectives around which our entire society can mobilize

to secure the U.S. homeland from the dangerous and

evolving threat of terrorism.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security aligns and

focuses homeland security functions into six critical

mission areas: intelligence and warning, border and

transportation security, domestic counterterrorism,

protecting critical infrastructure and key assets, defending

against catastrophic terrorism, and emergency

preparedness and response. The first three mission areas

focus primarily on preventing terrorist attacks; the next

two on reducing our Nation’s vulnerabilities; and the final

one on minimizing the damage and recovering from

attacks that do occur. The Strategy includes the

President’s proposal to establish, for the first time, clear

responsibility and accountability for each of these critical

mission areas—most importantly, a Secretary of

Homeland Security who is appointed by the President

and confirmed by the Senate.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security provides,

for the first time, a framework to align the resources of

the federal budget directly to the task of securing the

homeland. Every homeland security dollar in the

President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2004 will correspond

with the strategy’s critical mission areas. The Strategy

also describes four foundations—unique American

strengths that cut across all of the mission areas, across

all levels of government, and across all sectors of our

society. These foundations—law, science and

technology, information sharing and systems, and

international cooperation—provide a useful framework

for evaluating our homeland security investments

across the federal government.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security is, however,

only a first step in a long-term effort to secure the

homeland. The federal executive branch will use a

variety of tools to implement the Strategy. The

Administration will work with Congress to craft future

federal homeland security budgets based on the

Strategy, providing every department and agency

involved in homeland security the required resources to

execute its responsibilities. Each lead department and

agency will plan and program to execute the initiatives

assigned by the National Strategy for Homeland Security.

Each department and agency will also be accountable

for its performance on homeland security efforts. The

federal government will employ performance

measures—and encourage the same for state and local

governments—to evaluate the effectiveness of each

homeland security program. These performance

measures will allow agencies to measure their progress,

make resource allocation decisions, and adjust priorities

accordingly.

4 THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY
Under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will play a central role in implementing the National Strategy for Homeland Security. In

addition to executing its assigned initiatives, the

Department would also serve as the primary federal

point of contact for state and local governments, the

private sector, and the American people. Working with

the White House, the Department therefore would

coordinate and support implementation of non-federal

tasks recommended in the Strategy.

Issuance of the Strategy overlaps with Congress’

consideration of the President’s proposal to establish

the Department. Recognizing that Congress alone can

create a new Department, references to a “Department

of Homeland Security” are intended only to provide

the strategic vision for the proposed Department.

THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY 5

Homeland Security and National Security

The Preamble to the Constitution defines our federal government’s basic purposes as “... to form a

more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense,

promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

The requirement to provide for the common defense remains as fundamental today as it was when

these words were written, more than two hundred years ago.

The National Security Strategy of the United States aims to guarantee the sovereignty and

independence of the United States, with our fundamental values and institutions intact. It provides

a framework for creating and seizing opportunities that strengthen our security and prosperity.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security complements the National Security Strategy of the

United States by addressing a very specific and uniquely challenging threat – terrorism in the

United States – and by providing a comprehensive framework for organizing the efforts of federal,

state, local and private organizations whose primary functions are often unrelated to national

security.

The link between national security and homeland security is a subtle but important one. For more

than six decades, America has sought to protect its own sovereignty and independence through a

strategy of global presence and engagement. In so doing, America has helped many other

countries and peoples advance along the path of democracy, open markets, individual liberty, and

peace with their neighbors. Yet there are those who oppose America’s role in the world, and who

are willing to use violence against us and our friends. Our great power leaves these enemies with

few conventional options for doing us harm. One such option is to take advantage of our freedom

and openness by secretly inserting terrorists into our country to attack our homeland. Homeland

security seeks to deny this avenue of attack to our enemies and thus to provide a secure foundation

for America’s ongoing global engagement. Thus the National Security Strategy of the United States

and National Strategy for Homeland Security work as mutually supporting documents, providing

guidance to the executive branch departments and agencies.

There are also a number of other, more specific strategies maintained by the United States that are

subsumed within the twin concepts of national security and homeland security. The National

Strategy for Combating Terrorism will define the U.S. war plan against international terrorism. The

National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction coordinates America’s many efforts to deny

terrorists and states the materials, technology, and expertise to make and deliver weapons of mass

destruction. The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace will describe our initiatives to secure our

information systems against deliberate, malicious disruption. The National Money Laundering

Strategy aims to undercut the illegal flows of money that support terrorism and international

criminal activity. The National Defense Strategy sets priorities for our most powerful national

security instrument. The National Drug Control Strategy lays out a comprehensive U.S. effort to

combat drug smuggling and consumption. All of these documents fit into the framework established by the National Security Strategy of the United States and National Strategy for Homeland

Security, which together take precedence over all other national strategies, programs, and plans.
6 THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY
The U.S. government has no higher purpose than to

ensure the security of our people and preserve our

democratic way of life. Terrorism directly threatens the

foundations of our Nation—our people, our democratic

way of life, and our economic prosperity. In the war on

terrorism, as in all wars, the more we know about our

enemy, the better able we are to defeat that enemy. The

more we know about our vulnerability, the better able

we are to protect ourselves.

One fact dominates all homeland security threat

assessments: terrorists are strategic actors. They choose

their targets deliberately based on the weaknesses they

observe in our defenses and our preparations. They can

balance the difficulty in successfully executing a

particular attack against the magnitude of loss it might

cause. They can monitor our media and listen to our

policymakers as our Nation discusses how to protect

itself—and adjust their plans accordingly. Where we

insulate ourselves from one form of attack, they can

shift and focus on another exposed vulnerability.

We remain a Nation at war. Even as we experience

success in the war on terrorism, the antipathy of our

enemies may well be increasing, and new enemies may

emerge. The United States will confront the threat of

terrorism for the foreseeable future.

Our Free Society Is Inherently Vulnerable

The American people and way of life are the primary

targets of our enemy, and our highest protective

priority. Our population and way of life are the source

of our Nation’s great strength, but also a source of

inherent vulnerability.

Our population is large, diverse, and highly mobile,

allowing terrorists to hide within our midst. Americans

congregate at schools, sporting arenas, malls, concert

halls, office buildings, high-rise residences, and places

THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY 7

Threat and Vulnerability
of worship, presenting targets with the potential for

many casualties. Much of America lives in densely

populated urban areas, making our major cities

conspicuous targets. Americans subsist on the produce

of farms in rural areas nationwide, making our

heartland a potential target for agroterrorism.

The responsibility of our government extends beyond

the physical well-being of the American people. We

must also safeguard our way of life, which involves five

key elements: democracy, liberties, security, economics,

and culture.

Democracy. Our way of life is both defined and

protected by our democratic political system. It is a

system anchored by the Constitution, which established a republic characterized by significant limits on

governmental power through a system of checks and

balances, a distribution of state and federal rights, and

an affirmation of the rights and freedoms of

individuals. Our democratic political system is transparent and accessible to the populace. It requires that

all actions adhere to the rule of law. And it relies on

the stability and continuity of our government, which

is ensured by constitutionally prescribed procedures

and powers.

Liberties. Liberty and freedom are fundamental to our

way of life. Freedom of expression, freedom of religion,

freedom of movement, property rights, freedom from

unlawful discrimination—these are all rights we are

guaranteed as Americans, and rights we will fight to

protect. Many have fought and died in order to

establish and protect these rights; we will not 

relinquish them.

Security. Our federal system was born, in part, out of a

need to “provide for the common defense.” Americans

have enjoyed great security from external threats, with

no hostile powers adjacent to our borders and insulated

from attack by two vast oceans. Our approach to

security has had both external and internal dimensions.

Externally, the United States has over the course of the

past six decades sought to shape the international

environment through strong global political, economic,

military, and cultural engagement. Internally, we have

relied primarily on law enforcement and the justice

system to provide for domestic peace and order.

Economy. Our country’s economy is based on a free

market system predicated on private ownership of

property and freedom of contract, with limited

government intervention. We ask our able population

to work for their individual prosperity, as our

government ensures that all have equal access to the

marketplace. Our formula for prosperity is one that has

succeeded: we are the most prosperous Nation in the

world.

Culture. The United States of America is an open,

welcoming, pluralistic, diverse society that engages in

dialogue rather than the dogmatic enforcement of any

one set of values or ideas. Our culture is also characterized by compassion and strong civic engagement.

The American Population

• An estimated 284.8 million people lived in

the United States on July 1, 2001

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce 

• 54.2% of the Nation’s population lives in

ten states – three in the Northeast, three in

the Midwest, three in the South, and one

in the West

• The average population density within the

United States is 79.2 people per square

mile of land 

• The average population density in metropolitan areas is 320.2 people per square

mile of land

• Over 225 million Americans live in metropolitan areas

• Nearly 85 million Americans live in metropolitan areas of 5 million people or more

• Each year, the United States admits 500

million people, including 330 million noncitizens, through our borders

Source: 2000 Census

• Over 4 million people were processed

through security at the last Olympics, over

85,000 at the last Super Bowl, and approximately 20,000 each at the Republican and

Democratic National Conventions.

Source: U.S. Secret Service

8 THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY
The Means of Attack

Terrorism is not so much a system of belief, like

fascism or communism, as it is a strategy and a tactic—

a means of attack. In this war on terrorism, we must

defend ourselves against a wide range of means and

methods of attack. Our enemies are working to obtain

chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons

for the stated purpose of killing vast numbers of

Americans. Terrorists continue to employ conventional

means of attack, such as bombs and guns. At the same

time, they are gaining expertise in less traditional

means, such as cyber attacks. Lastly, as we saw on

September 11, our terrorist enemies are constantly

seeking new tactics or unexpected ways to carry out

their attacks and magnify their effects.

Weapons of mass destruction. The knowledge,

technology, and materials needed to build weapons of

mass destruction are spreading. These capabilities have

never been more accessible and the trends are not in

our favor. If our terrorist enemies acquire these

weapons and the means to deliver them, they are likely

to try to use them, with potential consequences far more

devastating than those we suffered on September 11.

Terrorists may conceivably steal or obtain weapons of

mass destruction, weapons-usable fissile material, or

related technology from states with such capabilities.

Several state sponsors of terrorism already possess or

are working to develop weapons of mass destruction,

and could provide material or technical support to

terrorist groups.

Chemical weapons are extremely lethal and capable of

producing tens of thousands of casualties. They are also

relatively easy to manufacture, using basic equipment,

trained personnel, and precursor materials that often

have legitimate dual uses. As the 1995 Tokyo subway

attack revealed, even sophisticated nerve agents are

within the reach of terrorist groups.

Biological weapons, which release large quantities of

living, disease-causing microorganisms, have extraordinary lethal potential. Like chemical weapons,

biological weapons are relatively easy to manufacture,

requiring straightforward technical skills, basic

equipment, and a seed stock of pathogenic microorganisms. Biological weapons are especially dangerous

because we may not know immediately that we have

been attacked, allowing an infectious agent time to

spread. Moreover, biological agents can serve as a

means of attack against humans as well as livestock

and crops, inflicting casualties as well as economic

damage.

Radiological weapons, or “dirty bombs,” combine

radioactive material with conventional explosives. They

can cause widespread disruption and fear, particularly

in heavily populated areas.

Nuclear weapons have enormous destructive potential.

Terrorists who seek to develop a nuclear weapon must

overcome two formidable challenges. First, acquiring

or refining a sufficient quantity of fissile material is

very difficult—though not impossible. Second,

manufacturing a workable weapon requires a very high

degree of technical capability—though terrorists could

feasibly assemble the simplest type of nuclear device.

To get around these significant though not insurmountable challenges, terrorists could seek to steal or

purchase a nuclear weapon.

Conventional means. While we must prepare for

attacks that employ the most destructive weapons, we

must also defend against the tactics that terrorists

employ most frequently. Terrorists, both domestic and

international, continue to use traditional methods of

violence and destruction to inflict harm and spread

fear. They have used knives, guns, and bombs to kill

the innocent. They have taken hostages and spread

propaganda. Given the low expense, ready availability

of materials, and relatively high chance for successful

execution, terrorists will continue to make use of

conventional attacks.

Cyber attacks. Terrorists may seek to cause widespread

disruption and damage, including casualties, by

attacking our electronic and computer networks, which

are linked to other critical infrastructures such as our

energy, financial, and securities networks. Terrorist

groups are already exploiting new information

technology and the Internet to plan attacks, raise

funds, spread propaganda, collect information, and

communicate securely. As terrorists further develop

their technical capabilities and become more familiar

with potential targets, cyber attacks will become an

increasingly significant threat.

New or unexpected tactics. Our terrorist enemies are

constantly seeking new tactics or unexpected ways to

carry out attacks. They are continuously trying to find

new areas of vulnerability and apply lessons learned

from past operations in order to achieve surprise and

maximize the destructive effect of their next attack.

Our society presents an almost infinite array of

potential targets, allowing for an enormously wide

range of potential attack methods.

The Terrorists

Our enemies seek to remain invisible, lurking in the

shadows. We are taking aggressive action to uncover

individuals and groups engaged in terrorist activity, but

often we will not know who our enemy is by name

until after they have attempted to attack us. Therefore,

THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY 9
we must uncover more than just the identities of our

enemy. We need to analyze the characteristics shared

by terrorists to help us understand where our enemies

are weak and where they are strong.

Terrorists and their tactical advantages. Terrorists enjoy

certain tactical advantages. They are able to choose the

time, place, and method of their attacks. As we reduce

our vulnerabilities in one area, they can alter their plans

and pursue more exposed targets. They are able to

patiently plan their attacks for months and years. Plans

are undoubtedly underway today by terrorist cells that

we have not yet eliminated.

Terrorists also exploit the advantage of relative

anonymity. They hide throughout the world, using the

cover of innocent civilians as a shield. Weak states will

remain susceptible to terrorist groups seeking safe

haven, and may even cooperate with or actively support

terrorists.

Known terrorist groups. Al-Qaeda remains America’s

most immediate and serious threat despite our success

in disrupting its network in Afghanistan and

elsewhere. While we have captured or killed hundreds

of Al-Qaeda operatives, many remain at large,

including leaders working to reconstitute the organization and resume its operations. Al-Qaeda operatives

and cells will continue to plan attacks against highprofile landmarks and critical infrastructure at home

and against targets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa,

and Southeast Asia. Those attacks may use both

conventional and unconventional means in an effort to

create as much destruction and kill as many people as

possible.

Al-Qaeda is part of a dangerous trend toward sophisticated terrorist networks spread across many countries,

linked together by information technology, enabled by

far-flung networks of financial and ideological

supporters, and operating in a highly decentralized

manner. Unlike traditional adversaries, these terrorist

networks have no single “center of gravity” whose

destruction would entail the defeat of the entire organization. While we have denied Afghanistan as a safe

haven for Al-Qaeda, unrest in politically unstable

regions will continue to create an environment

conducive to terrorism and capable of providing

sanctuary to terrorist groups. Moreover, an unknown

number of terrorist cells operate from within Western

democracies, where the safeguarding of civil liberties

protects them as well as their potential victims.

Al-Qaeda is only part of a broader threat that includes

other international terrorist organizations with the will

and capability to attack the United States. The most

dangerous of these groups are associated with religious

extremist movements in the Middle East and South

Asia. Until September 11, Hizballah was responsible

for more American deaths than all other terrorist

groups combined, including those killed in the 1983

bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in

Lebanon. Hizballah has never carried out an attack

within the United States, but could do so if the

situation in the Middle East worsens or the group feels

threatened by U.S. actions. Other terrorist groups, from

Hamas to the Real Irish Republican Army, have

supporters in the United States. To date, most of these

groups have largely limited their activities in the

United States to fundraising, recruiting, and low-level

intelligence, but many are capable of carrying out

terrorist acts within the United States.

Terrorist groups also include domestic organizations.

The 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in

Oklahoma City highlights the threat of domestic

terrorist acts designed to achieve mass casualties. The

U.S. government averted seven planned terrorist acts in

1999—two were potentially large-scale, high-casualty

attacks being organized by domestic extremist groups.

Both domestic terrorist groups (such as the National

Alliance, the Aryan Nation, and the extremist Puerto

Rican separatist group Los Macheteros) and special

interest extremist groups continue to pose a threat to

the peace and stability of our country.

10 THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY
The tactics of modern terrorists are unbounded by the

traditional rules of warfare. Terrorists transform objects

of daily life into weapons, visiting death and

destruction on unsuspecting civilians. Defeating this

enemy requires a focused and organized response.

The President took a critical step by proposing the

creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

The creation of the Department, the most significant

reorganization of the federal government in more 

than a half-century, will give the United States a

foundation for our efforts to secure the homeland.

The Department would serve as the unifying core of

the vast national network of organizations and institutions involved in homeland security.

American Federalism and Homeland Security 

American democracy is rooted in the precepts of federalism—a system of government in which our state

governments share power with federal institutions.

The Tenth Amendment reserves to the states and to

the people all power not specifically delegated to the

federal government. Our structure of overlapping

federal, state, and local governance—the United States

has more than 87,000 different jurisdictions—provides

unique opportunities and challenges. The opportunity

comes from the expertise and commitment of local

agencies and organizations involved in homeland

security. The challenge is to develop complementary

systems that avoid duplication and ensure essential

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 11

Organizing for a Secure

Homeland
requirements are met. To meet the terrorist threat, we

must increase collaboration and coordination—in law

enforcement and prevention, emergency response and

recovery, policy development and implementation—so

that public and private resources are better aligned to

secure the homeland.

American People 

All of us have a key role to play in America’s war on

terrorism. Terrorists may live and travel among us and

attack our homes and our places of business, governance, and recreation. In order to defeat an enemy who

uses our very way of life as a weapon—who takes

advantage of our freedoms and liberties—every

American must be willing to do his or her part to

protect our homeland.

Since September 11, thousands of individuals have

stepped forward to ask, “What can I do to help?” The

President launched Citizen Corps in January 2002 to

help channel this volunteerism, and individuals in all

50 states and U.S. territories have signed up since. In

support of this effort, Citizen Corps released a

guidebook—produced by the National Crime

Prevention Council with support from the Department

of Justice—to provide the American people with information about the latest disaster preparedness

techniques. As part of Citizen Corps, the Federal

Emergency Management Agency’s Community

Emergency Response Team program trains volunteers

to support our first responders by providing immediate

help to victims and by organizing volunteers at disaster

sites. Citizen Corps is expanding the Neighborhood

Watch Program to incorporate terrorism prevention

and education into its existing crime prevention

mission. Volunteers in Police Service will encourage

the use of civilian volunteers to support resourceconstrained police departments. The Medical Reserve

Corps will provide communities with medical volunteers—both active and retired—who can assist health

care professionals during a large-scale local emergency.

Finally, Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and

Prevention System) will be a nationwide program to

help thousands of American truck drivers, letter

carriers, train conductors, ship captains, and utility

workers report potential terrorist activity. Operation

TIPS will begin a pilot program in ten cities in August

2002.

Private Sector 

Given our traditions of limited government, the

American private sector provides most of our goods

and services. Private companies are a key source of new

ideas and innovative technologies that will enable us to

triumph over the terrorist threat. There are, for

example, pharmaceutical companies producing new

vaccines against dangerous biological agents and information technology firms investing in new

communications technology for first responders. The

President has sought to tap into this creative genius by

establishing a national Homeland Security Advisory

Council and calling on private citizens to serve on

similar boards at the state and local level.

The private sector also owns the vast majority of

America’s critical infrastructure. It includes crucial

systems such as the agricultural and food distribution

processes that put food on our tables, utility companies

that provide water and power to our homes and

businesses, and transportation systems that fly us from

city to city and bus our children to and from school.

The private sector also includes many of our academic

institutions and a host of scientific, medical,

engineering, and technological research facilities.

A close partnership between the government and

private sector is essential to ensuring that existing

vulnerabilities to terrorism in our critical infrastructure

are identified and eliminated as quickly as possible.

The private sector should conduct risk assessments on

their holdings and invest in systems to protect key

assets. The internalization of these costs is not only a

matter of sound corporate governance and good

corporate citizenship but also an essential safeguard of

economic assets for shareholders, employees, and the

Nation. (See Costs of Homeland Security chapter for

additional discussion.) 

State and Local Governments 

State, county, municipal, and local governments fund

and operate the emergency services that would respond

in the event of a terrorist attack. Ultimately, all

manmade and natural disasters are local events—with

local units being the first to respond and the last to

leave. Since September 11, every state and many cities

and counties are addressing homeland security issues

either through an existing office or through a newly

created office. Many have established anti-terrorism

task forces. Many have also published or are preparing

homeland security strategies, some based on existing

plans for dealing with natural disasters. Each level of

government must coordinate with other levels to

minimize redundancies in homeland security actions

and ensure integration of efforts. The federal

government must seek to utilize state and local

knowledge about their communities and then share

relevant information with the state and local entities

positioned to act on it. (A summary of homeland

12 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
security actions taken to date by states, counties, and

cities is contained in a companion volume.)

Federal Executive Branch

The President’s most important job is to protect the

American people. To do so, he relies on the departments and agencies of the executive branch, which are

responsible for executing and enforcing the federal

laws, as well as the White House and other offices of

the Executive Office of the President, which develop

and implement his policies and programs.

Department of Homeland Security. The President’s

proposal to create the Department of Homeland

Security is the outcome of a comprehensive study of

the federal government’s current structure, the

experience gained since September 11, and the new

information we have learned about our enemies while

fighting a war. The new Department would bring

together 22 entities with critical homeland security

missions and would provide us for the first time with a

single federal department whose primary mission is to

protect our homeland against terrorist threats. The

Department would play a central role in implementing

the National Strategy for Homeland Security. It would be

responsible for many specific initiatives and would also

streamline relations with the federal government for

our state and local governments, private sector, and the

American people. This Department, although focused

primarily on homeland security, would continue to

execute the non-homeland security missions of its

constituent parts.

White House Office of Homeland Security. Even after the

Department of Homeland Security begins to function,

the White House Office of Homeland Security will

continue to play a key role advising the President and

coordinating the interagency process. It will continue

to work with the Office of Management and Budget to

develop and defend the President’s homeland security

budget proposals. It will certify that the budgets of

other executive branch departments will enable them

to carry out their homeland security responsibilities.

Department of Defense. The Department of Defense

contributes to homeland security through its military

missions overseas, homeland defense, and support to

civil authorities. Ongoing military operations abroad

have reduced the terrorist threat against the United

States. There are three circumstances under which the

Department would be involved in improving security

at home. In extraordinary circumstances, the

Department would conduct military missions such as

combat air patrols or maritime defense operations.

The Department would take the lead in defending the

people and the territory of our country, supported by

other agencies. Plans for such contingencies will

continue to be coordinated, as appropriate, with the

National Security Council, Homeland Security

Council, and other federal departments and agencies.

Second, the Department of Defense would be involved

during emergencies such as responding to an attack or

to forest fires, floods, tornadoes, or other catastrophes.

In these circumstances, the Department may be asked

to act quickly to provide capabilities that other

agencies do not have. Finally, the Department of

Defense would also take part in “limited scope”

missions where other agencies have the lead—for

example, security at a special event like the recent

Olympics.

Other federal departments and agencies. Many other

government departments and agencies support

homeland security as part of their overall mission. The

Attorney General, as America’s chief law enforcement

officer, will lead our Nation’s law enforcement effort to

detect, prevent, and investigate terrorist activity within

the United States. The Department of Agriculture’s

Food Safety Inspection and Agricultural Research

Services have important homeland security responsibilities for preventing agroterrorism. The Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention and the National

Institutes of Health, both part of the Department of

Health and Human Services, provide critical expertise

and resources related to bioterrorism. Several other

federal entities have significant counterterrorism 

intelligence responsibilities, including the CIA’s

Counterterrorist Center and the FBI’s

Counterterrorism Division and Criminal Intelligence

Section. The CIA is specifically responsible for

gathering and analyzing all information regarding

potential terrorist threats abroad. The proposed

Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

Division within the Department of Homeland Security

would be able not only to access and analyze homeland

security information, but also to translate it into

warning and protective action.

Intergovernmental coordination. There is a vital need for

cooperation between the federal government and state

and local governments on a scale never before seen in

the United States. Cooperation must occur both

horizontally (within each level of government) and

vertically (among various levels of government). Under

the President’s proposal, the creation of the

Department of Homeland Security will simplify the

process by which governors, mayors, and county leaders

interact with the federal government. We cannot and

will not create separate and specialized coordinating

bodies for every functional area of government. To do

so would merely replicate the stovepiped system that

exists today and would defeat a main purpose of

creating the new Department.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 13
Because of our federalist traditions and our large

number of local governments, the federal government

must look to state governments to facilitate close

coordination and cooperation among all levels of

government—federal, state, and local. Therefore, the

President calls on each governor to establish a single

Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) for the state,

to serve as his or her primary coordinating body with

the federal government. This would realign the existing

Anti-Terrorism Task Forces, established after

September 11 in 93 federal judicial districts

nationwide, to serve as the law enforcement

component of the broader HSTFs. The HSTFs would

provide a collaborative, cost-effective structure for

effectively communicating to all organizations and

citizens. They would help streamline and coordinate all

federal, regional, and local programs.They would also

fit neatly into the regional emergency response

network that the Department of Homeland Security

would inherit from FEMA.

14 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
Terrorism depends on surprise. With it, a terrorist

attack has the potential to do massive damage to an

unwitting and unprepared target. Without it, the

terrorists stand a good chance of being thwarted by

authorities, and even if they are not, the damage from

their attacks is likely to be less severe.

It follows that the United States must take every

appropriate action to avoid being surprised by another

terrorist attack. To secure the homeland, we must have

an intelligence and warning system that is capable of

detecting terrorist activity before it manifests itself in

an attack so that proper preemptive, preventive, and

protective action can be taken.

This is not the first time in American history that we

have had to focus on our early warning capabilities.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7,

1941, demonstrated the catastrophic consequences of

allowing an enemy to achieve even tactical surprise.

With the dawn of the nuclear age, early warning

became essential to national survival. The United

States spent billions of dollars during the Cold War on

ground- and space-based sensors that had one

principal, overriding purpose: to detect indications of a

nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. These early

warning systems were the foundation for strategic

nuclear deterrence because they provided the President

sufficient lead-time to make retaliatory decisions.

Early warning of an impending terrorist attack is a far

more difficult and complex mission than was early

warning of a strategic nuclear first strike. Whereas we

almost always know the identity, location, and general

capabilities of hostile nations, we frequently do not

know the identity or location of non-state terrorist

organizations. The indications of terrorist intent are

often ambiguous. Terrorists are able to infiltrate and

move freely within democratic countries making

themselves effectively invisible against the backdrop of

an enormously diverse and mobile society. Efforts to

gather intelligence on potential terrorist threats can

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 15

Intelligence and Warning
affect the basic rights and liberties of American

citizens.

Moreover, the question of how to achieve early

warning of terrorist threats is inseparable from the

question of what to do with some warning information

once it is in hand. What preventive action should be

taken? What protective action should be taken? To

whom should the information be provided on a confidential basis? Should the public be informed and, if so,

how and by whom? These very concrete decisions can

have life-or-death implications. Unfortunately, the

ambiguous nature of most intelligence on terrorist

threats means that these decisions must often be made

in conditions of great uncertainty.

America’s intelligence community has made significant

contributions to our national security and is now

making adjustments to help meet the increased needs

for homeland security. At present, we have insufficient

human source intelligence developed overseas about

potential terrorist activities in the United States.

Agencies at all levels of government have not always

fully shared homeland security information due to real

and perceived legal and cultural barriers, as well as the

limitations of their information systems. The United

States needs to do a better job of utilizing information

contained in foreign-language documents that we have

obtained. In addition, our intelligence community

must identify, collect, and analyze the new observables

that will enable us to better understand emerging

unconventional threats.

The National Strategy for Homeland Security reflects the

concept that intelligence and information analysis is

not a separate, stand-alone activity but rather an

integral component of our Nation’s overall effort to

protect against and reduce our vulnerability to

terrorism. The basic roles and responsibilities in this

Strategy are depicted in Figure 1.

This framework recognizes four interrelated but

distinct categories of intelligence and information

analysis, as well as three broad categories of actions

that can follow from this analysis. The analytic

categories are as follows.

Tactical threat analysis. Actionable intelligence is

essential for preventing acts of terrorism. The timely

and thorough analysis and dissemination of information about terrorists and their current and potential

activities allow the government to take immediate- and

near-term action to disrupt and prevent terrorist acts

and to provide useful warning to specific targets,

security and public safety professionals, or the general

population.

Strategic analysis of the enemy. Our intelligence agencies

must have a deep understanding of the organizations

that may conduct terrorist attacks against the United

States. Knowing the identities, financial and political

sources of support, motivation, goals, current and

future capabilities, and vulnerabilities of these organizations will assist us in preventing and preempting

future attacks, and in taking long-term actions that can

weaken support for organizations that seek to damage

U.S. interests. Intelligence agencies can support the

long-term U.S. strategies to defeat terrorism by understanding the roots of terrorism overseas, and the

intentions and capabilities of foreign governments to

disrupt terrorist groups in their territories and to assist

the United States.

16 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y

Strategic Analysis 

of the Enemy

Lead: DCI, FBI, DHS

Threat-Vulnerability

Integration (“Mapping”)

Lead: DHS

Vulnerability Assessment

Lead: DHS

Tactical Threat Analysis

Lead: DCI, FBI, DHS

Warning & Protective Action

Lead: DHS

Preventive Action (Tactical)

Lead: National JTTF

Strategic Response (Policy)

Long-term Capability Building

Lead: OHS

Roles & Responsibilities of Homeland Security Intelligence and Information Analysis
Vulnerability assessments. Vulnerability assessments

must be an integral part of the intelligence cycle for

homeland security issues. They allow planners to

project the consequences of possible terrorist attacks

against specific facilities or different sectors of the

economy or government. These projections allow

authorities to strengthen defenses against different

threats. Such assessments are informed by the use of

tools such as computer modeling and analysis.

Threat-Vulnerability integration. Mapping terrorist

threats and capabilities—both current and future—

against specific facility and sectoral vulnerabilities will

allow authorities to determine which organizations

pose the greatest threats and which facilities and

sectors are most at risk. It will also allow planners to

develop thresholds for preemptive or protective action.

Figure 1 also depicts three broad categories of action

that can result from this analysis.

Tactical preventive action. Analysis can, and must, be

turned into action that prevents terrorists from

carrying out their plots. The United States has at its

disposal numerous tools that allow for the disruption

of terrorist acts in the United States and the detention

of the terrorists themselves. These tools can be

deployed as soon as the analysis uncovers evidence of

terrorist planning. This analysis and assessment will

help support and enable the actions taken by the U.S.

government to prevent terrorism.

Warning and protective action. Inclusive and comprehensive analysis allows the government to take

protective action, and to warn appropriate sectors and

the public. Defensive action will reduce the potential

effectiveness of an attack by prompting relevant sectors

to implement security and incident management plans.

In addition, defensive action works as a deterrent to

terrorists weighing the potential effectiveness of their

plans. Warnings allow entities and citizens to take

appropriate actions to meet the threat, including

upgrading security levels in any affected sectors,

activating emergency plans, dispatching state and local

law enforcement patrols, and increasing citizen

awareness of certain activities.

Strategic response (policy). The enemy of today is far

different from those we have faced in the past. The

strategies and operating procedures used to fight the

traditional strategic threats of the 20th century are of

little use in the war on terrorism. We need to develop

and create new capabilities specifically designed to

defeat the enemy of today and the enemy of the future.

This immediate- and long-term strategic capability

building will be shaped through budgetary allocations,

and will be informed by the careful analysis and

assessment of homeland security information.

Understanding terrorist organizations will allow policymakers to fashion policies that build international

coalitions against terrorism, and eliminate sources of

support or sanctuary for terrorists.

Major Initiatives

Enhance the analytic capabilities of the FBI. The

Attorney General and the Director of the FBI have

established the FBI’s top priority as preventing terrorist

attacks. They are creating an analytical capability

within the FBI that can combine lawfully obtained

domestic information with information lawfully

derived from investigations, thus facilitating prompt

investigation of possible terrorist activity within the

United States.

The FBI is instituting several changes as it redefines its

mission to focus on preventing terrorist attacks. To

National Vision

The collection and analysis of homeland

security intelligence and information has

become a priority of the highest measure. The

intelligence community must enhance its

capacity to obtain intelligence relevant to

homeland security requirements. The intelligence profession must attract America’s

brightest and most energetic and allow them to

acquire and apply the expertise needed to assure

homeland security. In addition, the intelligence

community must expand human source intelligence, and develop and utilize technology to

enhance analytic, collection, and operational

efforts throughout the counterterrorism

community. Homeland security intelligence and

information must be fed instantaneously into

the Nation’s domestic anti-terrorism efforts.

Those efforts must be structured to provide all

pertinent homeland security intelligence and

law enforcement information—from all relevant

sectors including state and local law

enforcement as well as federal agencies—to

those able to take preventive or protective

action. Under the President’s proposal, the new

Department will provide real-time actionable

information—in the form of protective actions

that should be taken in light of terrorist threats,

trends, and capabilities, and U.S. vulnerabilities—to policymakers, federal, state, and local

law enforcement agencies and the private sector,

based on the review and analysis of homeland

security information.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 17
enhance the FBI’s analytic capabilities, the Director is

seeking to increase the number of staff working to

analyze intelligence more than fourfold compared to

pre-September 11 figures. The Bureau will hire

analysts with specialized expertise, including foreign

language capacity, computer skills, and science and

engineering backgrounds. The CIA will send approximately 25 of its analysts to the FBI, enhancing not

only the FBI’s analytical capabilities but also the

relationship between these two entities.

Build new capabilities through the Information Analysis

and Infrastructure Protection Division of the proposed

Department of Homeland Security. The President’s

proposal to create the Department of Homeland

Security would build new and necessary capabilities

into the Information Analysis and Infrastructure

Protection Division of the Department. Currently, the

U.S. government does not perform comprehensive

vulnerability assessments of all our Nation’s critical

infrastructure and key assets. Such vulnerability assessments are important from a planning perspective in

that they enable authorities to evaluate the potential

effects of an attack on a given facility or sector, and

then to invest accordingly in protecting such facilities

and sectors. The Department of Homeland Security

would have the responsibility and capability of

performing these comprehensive vulnerability assessments. (See Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Key

Assets chapter for additional discussion.)

The vulnerability assessments, important in their own

right, are also building blocks for a key homeland

security function that currently is not being performed:

threat-vulnerability integration. Today, no government

entity is responsible for analyzing terrorist threats to

the homeland, mapping those threats against our

vulnerabilities, and taking protective action. Our 

intelligence and federal law enforcement agencies focus

on the detection and disruption of each individual

threat. The Department of Homeland Security,

informed by intelligence and information analysis and

vulnerability assessments, would focus on longer-term

protective measures, such as the setting of priorities for

critical infrastructure protection and “targethardening.” (See Protecting Critical Infrastructure and

Key Assets chapter for additional discussion.) 

To perform this function, the Secretary of the new

Department of Homeland Security would have broad

statutory authority to access intelligence information,

as well as other types of information, relevant to the

terrorist threat to our Nation. Indeed, the President’s

proposal not only permits, but requires, each executive

agency to promptly provide the Secretary all reports,

assessments, and analytical information relating to the

missions of the new Department. The Department

would also work with state and local law enforcement

and the private sector to leverage the critical homeland

security information in the possession of these entities.

In addition to transforming homeland security information into long-term protective action, the

Department of Homeland Security would also turn the

information into useful warnings. The Department

would serve as the primary provider of threat information to state and local public safety agencies and to

private sector owners of key targets, thereby

minimizing confusion, gaps and duplication.

The combination of these new capabilities within the

Department of Homeland Security and the existing

and enhanced capabilities of our Nation’s intelligence

and law enforcement communities would enable the

federal government to combat terrorism with

maximum effect.

Implement the Homeland Security Advisory System. The

Homeland Security Advisory System disseminates

information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to

federal, state, and local authorities, the private sector

and the American people. The Advisory System creates

a common vocabulary, context, and structure for the

ongoing national discussion about the nature of the

threats that confront the homeland and the appropriate

measures that should be taken in response. It seeks to

inform and facilitate decisions appropriate to different

levels of government and to private citizens at home

and at work. The Department of Homeland Security

would be responsible for managing the Advisory

System.

The Advisory System provides a national framework

for public announcements of threat advisories and

alerts to notify law enforcement and state and local

government officials of threats. They serve to inform

the public about government preparations, and to

provide the public with the information necessary to

respond to the threat. The Advisory System characterizes appropriate levels of vigilance, preparedness, and

readiness in a series of graduated threat conditions.

Each threat condition has corresponding suggested

measures to be taken in response. Such responses

include increasing surveillance of critical locations,

preparing to execute contingency procedures, and

closing public and government facilities.

Utilize dual-use analysis to prevent attacks. Terrorists

use equipment and materials to carry out their criminal

acts. Such equipment and material can include items

such as fermenters, aerosol generators, protective gear,

antibiotics, and disease-causing agents. Many of these

items are “dual-use” items—they have not just terrorist

applications, but also legitimate commercial applications, and can often be bought on the open market. If

18 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
suspect dual-use acquisitions are identified, crossreferenced with intelligence and law enforcement

databases, and mapped against threat analyses, the U.S.

government’s ability to detect terrorist activities at the

preparation stage will be enhanced. Therefore, the

federal government, led by the Department of

Homeland Security, will evaluate and study mechanisms through which suspect purchases of dual-use

equipment and materials can be reported and analyzed.

(See Defending against Catastrophic Threats chapter for

a discussion of the Select Agent Program.)

Employ “red team” techniques. The Department of

Homeland Security, working with the intelligence

community, would utilize “red team” techniques to

improve and focus of the Nation’s defenses against

terrorism. Applying homeland security intelligence and

information, the new Department would have certain

employees responsible for viewing the United States

from the perspective of the terrorists, seeking to

discern and predict the methods, means and targets of

the terrorists. Today’s enemies do not think and act in

the same manner as yesterday’s. The new Department

would use its capabilities and analysis to learn how

they think in order to set priorities for long-term

protective action and “target hardening.” Employing

“red team” tactics, the new Department would seek to

uncover weaknesses in the security measures at our

Nation’s critical infrastructure sectors during

government-sponsored exercises. (See Protecting

Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets chapter for

additional discussion.)

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 19
20 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
The United States shares a 5,525 mile border with

Canada and a 1,989 mile border with Mexico. Our

maritime border includes 95,000 miles of shoreline and

navigable waterways as well as a 3.4 million square

mile exclusive economic zone. All people and goods

legally entering into the United States must be

processed through an air, land, or sea port of entry.

Many international airports are dispersed throughout

the United States. Each year, more than 500 million

people legally enter our country. Some 330 million are

non-citizens; more than 85 percent enter via land

borders, often as daily commuters. An enormous

volume of trade also crosses our borders every day—

some $1.35 trillion in imports and $1 trillion in

exports were processed in 2001.

America historically has relied heavily on two vast

oceans and two friendly neighbors for border security,

and on the private sector for most forms of domestic

transportation security. The increasing mobility and

destructive potential of modern terrorism has required

the United States to rethink and rearrange fundamentally its systems for border and transportation security.

Indeed, we must now begin to conceive of border

security and transportation security as fully integrated

requirements because our domestic transportation

systems are intertwined inextricably with the global

transport infrastructure. Virtually every community in

America is connected to the global transportation

network by the seaports, airports, highways, pipelines,

railroads, and waterways that move people and goods

into, within, and out of the Nation. We therefore must

promote the efficient and reliable flow of people,

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 21

Border and Transportation

Security
goods, and services across borders, while preventing

terrorists from using transportation conveyances or

systems to deliver implements of destruction.

Major Initiatives

Ensure accountability in border and transportation

security. The President has proposed to Congress that

the principal border and transportation security

agencies—the Immigration and Naturalization Service,

U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Animal and

Plant Health Inspection Service, and Transportation

Security Agency—be transferred to the new

Department of Homeland Security. The new

Department also would control the issuance of visas to

foreigners through the Department of State and would

coordinate the border-control activities of all federal

agencies that are not incorporated within the new

Department.

Create “smart borders.” Our future border management

system will be radically different from today’s which

focuses on linear borders. It will create a “border of the

future” that will be a continuum framed by land, sea,

and air dimensions, where a layered management

system enables greater visibility of vehicles, people, and

goods coming to and departing from our country. This

border of the future will provide greater security

through better intelligence, coordinated national

efforts, and unprecedented international cooperation

against the threats posed by terrorists, the implements

of terrorism, international organized crime, illegal

drugs, illegal migrants, cyber crime, and the destruction

or theft of natural resources. At the same time, the

border of the future will be increasingly transparent to

the efficient flow of people, goods, and conveyances

engaged in legitimate economic and social activities.

The federal government will allocate resources in a

balanced way to manage risk in our border and transportation security systems while ensuring the expedient

flow of goods, services, and people.

Internationally, the United States will seek to screen

and verify the security of goods and identities of people

before they can harm to the international transportation system and well before they reach our shores

or land borders. The Department of Homeland

Security would improve information provided to

consular officers so that individual applicants can be

checked in comprehensive databases and would require

visa-issuance procedures to reflect threat assessments.

The United States will require visitors to present travel

documentation that includes biometric identifiers. The

United States will also work with international organizations and the private sector to improve the security

of people, goods, conveyances traveling internationally,

and the ports that they use. The United States will

work with other countries and international organizations to improve the quality of travel documents and

their issuance to minimize their misuse by smugglers

and terrorist organizations. We will also assist other

countries, as appropriate, to improve their border

controls and their coordination with us. Finally, we will

work closely with Canada and Mexico to increase the

security of our shared borders while facilitating

commerce within the North American Free Trade

Agreement (NAFTA) area.

At our borders, the Department of Homeland Security

would verify and process the entry of people in order

to prevent the entrance of contraband, unauthorized

aliens, and potential terrorists. The Department would

increase the information available on inbound goods

and passengers so that border management agencies

can apply risk-based management tools. The

Department would develop and deploy the statutorily

required entry-exit system to record the arrival and

departure of foreign visitors and guests. It would

develop and deploy non-intrusive inspection

technologies to ensure rapid and more thorough

screening of goods and conveyances. And it would

monitor all our borders in order to detect illegal intrusions and intercept and apprehend smuggled goods and

people attempting to enter illegally.

The Department of Homeland Security proposed by

the President will also build an immigration services

National Vision

A single entity in the Department of Homeland

Security will manage who and what enters our

homeland in order to prevent the entry of

terrorists and the instruments of terror while

facilitating the legal flow of people, goods, and

services on which our economy depends. The

Department and its partners will conduct bordersecurity functions abroad to the extent allowed by

technology and international agreements. Federal

law enforcement agencies will take swift action

against those who introduce contraband or violate

terms of entry and pose threats to the American

people. The U.S. government will work with the

international community and the private sector to

secure the transportation systems which link

American communities to the world, moving

people and goods across our borders and

throughout the country within hours.

22 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
organization that administers immigration laws in an

efficient, expeditious, fair, and humane manner. The

Department would ensure that foreign visitors comply

with entry conditions. The Department, in cooperation

with colleges and universities, would track and monitor

international students and exchange visitors. The

Department would enter into national law enforcement

databases the names of high-risk aliens who remain in

the United States longer than authorized and, when

warranted, deport illegal aliens.

Increase the security of international shipping containers.

Containers are an indispensable but vulnerable link in

the chain of global trade; approximately 90 percent of

the world’s cargo moves by container. Each year, nearly

50 percent of the value of all U.S. imports arrives via

16 million containers. The core elements of this

initiative are to establish security criteria to identify

high-risk containers; pre-screen containers before they

arrive at U.S. ports; use technology to inspect high-risk

containers; and develop and use smart and secure

containers. The United States will place inspectors at

foreign seaports to screen U.S.-bound sea containers

before they are shipped to America, initially focusing

on the top 20 “mega” ports (including Rotterdam,

Antwerp, and Le Havre), because roughly 68 percent

of the 5.7 million sea containers entering the United

States annually arrive from these seaports.

Implement the Aviation and Transportation Security Act

of 2001. On November 19, 2001, the President signed

into law the Aviation and Transportation Security Act

of 2001. The act established a series of challenging but

important milestones toward achieving a secure air

travel system. More broadly, however, the act fundamentally changed the way transportation security will

be performed and managed in the United States. The

continued growth of the world economy—and, in

particular, commercial transportation and tourism—

depends upon effective transportation security

measures being efficiently applied. The act recognized

the importance of security for all forms of transportation and related infrastructure elements. This

cannot be accomplished by the federal government in

isolation and requires strengthened partnerships among

federal, state, and local government officials and the

private sector to reduce vulnerabilities and adopt the

best practices available today. Protection of critical

transportation assets such as ports, pipelines, rail, and

highway bridges, and more than 10,000 FAA facilities

is another key requirement established by the act.

Additionally, the Transportation Security

Administration will coordinate federal efforts to secure

the national airspace—an essential medium for travel,

commerce, and recreation.

The federal government will work with the private

sector to upgrade security in all modes of transportation. Areas of emphasis will include: commercial

aviation and other mass transportation systems; intermodal transportation; hazardous and explosive

materials; national airspace; shipping container

security; traffic-management systems; critical infrastructure; surety of transportation operators and

workers; linkages with international transportation

systems; and information sharing. We will utilize

existing modal relationships and systems to implement

unified, national standards for transportation security.

Recapitalize the U.S. Coast Guard. The Budget for

Fiscal Year 2003 requested the largest increase in the

history of the U.S. Coast Guard. The Budget for Fiscal

Year 2004 will continue to support the recapitalization

of the U.S. Coast Guard’s aging fleet, as well as

targeted improvements in the areas of maritime

domain awareness, command and control systems, and

shore-side facilities. The United States asks much of its

U.S. Coast Guard and we will ensure the service has

the resources needed to accomplish its multiple

missions. We saw the dedication and the versatility of

the U.S. Coast Guard in the aftermath of September

11, a performance that vividly demonstrated the U.S.

Coast Guard’s vital contribution to homeland security.

Nevertheless, the U.S. Coast Guard is also responsible

for national defense, maritime safety, maritime

mobility, and protection of natural resources, and

would continue to fulfill these functions in the

Department of Homeland Security.

Reform immigration services. The Administration will

complete reform of the Immigration and

Naturalization Service (INS), separating the agency’s

enforcement and service functions within, as the

President has proposed, the new Department of

Homeland Security. This reform aims to ensure full

enforcement of the laws that regulate the admission of

aliens to the United States and to improve greatly the

administration of immigration benefits to more than 7

million annual applicants. Americans have long

cherished our identity as a nation of immigrants. This

reform will ensure that every applicant’s case is

reviewed in a timely and courteous way. Finally, the

Department of Homeland Security would implement

the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform

Act, including the requirement that foreign visitors

possess travel documents with biometric information.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 23
24 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
The attacks of September 11 and the catastrophic loss

of life and property that resulted have redefined the

mission of federal, state, and local law enforcement

authorities. While law enforcement agencies will

continue to investigate and prosecute criminal activity,

they should now assign priority to preventing and

interdicting terrorist activity within the United States.

Effectively reorienting law enforcement organizations

to focus on counterterrorism objectives requires

decisive action in a number of areas. Many of the

necessary steps have already been taken, although

additional work remains to be done before law

enforcement agencies collectively can pursue the

counterterrorism mission with maximum effect. The

federal government has already instituted initiatives

that have increased information sharing and the

coordination of operations throughout the law

enforcement community. Not only are the federal law

enforcement and U.S. intelligence agencies communicating better with each other, the entire law

enforcement community—international, federal, state,

and local—is now sharing more information. In

addition, law enforcement agencies at all levels of

government have worked to enhance coordination of

their counterterrorism operational activities so that our

collective efforts complement each other.

While the intelligence and law enforcement communities have made progress in the areas of information

sharing and coordination, major shortcomings continue

to exist in other important areas. Our government’s

ability to identify key sources of funding for terrorist

activity and the methods used to finance terrorist

operations remains inadequate. The U.S. government

has not yet developed a satisfactory system to analyze

information in order to predict and assess the threat of

a terrorist attack within the United States. The federal

government needs to do a better job of utilizing the

distinct capabilities of state and local law enforcement

to prevent terrorism by giving them access, where

appropriate, to the information in our federal

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 25

Domestic Counterterrorism
databases, and by utilizing state and local information

at the federal level. The FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task

Forces, by including participants from state and local

law enforcement as well as federal agencies, draw on

state and local capabilities, and enhance intergovernmental coordination.

Major Initiatives

Several chapters, such as Intelligence and Warning,

Border and Transportation Security, and Protecting

Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets, are closely interrelated with Domestic Counterterrorism. (See, for example,

“Tactical Preventive Action” in the Intelligence and

Warning chapter.) This chapter only discusses

counterterrorism initiatives and actions that do not fall

under other critical mission areas.

Improve intergovernmental law enforcement coordination. An effective domestic counterterrorism effort

requires the participation of law enforcement personnel

at all levels of government, as well as the coordination

of all relevant agencies and officials. Toward this end,

the FBI is expanding the Joint Terrorism Task Forces

( JTTFs), now operating in 47 field offices, to all 56

FBI field offices by August 2002. The Task Forces

have primary operational responsibility for terrorism

investigations that are not related to ongoing prosecutions. The JTTFs, whose participants represent

numerous federal agencies and state and local law

enforcement, combine the national and international

investigative capacity of the federal government with

the state and local “on-the-beat” knowledge and

capabilities.

Facilitate apprehension of potential terrorists. In order to

apprehend suspected terrorists before they have the

opportunity to execute their plans, we must ensure that

law enforcement officers are able to access information

on suspected terrorists. Several initiatives are underway

to create fully accessible sources of information relating

to suspected terrorists. First, the Department of Justice

has expanded and will continue to expand the data

included in the FBI’s National Crime Information

Center (NCIC) database, which is accessible to

approximately 650,000 state and local law enforcement

officers. The names and identifying information of

subjects of domestic and foreign terrorism investigations have already been entered into the database. The

Department of Justice is adding to the NCIC database

the names of over 300,000 fugitive aliens in violation

of final orders of deportation. In addition, the Attorney

General has directed the FBI to establish procedures

with the Department of State to enable inclusion of

data from the TIPOFF System—which provides information on known or suspected terrorists to

immigration and consular officers—into the NCIC

database. The ultimate objective of this effort is to

ensure that the “cop on the beat” has access to

pertinent information regarding potential terrorists.

The FBI is also establishing a consolidated terrorism

watch list that will serve as a central access point for

information about individuals of investigative interest.

The watch list will be fully accessible to the law

enforcement and intelligence communities, and will

include information derived from FBI and Joint

Terrorism Task Force investigations, the intelligence

community, the Department of Defense, and foreign

governments.

The Attorney General has directed the FBI, through

its Legal Attaches, to establish procedures to obtain

fingerprints, other identifying information, and

available biographical data of all known or suspected

terrorists who have been identified and processed by

foreign law enforcement agencies, and to enter such

data into the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint

Identification System and other appropriate databases.

The Attorney General has also modified certain guidelines to give the FBI greater latitude to conduct

National Vision

We will redefine our law enforcement mission to

focus on the prevention of all terrorist acts within

the United States, whether international or

domestic in origin. We will use all legal means—

both traditional and non-traditional—to identify,

halt, and, where appropriate, prosecute terrorists

in the United States. We will prosecute or bring

immigration or other civil charges against such

individuals where appropriate and will utilize the

full range of our legal authorities. We will pursue

not only the individuals directly engaged in

terrorist activity, but also their sources of support:

the people and organizations that knowingly

fund the terrorists and those that provide them

with logistical assistance. To achieve these aims,

we will strengthen our federal law enforcement

community. In addition, we will augment the

scope and quality of information available to all

law enforcement. In that regard, we will build

and continually update a fully integrated, fully

accessible terrorist watch list. When we have

identified any suspected terrorist activities, we

will then use all the tools in our Nation’s legal

arsenal, including investigative, criminal, civil,

immigration, and regulatory powers to stop those

who wish to do us harm.

26 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
essential counterterrorism investigative activities in the

United States, and to utilize commercially available

computer databases in support of counterterrorism

investigations, consistent with Constitutional

standards. Such databases serve a key function in the

effort to apprehend suspected terrorists before they

carry out any terrorist act as the data contained therein

can reveal patterns of criminal behavior. The

Department of Justice currently is engaged in “datamining” projects that utilize computer technology to

analyze information to reveal patterns of behavior

consistent with terrorist activities. For example,

utilizing law enforcement and intelligence information

as well as public source data, the Foreign Terrorist

Tracking Task Force employs risk modeling

algorithms, link analysis, historic review of past

patterns of behavior, and other factors to distinguish

persons who may pose a risk of terrorism from those

who do not.

Continue ongoing investigations and prosecutions. The

Nation’s law enforcement community currently is

investigating both confirmed and suspected terrorist

activity. The largest and most extensive investigation is

“Penttbom”—the FBI’s inquiry into the attacks of

September 11. “Penttbom” is the largest criminal investigation in history, currently involving the cooperation

of numerous federal agencies, state and local law

enforcement, and the intelligence and law enforcement

agencies of foreign countries. Several prosecutions are

now underway as a result of the “Penttbom” investigation, including the prosecution of Zacarias

Moussaoui on charges of conspiring with Osama 

bin Laden and others to carry out the attacks of

September 11.

Our counterterrorism efforts also include the investigation and prosecution of foreign and domestic

terrorists unrelated to the September 11 attacks, as well

as the pursuit of individuals who provide logistical

support to terrorists. In addition, law enforcement

agencies are pursuing a more aggressive preventive

strategy by investigating and dismantling criminal

rings throughout the country that sell false driver’s

licenses, certifications for the transportation of

hazardous materials, passports, and visas.

As the chief federal law enforcement officer, the

Attorney General—relying heavily on the FBI—will

lead federal law enforcement efforts in investigations

and prosecutions, while coordinating with the

Department of Homeland Security and other federal

law enforcement agencies, as well as state and local

authorities. State and local law enforcement personnel,

operating within each community, are indispensable to

our domestic counterterrorism efforts, playing several

critical roles, including uncovering and reporting

unusual behavior and security anomalies.

Complete FBI restructuring to emphasize prevention of

terrorist attacks. Our Nation’s highest law enforcement

objective must be the prevention of terrorist acts—a

significant shift from pre-September 11 objectives. In

order to focus the mission of the federal law

enforcement community on prevention, the federal

government, working with Congress, needs to

restructure the FBI and other federal law enforcement

agencies, reallocating certain resources and energies to

the new prevention efforts.

The FBI already has made several structural changes to

reflect the primacy of the counterterrorism mission.

For example, in the fall of 2001, the Director of the

FBI established new positions responsible for strengthening information sharing and coordination with state

and local law enforcement agencies.

The FBI Director recently announced the second

phase of the reorganization, under which significant

resources will be committed to preventing terrorist

attacks, pending congressional approval. The plan

increases the FBI’s counterterrorism investigative

capabilities and flexibility by shifting hundreds of field

agents from criminal investigations to counterterrorism

investigations and activities. At the same time, this

shift allows each field office to meet national programmatic objectives for the FBI’s highest priority—

preventing terrorist attacks within the United States.

The plan also seeks to build within the FBI a concentrated, national, centralized, and deployable expertise

on terrorism issues. This requires both ensuring that

information and knowledge in the field offices gets

relayed to headquarters and creating expertise that can

be easily accessed by and deployed to field offices. In

order to respond to the need for a more flexible and

mobile deployment of highly knowledgeable counterterrorism agents, the FBI plans to devote a portion of

the increased personnel to “Flying Squads.” These

squads, consisting of agents with specific counterterrorism expertise, will travel to field offices when their

expertise is needed, and will bring valuable information

back to FBI headquarters for analysis. Reflecting the

global nature of the terrorist reality, the “Flying

Squads” will also be deployed overseas when necessary.

In addition, the FBI will augment its overseas presence

and partnerships by increasing the number of Legal

Attaches around the world, who will fall under the

authority of our Ambassadors.

The plan also includes the establishment of a new,

expansive multi-agency National Joint Terrorism Task

Force at FBI Headquarters that will complement the

Joint Terrorism Task Forces established in local FBI

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 27
field offices and improve collaboration and information

sharing with other agencies. (See Intelligence and

Warning chapter for additional discussion on FBI

restructuring.)

Target and attack terrorist financing. A cornerstone of

our counterterrorism effort is a concerted interagency

effort to target and interdict financing of terrorist

operations. The FBI’s Financial Review Group and

Operation Green Quest at the U.S. Customs Service,

proposed to be a component of the Department of

Homeland Security, have spearheaded the enforcement

component of the terrorist finance interdiction effort.

The Review Group is a multi-agency effort led by the

FBI to investigate suspicious financial transactions in

order to uncover and prosecute terrorist financing and

develop predictive models to help identify future illegal

financing. Operation Green Quest, launched by the

Department of Treasury at the Customs Service, works

to freeze the accounts of, and seize the assets of,

individuals and organizations that finance terrorist

groups. Going forward, the FBI should lead the federal

government law enforcement campaign against

terrorist financing, with support from the Department

of Homeland Security.

Track foreign terrorists and bring them to justice. The

federal government has two key missions in regard to

tracking foreign terrorists: barring terrorists or

terrorist-supporting aliens from the United States and

tracking down and deporting any who have illegally

entered our country. The Foreign Terrorist Tracking

Task Force at the Department of Justice currently

performs this function. The Task Force is also charged

with facilitating coordination and communication

among the agencies with immigration and enforcement

responsibilities.

28 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
Terrorists are opportunistic. They exploit vulnerabilities

we leave exposed, choosing the time, place, and

method of attack according to the weaknesses they

observe or perceive. Increasing the security of a

particular type of target, such as aircraft or buildings,

makes it more likely that terrorists will seek a different

target. Increasing the countermeasures to a particular

terrorist tactic, such as hijacking, makes it more likely

that terrorists will favor a different tactic.

Protecting America’s critical infrastructure and key

assets is thus a formidable challenge. Our open and

technologically complex society presents an almost

infinite array of potential targets, and our critical infrastructure changes as rapidly as the marketplace. It is

impossible to protect completely all targets, all the

time. On the other hand, we can help deter or deflect

attacks, or mitigate their effects, by making strategic

improvements in protection and security. Thus, while

we cannot assume we will prevent all terrorist attacks,

we can substantially reduce America’s vulnerability,

particularly to the most damaging attacks.

All elements of our society have a crucial stake in

reducing our vulnerability to terrorism; and all have

highly valuable roles to play. Protecting America’s

critical infrastructure and key assets requires an

unprecedented level of cooperation throughout all

levels of government-with private industry and institutions, and with the American people. The federal

government has the crucial task of fostering a collaborative environment, and enabling all of these entities to

work together to provide America the security it

requires.

What must we protect? The USA PATRIOT Act

defines critical infrastructure as those “systems and

assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 29

Protecting Critical

Infrastructures and Key Assets
United States that the incapacity or destruction of such

systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on

security, national economic security, national public

health or safety, or any combination of those matters.”

Our critical infrastructures are particularly important

because of the functions or services they provide to our

country. Our critical infrastructures are also particularly

important because they are complex systems: the

effects of a terrorist attack can spread far beyond the

direct target, and reverberate long after the immediate

damage.

America’s critical infrastructure encompasses a large

number of sectors. Our agriculture, food, and water

sectors, along with the public health and emergency

services sectors, provide the essential goods and

services Americans need to survive. Our institutions of

government guarantee our national security and

freedom, and administer key public functions. Our

defense industrial base provides essential capabilities to

help safeguard our population from external threats.

Our information and telecommunications sector

enables economic productivity and growth, and is

particularly important because it connects and helps

control many other infrastructure sectors. Our energy,

transportation, banking and finance, chemical industry,

and postal and shipping sectors help sustain our

economy and touch the lives of Americans everyday.

The assests, functions, and systems within each critical

infrastructure sector are not equally important. The

transportation sector is vital, but not every bridge is

critical to the Nation as a whole. Accordingly, the

federal government will apply a consistent methodology to focus its effort on the highest priorities, and

the federal budget will differentiate resources required

for critical infrastructure protection from resources

required for other important protection activities. The

federal government will work closely with state and

local governments to develop and apply compatible

approaches to ensure protection for critical assests,

systems, and functions at all levels of society. For

example, local schools, courthouses, and bridges are

critical to the communities they serve.

Protecting America’s critical infrastructure and key

assests requires more than just resources. The federal

government can use a broad range of measures to help

enable state, local, and private sector entities to better

protect the assests and infrastructures they control. For

example, the government can create venues to share

information on infrastructure vulnerabilities and bestpractice solutions, or create a more effective means of

providing specific and useful threat information to

non-federal entities in a timely fashion.

In addition to our critical infrastructure, our country

must also protect a number of key assets—individual

targets whose destruction would not endanger vital

systems, but could create local disaster or profoundly

damage our Nation’s morale or confidence. Key assets

include symbols or historical attractions, such as

prominent national, state, or local monuments and

icons. In some cases, these include quasi-public symbol

that are identified strongly with the United States as a

Nation, and fall completely under the jurisdiction of

state and local officials or even private foundations.

Key assets also include individual or localized facilities

that deserve special protection because of their

destructive potential or their value to the local

community.

Finally, certain high-profile events are strongly coupled

to our national symbols or national morale and deserve

special protective efforts by the federal government.

Critical Infrastructure Sectors

Agriculture

Food

Water

Public Health

Emergency Services

Government

Defense Industrial Base

Information and Telecommunications

Energy

Transportation

Banking and Finance

Chemical Industry

Postal and Shipping

30 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
Major Initiatives

Unify America’s infrastructure protection effort in the

Department of Homeland Security. Our country

requires a single accountable official to ensure we

address vulnerabilities that involve more than one

infrastructure sector or require action by more than one

agency. Our country also requires a single accountable

official to assess threats and vulnerabilities comprehensively across all infrastructure sectors to ensure we

reduce the overall risk to our country, instead of

inadvertently shifting risk from one potential set of

targets to another. Under the President’s proposal, the

Department of Homeland Security will assume responsibility for integrating and coordinating federal infrastructure protection responsibilities.

The Department of Homeland Security would consolidate and focus the activities performed by the Critical

Infrastructure Assurance Office (currently part of the

Department of Commerce) and the National

Infrastructure Protection Center (FBI), less those

portions that investigate computer crime. The

Department would augment those capabilities with the

Federal Computer Incident Response Center (General

Services Administration), the Computer Security

Division of the National Institute of Standards and

Technology (Commerce), and the National

Communications System (Defense).

The Department of Homeland Security would also

unify the responsibility for coordinating cyber and

physical infrastructure protection efforts. Currently, the

federal government divides responsibility for cyber and

physical infrastructure, and key cyber security activities

are scattered in multiple departments. While securing

cyberspace poses unique challenges and issues,

requiring unique tools and solutions, our physical and

cyber infrastructures are interconnected. The devices

that control our physical systems, including our

electrical distribution system, transportation systems,

dams, and other important infrastructure, are increasingly connected to the Internet. Thus, the

consequences of an attack on our cyber infrastructure

can cascade across many sectors. Moreover, the number,

virulence, and maliciousness of cyber attacks have

increased dramatically in recent years. Accordingly,

under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will place an especially high

priority on protecting our cyber infrastructure.

Reducing America’s vulnerability to terrorism must also

harness the coordinated effort of many federal departments and agencies that have highly specialized

expertise and long-standing relationships with industry.

For example, the Treasury Department chairs the

Financial and Banking Information Infrastructure

Committee, which brings together several federal

agencies and the private sector to focus on issues

related to the financial services industry. Each of the

critical infrastructure sectors has unique characteristics,

hence posing unique security challenges. The

Department of Homeland Security would coordinate

the activities of the federal departments and agencies to

address the unique security challenges of each infrastructure sector. The following chart depicts the federal

government’s organization for protecting America’s

infrastructure and key assests, and indicates the departments and agencies that have primary responsibility for

interacting with particular critical infrastructure sectors.

National Vision

The United States will forge an unprecedented

level of cooperation throughout all levels of

government, with private industry and institutions, and with the American people to protect

our critical infrastructure and key assets from

terrorist attack. Our country will continue to

take immediate and decisive action to protect

assets and systems that could be attacked with

catastrophic consequences. We will establish a

single office within the Department of

Homeland Security to work with the federal

departments and agencies, state and local

governments, and the private sector to

implement a comprehensive national plan to

protect critical infrastructure and key assets. The

national infrastructure protection plan will

organize the complementary efforts of

government and private institutions to raise

security over the long term to levels appropriate

to each target’s vulnerability and criticality. The

federal government will work to create an

environment in which state, local, and private

entities can best protect the infrastructure they

control. The Department of Homeland Security

will develop the best modeling and simulation

tools to understand how our increasingly

complex and connected infrastructures behave,

and to shape effective protection and response

options. The Department of Homeland Security

will develop and coordinate implementation of

tiered protective measures that can be tailored to

the target and rapidly adjusted to the threat.

The Department of Homeland Security,

working through the Department of State, will

foster international cooperation to protect

shared and interconnected infrastructure.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 31
32 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y

Federal Government Organization to 

Protect Critical Infrastructure and Key Assets

President

Secretary of Homeland Security

Federal, state, local, and private sector coordination and integration

Comprehensive national infrastructure protection plan

Mapping threats to vulnerabilities and issuing warnings

Sector Lead Agency

Agriculture Department of Agriculture

Food:

Meat and poultry Department of Agriculture

All other food products Department of Health & Human Services

Water Environmental Protection Agency

Public Health Department of Health & Human Services

Emergency Services Department of Homeland Security

Government:

Continuity of government Department of Homeland Security

Continuity of operations All departments and agencies

Defense Industrial Base Department of Defense

Information and Telecommunications Department of Homeland Security

Energy Department of Energy

Transportation Department of Homeland Security*

Banking and Finance Department of the Treasury

Chemical Industry and Hazardous Materials Environmental Protection Agency

Postal and Shipping Department of Homeland Security

National Monuments and Icons Department of the Interior

* Under the President’s proposal, the Transportation Security Administration, responsible for securing our Nation’s transportation systems, will become part of the Department of Homeland Security. The new Department will coordinate closely

with the Department of Transportation, which will remain responsible for transportation safety.
Build and maintain a complete and accurate assessment of

America’s critical infrastructure and key assets. The

Department of Homeland Security must be able to

translate threat information into appropriate action in

the shortest possible time, a critical factor in preventing

or mitigating attacks, particularly those involving

weapons of mass destruction. Accordingly, the

Department would build and maintain a complete,

current, and accurate assessment of vulnerabilities and

preparedness of critical targets across critical infrastructure sectors. The Department would thus have a

crucial capability that does not exist in our government

today: the ability to continuously evaluate threat information against our current vulnerabilities, inform the

President, issue warnings, and effect action accordingly.

As noted in the Intelligence and Warning chapter, the

Department would augment this unique capability with

“red team” techniques to view our vulnerabilities from

the perspective of terrorists, and to provide objective

data on which to base infrastructure protection

standards and performance measures.

A complete and thorough assessment of America’s

vulnerabilities will not only enable decisive near-term

action, but guide the rational long-term investment of

effort and resources. For example, a comprehensive

assessment of vulnerabilities and threats can help

determine whether to invest in permanent, physical

“hardening” of a target, or in maintaining a reserve of

personnel and equipment that can meet a temporary

“surge” requirement for increased security.

Enable effective partnership with state and local governments and the private sector. Government at the federal,

state, and local level must actively collaborate and

partner with the private sector, which controls 85

percent of America’s infrastructure. Private firms bear

primary and substantial responsibility for addressing

the public safety risks posed by their industriesprotecting a firm’s assets and systems is a matter of

sound corporate governance. In many cases private

firms, not the government, possess the technical

expertise and means to protect the infrastructure they

control. Government at all levels must enable, not

inhibit, the private sector’s ability to carry out its

protection responsibilities. The Nation’s infrastructure

protection effort must harness the capabilities of the

private sector to achieve a prudent level of security

without hindering productivity, trade, or economic

growth.

The Department of Homeland Security would give

state and local agencies and the private sector one

primary contact instead of many for coordinating

protection activities with the federal government,

including vulnerability assessments, strategic planning

efforts, and exercises. The Department would include

an office which reports directly to the Secretary

dedicated to this function, and would build on current

outreach efforts of existing federal agencies with infrastructure protection responsibilities.

When the Department of Homeland Security learns of

a potential threat to our critical infrastructure, it must

not only disseminate warnings quickly, but must rapidly

map those threats against an accurate assessment of our

country’s vulnerabilities and effect appropriate action.

To ensure this, the government must facilitate and

encourage private firms to share important information

about the infrastructure they control. Private firms

should have reasonable assurance that good faith

disclosures about vulnerabilities and preparedness do

not expose the firm to liability, drops in share value,

loss of competitive advantage, or antitrust action. As

discussed in the Law chapter, the Attorney General

will convene a panel to propose any legal changes

necessary to enable sharing of essential homeland

security related information between the government

and the private sector.

Develop a national infrastructure protection plan. The

Department of Homeland Security would develop and

coordinate implementation of a comprehensive national

plan to protect America’s infrastructure from terrorist

attack. The plan will build on the baseline physical and

cyber infrastructure protection plans which the Office

of Homeland Security and the President’s Critical

Infrastructure Protection Board will release by the end

of Fiscal Year 2002. The national plan will provide a

methodology for identifying and prioritizing critical

assets, systems, and functions, and for sharing

protection responsibility with state and local

government and the private sector. The plan will

establish standards and benchmarks for infrastructure

protection, and provide a means to measure

performance. The plan will inform the Department of

Homeland Security’s annual process for planning,

programming, and budgeting of critical infrastructure

protection activities, including research and development.

As discussed in the Costs of Homeland Security chapter,

the national infrastructure protection plan will also

provide an approach for rationally balancing the costs

and benefits of increased security according to the

threat—to help answer, in effect, “how much protection

is enough?” The plan will describe how to use all

available policy instruments to raise the security of

America’s critical infrastructure and key assets to a

prudent level, relying to the maximum possible extent

on the market to provide appropriate levels of security.

The Department would manage federal grant programs

for homeland security, which may be used to assist state

and local infrastructure protection efforts. In some

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 33
cases, the Department may seek legislation to create

incentives for the private sector to adopt security

measures or invest in improved safety technologies. In

other cases, the federal government will need to rely on

regulation—for example, to require commercial airlines

to electronically transmit passenger manifests on international flights, or to require permits for intrastate

purchase of explosives.

Securing cyberspace. The cost to our economy from

attacks on our information systems has grown by 400

percent in four years according to one estimate, but is

still limited. In one day, however, that could change.

Every day somewhere in America an individual

company or a home computer user suffers what for

them are significantly damaging or catastrophic losses

from cyber attacks. The ingredients are present for that

kind of damage to occur on a national level, to our

national networks and the systems they run upon, on

which the nation depends. Our potential enemies have

the intent; the tools of destruction are broadly

available; the vulnerabilities of our systems are myriad

and well-known. In cyberspace, a single act can inflict

damage in multiple locations simultaneously without

the attacker ever having physically entered the United

States.

Accordingly, the President acted quickly following the

terrorist attacks in September to secure our information and telecommunications infrastructure. The

President created the Critical Infrastructure Protection

Board and launched a public-private partnership to

create a National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. The

National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace will provide a

roadmap to empower all Americans to secure the part

of cyberspace they control, including a variety of new

proposals aimed at five levels: the home user and small

business; large enterprises; sectors of the economy;

national issues; and global issues.

Thousands of citizens all across the country have

contributed to the effort by contributing their views in

Town Hall meetings, on interactive web sites, or by

participating in one of the dozens of participating

groups and associations. State and local governments

and state and local law enforcement have also united to

prepare their own cyber security strategies.

Harness the best analytic and modeling tools to develop

effective protective solutions. As discussed in the

Intelligence and Warning chapter, responding to threat

information requires life-or-death decisions that must

often be made in conditions of great uncertainty. Highend modeling and simulation tools can greatly enhance

our ability to quickly make those decisions based on

the best possible understanding of their consequences.

State-of-the-art modeling and simulation provides

another important tool for determining what assets,

systems, and functions are “critical,” a process that

involves many factors that interact with one another in

complex ways. For example, an attack on a key Internet

node might cause few casualties directly, but could

trigger cascading effects across many infrastructure

sectors, causing widespread disruption to the economy

and imperiling public safety. An attack on a major port

could inflict damage that affects transportation, energy,

and economic infrastructure nationwide. A chemical

attack would have little effect on an empty stadium; a

catastrophic effect on a stadium filled with tens of

thousands of spectators. Protecting America’s critical

infrastructure thus requires that we determine the

highest risks based on the best possible understanding

of these factors, and prioritize our effort accordingly.

The Department of Homeland Security would develop

and harness the best modeling, simulation, and analytic

tools to evaluate the full range of relevant factors and

the complex manner in which they interact. The

Department would take as its foundation the National

Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center

(currently part of the Department of Energy).

Guard America’s critical infrastructure and key assets

against “inside” threats. The “insider threat” and

personnel reliability are increasingly serious concerns

for protecting critical infrastructure. In the food

processing and distribution industry, disgruntled or

former employees have caused nearly all previous

incidents of food tampering, providing a glimpse of

what terrorists with insider access might accomplish.

Personnel with privileged access to critical infrastructure, particularly control systems, may serve as

terrorist surrogates by providing information on vulnerabilities, operating characteristics, and protective

measures. These “insiders” can also provide access to

sensitive areas, such as loading docks, control centers,

and airport tarmacs. The U.S. government, working

through the Department of Homeland Security will

undertake a comprehensive review of critical infrastructure personnel surety programs and propose

national standards for screening and background

checks. To this end, the Secretary of Homeland

Security and the Attorney General will convene a panel

with appropriate representatives from federal, state, and

local government, in consultation with the private

sector, to examine whether employer liability statutes

and privacy concerns hinder necessary background

checks of personnel with access to critical infrastructure

facilities or systems. The Department of Homeland

Security would also undertake a comprehensive review

of other protection measures necessary to deny terrorist

access to critical infrastructure—for example, establishing “security zones” and controlling access around

34 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
vulnerable port facilities much as we control access at

airports.

Partner with the international community to protect our

transnational infrastructure. We share much of our

critical infrastructure with our neighbors in Canada and

Mexico, and increasingly with countries around the

world. Our electricity transmission, natural gas and

petroleum pipelines are part of a vast, interconnected

system that serves not only the United States, but

Canada and Mexico as well. America’s seaports often

contain dense concentrations of population and critical

infrastructure assets and systems while sustaining an

ever-increasing volume of trade with ports around the

globe. Thus, terrorists need not gain access to our

territory to attack our infrastructure. The Administration

is establishing joint steering committees with both

Canada and Mexico to improve the security of critical

physical and cyber infrastructure, and is actively pursuing

necessary international cooperation to increase the

security of global transportation systems and commerce.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 35
36 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
The expertise, technology, and material needed to build

the most deadly weapons known to mankind—

including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear

weapons—are proliferating. If our enemies acquire

these weapons, they are likely to try to use them. The

consequences of such an attack could be far more

devastating than those we suffered on September 11—

a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear terrorist

attack in the United States could cause large numbers

of casualties, mass psychological disruption, and

contamination, and could overwhelm local medical

capabilities.

Currently, chemical, biological, radiological, and

nuclear detection capabilities are modest and response

capabilities are dispersed throughout the country at

every level of government. Responsibility for chemical,

biological, radiological, and nuclear surveillance as well

as for initial response efforts often rests with state and

local hospitals and public health agencies. Today, if a

natural disaster or terrorist attack causes medical

consequences that exceed local and state capabilities,

the Department of Health and Human Services would

coordinate the deployment of medical personnel,

equipment, and pharmaceuticals among the

Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Justice,

Transportation, Veterans Affairs, the Environmental

Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency

Management Agency, General Services

Administration, National Communications System,

U.S. Postal Service, and the American Red Cross.

While the government’s collaborative arrangements

have proven adequate for a variety of natural disasters,

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 37

Defending against Catastrophic

Threats
the threat of terrorist attacks using chemical,

biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons with potentially catastrophic consequences demands new

approaches, a focused strategy, and a new organization.

Our country has already expanded capabilities and

improved coordination among federal agencies, but

more can be done to prepare and respond.

Major Initiatives

Prevent terrorist use of nuclear weapons through better

sensors and procedures. Our top scientific priority must

be preventing terrorist use of nuclear weapons. Under

the President’s proposal, the Department of Homeland

Security will implement a new system of procedures

and technologies to detect and prevent the transport of

nuclear explosives toward our borders and into the

United States. The Department of Homeland Security

would develop and deploy new inspection procedures

and detection systems against the entry of such

materials at all ports of entry in the United States and

at major overseas cargo loading facilities. The

Department—in cooperation with the Department of

Transportation, state and local governments, and the

private sector—would develop additional inspection

procedures and detection systems throughout our

national transportation structure to detect the

movement of nuclear materials within the United

States. It will also initiate and sustain research and

development efforts aimed at new and better passive

and active detection systems.

The Departments of State, Energy, and Defense are

already working with foreign states possessing nuclear

programs to ensure continued strict security for the

global inventory of nuclear weapons and materials,

consistent with domestic and international legal

obligations (including the Treaty on Non-Proliferation

of Nuclear Weapons). These Departments will also

work with foreign governments to improve their

capabilities to detect the movement of nuclear

materials or weapons and to respond appropriately.

They will work with foreign governments, for example,

to assess their need for enhanced radiation detection

capabilities at borders, seaports, and airports and,

where appropriate, will coordinate the provision of

detection equipment to countries where the threat

from the movement of nuclear weapons and materials

is significant.

Detect chemical and biological materials and attacks. The

federal government, with due attention to constraints

such as the need for low operating costs, will develop

sensitive and highly selective systems that detect the

release of biological or chemical agents. The

Environmental Protection Agency, for example, is

evaluating the upgrading of air monitoring stations to

allow for the detection of certain chemical, biological,

or radiological substances. The federal government will

also explore systems that can detect whether an

individual has been immunized against a threat

pathogen or has recently handled threat materials.

The ability to quickly recognize and report biological

and chemical attacks will minimize casualties and

enable first responders to treat the injured effectively.

Local emergency personnel and health providers must

first be able to diagnose symptoms. In addition to

existing state laws mandating the reporting of threat

diseases by physicians, veterinarians, and public health

laboratories, rapid diagnosis of diseases of concern and

communication form the cornerstone of a robust

response. The Department of Homeland Security,

National Vision

America will have a coordinated national effort

to prepare for, prevent, and respond to chemical,

biological, radiological, and nuclear terrorist

threats to the homeland. We will seek to detect

chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear

weapons and prevent their entry into the United

States. If terrorists use chemical, biological,

radiological, or nuclear weapons, our communities and emergency personnel will be

organized, trained, and equipped to detect and

identify dangerous agents, respond rapidly, treat

those who are harmed, contain the damage, and

decontaminate the area. Our Nation will

consolidate and synchronize the disparate

efforts of multiple federal entities currently

scattered across several departments. Under the

President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will unify much of the

federal government’s efforts to develop and

implement scientific and technological countermeasures against human, animal, and plant

diseases that could be used as terrorist weapons.

The Department would sponsor and establish

national priorities for research, development,

and testing to develop new vaccines, antidotes,

diagnostics, therapies and other technologies

against chemical, biological, radiological, or

nuclear terrorism; to recognize, identify, and

confirm the occurrence of an attack; and to

minimize the morbidity and mortality caused by

such an attack. In addition, the federal

government will set standards and guidelines for

state and local chemical, biological, radiological,

and nuclear preparedness and response efforts.

38 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
under the President’s proposal, will improve infectious

disease and chemical terrorism surveillance by working

with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs in

concert with local and state public health jurisdictions.

These entities will work to develop a national system

to detect biological and chemical attacks. This system

will include a public health surveillance system to

monitor public and private databases for indicators of

biological or chemical attack. National research efforts

will pay particular attention to recognizing harmful

dual-use industrial chemicals.

The CDC will continue its vital role in detecting,

diagnosing, and addressing bioterrorist threats. Its

Epidemic Intelligence Service will be expanded and

modernized to better train local and state officials in

recognizing biological attacks. Under the President’s

proposal, the Department of Homeland Security will

also provide resources to state and local jurisdictions

with a population of 500,000 or more to hire skilled

epidemiologists. The recently established Epidemic

Information Exchange System will allow the sharing of

disease information in a secure information system.

Public health databases will be linked nationwide

through the National Electronic Disease Surveillance

System to recognize patterns of disease occurrence and

to identify potential regional or national outbreaks.

The Laboratory Response Network will improve

laboratory technology and infrastructure to increase the

speed and precision of diagnoses and confirmation of

biological attacks. The Department would build the

capacity to gather data from all these systems and

sensors, quickly assess the extent of any attack, and

recommend response options to policymakers.

The Department of Homeland Security, working with

the Department of Agriculture, would also strengthen

our parallel system for monitoring agricultural

outbreaks. Since animals can serve as important

sentinels signaling a biological attack against humans

or be targets themselves, the Department of Homeland

Security would collaborate closely with the

Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug

Administration’s Food and Animal Health program.

Improve chemical sensors and decontamination

techniques. Private industry and the military routinely

use sensors that can detect and identify toxic

chemicals. Sensors with medical applications have also

reached the market. Affordable, accurate, compact, and

dependable sensors, however, are not available. The

Department of Homeland Security would therefore

fund and coordinate a national research program to

develop, test, and field detection devices and networks

that provide immediate and accurate warnings. The

Department would also support research into decontamination technologies and procedures. As discussed in

the Emergency Preparedness and Response chapter, the

Department of Homeland Security and the

Environmental Protection Agency would require

assessment technologies to determine when to permit

individuals to re-enter buildings and areas.

Develop broad spectrum vaccines, antimicrobials and

antidotes. In many cases, our medical countermeasures

cannot address all possible biological agents or may not

be suitable for use by the general population. The

Departments of Health and Human Services and

Homeland Security, and other government and private

research entities, will pursue new defenses that will

increase efficacy while reducing side effects. For

example, they will explore the utility of attenuated

smallpox vaccines and of existing antivirals modified to

render those vaccines more effective and safe.

Furthermore, the federal government, in collaboration

with the private sector, will research and work toward

development of broad spectrum antivirals to meet the

threat of engineered pathogens aimed at both humans

and livestock.

Short-and long-term efforts will expand the inventory

of diagnostics, vaccines, and other therapies such as

antimicrobials and antidotes that can mitigate the

consequences of a chemical, biological, radiological, or

nuclear attack. Development of safer smallpox vaccines

and antiviral drugs will lower the risk of adverse

reactions experienced with the traditional vaccine. The

goal of protecting a diverse population of all ages and

health conditions requires a coordinated national effort

with a comprehensive research and development

strategy and investment plans.

Harness the scientific knowledge and tools to counter

terrorism. We will harness America’s resources to fight

against the most pressing chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear challenges. In consultation with the

Department of Health and Human Services, the

Department of Homeland Security would leverage the

expertise of America’s cutting-edge medical and

biotechnological infrastructure to advance the state of

knowledge in infectious disease prevention and

treatment, forensic epidemiology, and microbial

forensics. Substantial research into relevant medical

sciences is necessary to better detect, diagnose, and

treat the consequences of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attacks. The President has proposed

a National Biological Weapons Analysis Center in the

Department of Homeland Security to address some of

these issues and conduct risk assessments. This Center,

with input from the public health sector, will identify

the highest priority threat agents to determine which

countermeasures require priority research and development. The federal government will also consider and

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 39
address the potential impact of genetic engineering on

the biological threat.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ensures

the availability of medical products (drugs, vaccines,

and devices) in the event of the intentional use of

chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agents.

Recently, the FDA adjusted its new drug and

biological product regulations so that certain human

drugs designed for emergency responses can be quickly

introduced based on animal rather than human tests.

Implement the Select Agent Program. Research laboratories can also counter bioterrorism through

prevention, and by tracking and securing dangerous

biological agents. Under the President’s proposal, the

Department of Homeland Security will oversee the

Select Agent Program to regulate the shipment of

certain hazardous biological organisms and toxins.

Through the registration of more than 300 laboratories, the Select Agent Program has significantly

increased oversight and security of pathogens that

could be used for bioterrorism. The CDC is also

training public health officials in every state to assist in

accurately interpreting biosafety containment provisions and select agent procedures.

40 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
We must prepare to minimize the damage and recover

from any future terrorist attacks that may occur despite

our best efforts at prevention. Past experience has

shown that preparedness efforts are key to providing an

effective response to major terrorist incidents and

natural disasters. Therefore, we need a comprehensive

national system to bring together and command all

necessary response assets quickly and effectively. We

must equip, train, and exercise many different response

units to mobilize for any emergency without warning.

Under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security, building on the strong foundation

already laid by the Federal Emergency Management

Agency (FEMA), will lead our national efforts to create

and employ a system that will improve our response to

all disasters, both manmade and natural.

Many pieces of this national emergency response

system are already in place. America’s first line of

defense in the aftermath of any terrorist attack is its

first responder community—police officers, firefighters,

emergency medical providers, public works personnel,

and emergency management officials. Nearly three

million state and local first responders regularly put

their lives on the line to save the lives of others and

make our country safer. These individuals include

specially trained hazardous materials teams, collapse

search and rescue units, bomb squads, and tactical units.

In a serious emergency, the federal government

augments state and local response efforts. FEMA,

which under the President’s proposal will be a key

component of the Department of Homeland Security,

provides funding and command and control support. A

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 41

Emergency Preparedness 

and Response
number of important specialized federal emergency

response assets that are housed in various departments

would also fall under the Secretary of Homeland

Security’s authority for responding to a major terrorist

attack. Because response efforts to all major incidents

entail the same basic elements, it is essential that

federal response capabilities for both terrorist attacks

and natural disasters remain in the same organization.

This would ensure the most efficient provision of

federal support to local responders by preventing the

proliferation of duplicative “boutique” response entities.

Americans respond with great skill and courage to

emergencies. There are, however, too many seams in

our current response plans and capabilities. Today, at

least five different plans—the Federal Response Plan,

the National Contingency Plan, the Interagency

Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan, the

Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan, and a

nascent bioterrorism response plan—govern the federal

government’s response. These plans and the

government’s overarching policy for counterterrorism

are based on a distinction between “crisis management”

and “consequence management.” In addition, different

organizations at different levels of the government

have put in place different incident management

systems and communications equipment. All too often,

these systems and equipment do not function together

well enough.

We will enhance our capabilities for responding to a

terrorist attack all across the country. Today, many

geographic areas have little or no capability to respond

to a terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction.

Even the best prepared states and localities do not

possess adequate resources to respond to the full range

of terrorist threats we face. Many do not yet have in

place mutual aid agreements to facilitate cooperation

with their neighbors in time of emergency. Until

recently, federal support for domestic preparedness

efforts has been relatively small and disorganized, with

eight different departments and agencies providing

money in a tangled web of grant programs.

Major Initiatives

Integrate separate federal response plans into a single alldiscipline incident management plan. Under the

President’s proposal, the Department of Homeland

Security will consolidate existing federal government

emergency response plans into one genuinely all-discipline, all-hazard plan—the Federal Incident

Management Plan—and thereby eliminate the “crisis

management” and “consequence management”

distinction. This plan would cover all incidents of

national significance, including acts of bioterrorism and

agroterrorism, and clarify roles and expected contributions of various emergency response bodies at different

levels of government in the wake of a terrorist attack.

The Department of Homeland Security would provide

a direct line of authority from the President through

the Secretary of Homeland Security to a single on-site

federal coordinator. The single federal coordinator

would be responsible to the President for coordinating

the entire federal response. Lead agencies would

maintain operational control over their functions (for

example, the FBI will remain the lead agency for

federal law enforcement) in coordination with the

single on-site federal official. The Department would

direct the Domestic Emergency Support Team, nuclear

incident response teams, National Pharmaceutical

Stockpile, and National Disaster Medical System, as

well as other assets.

Create a national incident management system. Under

the President’s proposal, the Department of Homeland

Security, working with federal, state, local, and nongovernmental public safety organizations, will build a

comprehensive national incident management system

to respond to terrorist incidents and natural disasters.

The Department would ensure that this national

system defines common terminology for all parties,

provides a unified command structure, and is scalable

to meet incidents of all sizes.

The federal government will encourage state and local

first responder organizations to adopt the already

National Vision

We will strive to create a fully integrated

national emergency response system that is

adaptable enough to deal with any terrorist

attack, no matter how unlikely or catastrophic,

as well as all manner of natural disasters. Under

the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will consolidate federal

response plans and build a national system for

incident management. The Department would

aim to ensure that leaders at all levels of

42 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y

government have complete incident awareness

and can communicate with and command all

appropriate response personnel. Our federal, state,

and local governments would ensure that all

response personnel and organizations—including

the law enforcement, military, emergency

response, health care, public works, and environmental communities—are properly equipped,

trained, and exercised to respond to all terrorist

threats and attacks in the United States.
widespread Incident Management System by making it

a requirement for federal grants. All state and local

governments should create and regularly update their

own homeland security plans, based on their existing

emergency operations plans, to provide guidance for the

integration of their response assets in the event of an

attack. The Department of Homeland Security will,

under the President’s proposal, provide support

(including model plans) for these efforts and will adjust

the Federal Incident Management Plan as necessary to

take full advantage of state and local capabilities. State

and local governments should also sign mutual aid

agreements to facilitate cooperation with their

neighbors in time of emergency. Starting in Fiscal Year

2004, the Department would provide grants in support

of such efforts.

Improve tactical counterterrorist capabilities. With

advance warning, we have various federal, state, and

local response assets that can intercede and prevent

terrorists from carrying out attacks. These include law

enforcement, emergency response, and military teams.

In the most dangerous of incidents, particularly when

terrorists have chemical, biological, radiological, or

nuclear weapons in their possession, it is crucial that the

individuals who preempt the terrorists do so flawlessly,

no matter if they are part of the local SWAT team or

the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. It is also crucial that

these individuals be prepared and able to work effectively with each other and with other specialized

response personnel. Finally, these teams and other

emergency response assets must plan and train for the

consequences of failed tactical operations.

The Department of Homeland Security, as the lead

federal agency for incident management in the United

States, will, under the President’s plan, establish a

program for certifying the preparedness of all civilian

teams and individuals to execute and deal with the

consequences of such counterterrorist actions. As part of

this program, the Department would provide partial

grants in support of joint exercises between its response

assets and other government teams. (This program

would be voluntary for assets outside of the Department

of Homeland Security.)

Enable seamless communication among all responders. In

the aftermath of any major terrorist attack, emergency

response efforts would likely involve hundreds of offices

from across the government and the country. It is

crucial for response personnel to have and use

equipment, systems, and procedures that allow them to

communicate with one another. Under the President’s

proposal, the Department of Homeland Security will

work with state and local governments to achieve this

goal.

In particular, the Department would develop a national

emergency communication plan to establish protocols

(i.e., who needs to talk to whom), processes, and

national standards for technology acquisition. The

Department would, starting with Fiscal Year 2003

funds, tie all federal grant programs that support state

and local purchase of terrorism-related communications

equipment to this communication plan and require all

applicants to demonstrate progress in achieving interoperability with other emergency response bodies.

Prepare health care providers for catastrophic terrorism.

Our entire emergency response community must be

prepared to deal with all potential hazards, especially

those associated with weapons of mass destruction.

Under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security, working with the Departments of

Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs, will

support training and equipping of state and local health

care personnel to deal with the growing threat of

chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear terrorism.

It would continue to fund federal grants to states and

cities for bioterrorism preparedness. It would use the

hospital preparedness grant program to help prepare

hospitals and poison control centers to deal specifically

with biological and chemical attacks and to expand their

surge capacity to care for large numbers of patients in a

mass-casualty incident. These efforts would enhance

training between public health agencies and local

hospitals and seek improved cooperation between public

health and emergency agencies at all levels of

government.

A major act of biological terrorism would almost

certainly overwhelm existing state, local, and privately

owned health care capabilities. For this reason, the

federal government maintains a number of specialized

response capabilities for a bioterrorist attack. The

National Disaster Medical System, a federal/private

partnership that includes the Departments of Health

and Human Services, Defense, Veterans Affairs, and

FEMA, provides rapid response and critical surge

capacities to support localities in disaster medical

treatment. Under the President’s proposal, the

Department of Homeland Security will assume

authority over the System as part of the federal response

to incidents of national significance. The System is

made up of federal assets and thousands of volunteer

health professionals that are organized around the

country into a number of specialty teams such as

Disaster Medical Assistance Teams, National Medical

Response Teams, and teams trained in caring for

psychological trauma. In addition, the Department of

Veterans Affairs operates a vast health care, training,

and pharmaceutical procurement system with facilities

in many communities nationwide. The Department of

Defense provides specialized skills and transportation

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 43
capabilities to move these teams and evacuate

casualties.

The Department of Homeland Security, working with

the Department of Health and Human Services, would

lead efforts to test whether illnesses or complaints may

be attributable to chemical, biological, radiological, or

nuclear exposure; establish disease/exposure registries;

and develop, maintain, and provide information on the

health effects of hazardous substances. The

Environmental Protection Agency will continue to

provide a laboratory diagnostic surge capacity for

environmental samples during crises.

Augment America’s pharmaceutical and vaccine stockpiles.

The National Pharmaceutical Stockpile ensures

America’s ability to respond rapidly to a bioterrorist

attack or a mass casualty incident. This program, which

the Department of Homeland Security will operate in

consultation with the Department of Health and

Human Services under the President’s proposal,

maintains twelve strategically located “Push Packs”

containing 600 tons of antibiotics, antidotes, vaccines,

bandages, and other medical supplies. The federal

government can transport these packs to an incident

site in less than 12 hours for rapid distribution by state

and local authorities. This system performed extremely

well in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks,

delivering a “Push Pack” to New York City in seven

hours. Additional deployments followed the anthrax

attacks of October 2001.

The National Pharmaceutical Stockpile already

contains a sufficient antibiotic supply to begin

treatment for 20 million persons exposed to anthrax

and should contain enough smallpox vaccine for every

American by the end of 2002. The Department of

Homeland Security, working with the Department of

Health and Human Services, would provide grants to

state and local governments to plan for the receipt and

distribution of medicines from the Stockpile. In

addition, the Departments of Homeland Security and

Health and Human Services would pursue accelerated

FDA approval of safe and effective products to add to

the Stockpile and the development of procedures to

accelerate the availability of investigational drugs

during a public health emergency.

Prepare for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear

decontamination. The Department of Homeland

Security would ensure the readiness of our first

responders to work safely in an area where chemical,

biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons have been

used. The Department would begin requiring annual

certification of first responder preparedness to handle

and decontaminate any hazard. This certification

process would also verify the ability of state and local

first responders to work effectively with related federal

support assets.

Under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will help state and local agencies

meet these certification standards by providing grant

money (based on performance) for planning and

equipping, training, and exercising first responders for

chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks. It

would launch a national research and development

effort to create new technologies for detection and

clean-up of such attacks. After a major incident, the

Environmental Protection Agency will be responsible

for decontamination of affected buildings and neighborhoods and providing advice and assistance to public

health authorities in determining when it is safe to

return to these areas.

Plan for military support to civil authorities. The armed

forces were an integral part of our national response to

the terrorist attacks of September 11. The Department

of Defense currently uses a “Total Force” approach to

fulfill its missions overseas and at home, drawing on the

strengths and capabilities of active-duty, reserve, and

National Guard forces. In addition to response from

the active-duty forces, Air National Guard fighters took

to the air on September 11 to establish combat air

patrols. New Jersey and New York guardsmen and Navy

and Marine Corps reservists provided medical

personnel to care for the injured, military police to

assist local law enforcement officials, key asset

protection, transportation, communications, logistics,

and a myriad of other functions to support recovery

efforts in New York City. Maryland Army National

Guard military police units were brought on duty and

dispatched to provide security at the Pentagon.

President Bush asked governors to call up over seven

thousand National Guard personnel to supplement

security at the Nation’s 429 commercial airports.

Guardsmen also reinforced border security activities of

the Immigration and Nationalization Service and the

U.S. Customs Service.

The importance of military support to civil authorities

as the latter respond to threats or acts of terrorism is

recognized in Presidential decision directives and legislation. Military support to civil authorities pursuant to a

terrorist threat or attack may take the form of providing

technical support and assistance to law enforcement;

assisting in the restoration of law and order; loaning

specialized equipment; and assisting in consequence

management.

In April 2002, President Bush approved a revision of

the Unified Command Plan that included establishing

a new unified combatant command, U.S. Northern

Command. This Command will be responsible for

homeland defense and for assisting civil authorities in

44 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
accordance with U.S. law. As in the case with all other

combatant commanders, the commander of Northern

Command will take all operational orders from and is

responsible to the President through the Secretary of

Defense. The commander of Northern Command will

update plans to provide military support to domestic

civil authorities in response to natural and man-made

disasters and during national emergencies. The

Department of Homeland Security and the

Department of Defense would participate as appropriate in homeland security training that involves

military and civilian emergency response personnel.

Build the Citizen Corps. Under the President’s proposal,

the Department of Homeland Security will maintain

and expand Citizens Corps, a national program to

prepare volunteers for terrorism-related response

support. If we can help individual citizens help

themselves and their neighbors in the case of a local

attack, we will improve our chances to save lives. (See

Organizing for a Secure Homeland chapter for additional

discussion.)

Implement the First Responder Initiative of the Fiscal Year

2003 Budget. Before September 11, the federal

government had allocated less than $1 billion since 1995

to help prepare first responders for terrorist attacks. A

range of federal departments provided funding for

training and equipment, technical assistance, and other

support to assist state and local first responders. These

disparate programs were a step in the right direction but

fell short in terms of scale and cohesion.

In January 2002, President Bush proposed the First

Responder Initiative as part of his Fiscal Year 2003

Budget proposal. The purpose of this initiative is to

improve dramatically first responder preparedness for

terrorist incidents and disasters. This program will

increase federal funding levels more than tenfold (from

$272 million in the pre-supplemental Fiscal Year 2002

Budget to $3.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2003). Under the

President’s Department of Homeland Security

proposal, the new Department will consolidate all grant

programs that distribute federal funds to state and local

first responders.

Build a national training and evaluation system. The

growing threat of terrorist attacks on American soil,

including the potential use of weapons of mass

destruction, is placing great strains on our Nation’s

system for training its emergency response personnel.

The Department of Homeland Security will under the

President’s proposal launch a consolidated and

expanded training and evaluation system to meet the

increasing demand. This system would be predicated

on a four phased approach: requirements, plans,

training (and exercises), and assessments (comprising of

evaluations and corrective action plans). The

Department would serve as the central coordinating

body responsible for overseeing curriculum standards

and, through regional centers of excellence such as the

Emergency Management Institute in Maryland, the

Center for Domestic Preparedness in Alabama, and the

National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, for

training the instructors who will train our first

responders. These instructors would teach courses at

thousands of facilities such as public safety academies,

community colleges, and state and private universities.

Under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will establish national standards for

emergency response training and preparedness. These

standards would provide guidelines for the vaccination

of civilian response personnel against certain biological

agents. These standards would also require certain

coursework for individuals to receive and maintain

certification as first responders and for state and local

governments to receive federal grants. The Department

would establish a national exercise program designed to

educate and evaluate civilian response personnel at all

levels of government. It would require individuals and

government bodies to complete successfully at least one

exercise every year. The Department would use these

exercises to measure performance and allocate future

resources.

Enhance the victim support system. The United States

must be prepared to assist the victims of terrorist

attacks and their families, as well as other individuals

affected indirectly by attacks. Under the President’s

proposal, the Department of Homeland Security will

lead federal agencies and provide guidance to state,

local, and volunteer organizations in offering victims

and their families various forms of assistance including:

crisis counseling, cash grants, low-interest loans,

unemployment benefits, free legal counseling, and tax

refunds. In the case of a terrorist attack, the

Department would coordinate the various federal

programs for victim compensation and assistance,

including the Department of Justice’s Office for

Victims of Crime and FEMA’s Individual Assistance

programs. (See Costs of Homeland Security chapter for

additional discussion.) 

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 45
46 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
Throughout this Nation’s history we have used our

laws to promote and safeguard our security and our

liberty. The law will both provide mechanisms for the

government to act and define the appropriate limits of

that action. The President, recognizing this, directed

the Office of Homeland Security to review state and

federal legal authorities pertinent to homeland security.

We have already taken important steps to protect our

homeland. The USA PATRIOT Act, signed into law

by the President on October 26, 2001, has improved

government coordination in law enforcement, intelligence gathering, and information-sharing. The

Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which 

established the Transportation Security Administration,

has strengthened civil aviation security. The Enhanced

Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act will

reinforce border security systems. Finally, the Public

Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and

Response Act will better the Nation’s ability to

prevent, prepare for, and respond to bioterrorism.

But more needs to be done. On June 18, 2002, the

President provided Congress with proposed legislation

to establish a Department of Homeland Security. This

new Cabinet agency would have a single, urgent

mission: securing the homeland of America and

protecting the American people from terrorism. Yet

creation of this department does not in and of itself

constitute a sufficient response to the terrorist threat.

We must pass complementary legislation to address

innate deficiencies in our overall ability to counter

terrorism.

Where new legislation at the federal level is necessary

to accomplish our counterterrorism goals, we should

work carefully to ensure that newly crafted federal laws

do not preempt state law unnecessarily or overly federalize counterterrorism efforts. The Tenth Amendment

makes clear that each state retains substantial

independent power with respect to the general welfare

of its populace. States should avail themselves to the

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 47

Law
resources and expertise offered by their sister states and

federal counterparts.

Informed by these concepts, the National Strategy for

Homeland Security outlines several legislative actions.

This section does not purport to constitute a complete

survey of needed legislative changes. Rather, the

actions outlined below are initial steps in an ongoing

effort to identify legislative reforms and redundancies

with respect to homeland security.

Major Initiatives (Federal)

Enable critical infrastructure information sharing.

Homeland security officials need quick, complete

access to information relevant to the protection of

physical and cyber critical infrastructure. We must

meet this need by narrowly limiting public disclosure

of such information in order to facilitate its voluntary

submission without compromising the principles of

openness that ensure government accountability. To

this end, the Attorney General will convene a panel

with representatives of state attorneys general, state

governors, state legislators, state law enforcement, the

FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency, the

Department of Health and Human Services, and other

federal agencies as necessary upon consultation with

the Office of Management and Budget, to propose

needed legislative reform or guidance regarding

statutes governing public disclosure.

Streamline information sharing among intelligence and

law enforcement agencies. Homeland security requires

improved information sharing between the intelligence

community, law enforcement agencies, and government

decision-makers. Our current shortcoming in this area

stems, in part, from the number of laws, regulations,

and guidelines controlling intelligence operations.

Congress, with the enactment of the USA PATRIOT

Act, took important steps toward identifying and

removing some barriers to the exchange of intelligence.

The Administration will expand on this initiative by

leading a review of all authorities governing the

analysis, integrity, and disclosure of intelligence with

the aim of improving information sharing through

legislative reform while guarding against incursions on

liberties.

Expand existing extradition authorities. The war on

terrorism is and must be a global effort. Our country

must continue to work cooperatively with nations

around the world. To that end, the Departments of

State and Justice should work with Congress to amend

current extradition laws in two respects. First, new

legislation should be adopted that would authorize

extradition for additional crimes where the United

States already has an extradition treaty, but where the

treaty applies only to a limited set of crimes. Second,

Congress should grant authority to extradite

individuals from the United States for serious crimes in

the absence of an extradition treaty, on a case-by-case

basis with the approval of the Attorney General and

the Secretary of State.

Review authority for military assistance in domestic

security. Federal law prohibits military personnel from

enforcing the law within the United States except as

expressly authorized by the Constitution or an Act of

Congress. The threat of catastrophic terrorism requires

a thorough review of the laws permitting the military

to act within the United States in order to determine

whether domestic preparedness and response efforts

would benefit from greater involvement of military

personnel and, if so, how.

Revive the President’s reorganization authority. Only

Congress can create a new department of government;

the President, however, is tasked with running the

departments. Recognizing the need for flexible

Presidential management authority, Congress in 1932,

provided the President with the ability to reorganize

the executive branch for the purpose of reducing

National Vision

We are a Nation built on the rule of law, and we

will utilize our laws to win the war on terrorism

while always protecting our civil liberties. We

should use our federal immigration laws and

customs regulations to protect our borders and

ensure uninterrupted commerce; we should

strengthen state codes to protect our public

welfare; we should employ local, state, and

federal criminal justice systems to prosecute

terrorists; and we should engage our partners

around the world in countering the global threat

of terrorism through treaties and mutually

supporting laws. Where we find our existing

laws to be inadequate in light of the terrorist

threat, we should craft new laws carefully, never

losing sight of our strategic purpose for waging

this war—to provide security and liberty to our

people. We should guard scrupulously against

incursions on our freedoms, recognizing that

liberty cannot exist in the absence of governmental restraint. As we move forward in the

fight, we should refrain from instituting unnecessary laws, as we remain true to our principles

of federalism and individual freedom.

48 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
expenditures and increasing efficiency. This authority,

which has taken various forms over the years, lapsed in

1984. While this Administration’s priority is working

with Congress to restructure the federal government to

create the Department of Homeland Security, reviving

the reorganization authority would greatly assist

Presidents in years to come to eliminate redundancies

within executive agencies and address homeland

security more efficiently and economically. Congress

should amend Chapter 9 of Title 5 of the U.S. Code to

reinvigorate the President’s authority to reorganize the

executive branch.

Provide substantial management flexibility for the

Department of Homeland Security. Terrorists are opportunistic, agile, and driven. In order to respond to them

effectively, the Secretary of the new Department of

Homeland Security must have the advantage of

modern management techniques. Therefore, the

Administration’s proposed legislation for the

Department includes 21st-century approaches to

personnel and procurement policies. It also requests

broad reorganization authority to enhance operational

effectiveness as needed. With these and other flexible

practices, the Secretary would have the managerial

freedom necessary to accomplish not only the

Department’s primary mission of homeland security

but also the important agency functions it will absorb

which are not directly related to homeland security.

Major Initiatives (State)

Given the states’ major role in homeland security, and

consistent with the principles of federalism inherent to

American government, the following initiatives

constitute suggestions, not mandates, for state initiatives.

Coordinate suggested minimum standards for state

driver’s licenses. The licensing of drivers by the 50

states, the District of Columbia, and the United States

territories varies widely. There are no national or

agreed upon state standards for content, format, or

license acquisition procedures. Terrorist organizations,

including Al-Qaeda operatives involved in the

September 11 attacks, have exploited these differences.

While the issuance of driver’s licenses falls squarely

within the powers of the states, the federal government

can assist the states in crafting solutions to curtail the

future abuse of driver’s licenses by terrorist organizations. Therefore, the federal government, in

consultation with state government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, should support state-led

efforts to develop suggested minimum standards for

driver’s licenses, recognizing that many states should

and will exceed these standards.

Enhance market capacity for terrorism insurance. The

need for insurance coverage for terrorist events has

increased dramatically. Federal support is clearly critical

to a properly functioning market for terrorism

insurance; nonetheless, state regulation will play an

integral role in ensuring the adequate provision of

terrorism insurance. To establish a regulatory approach

which enables American businesses to spread and pool

risk efficiently, states should work together and with

the federal government to find a mutually acceptable

approach to enhance market capacity to cover terrorist

risk.

Train for prevention of cyber attacks. State and local

officials have requested federal training regarding the

identification, investigation, and enforcement of cyberrelated crimes and terrorism. The FBI, in coordination

with other relevant federal organizations, should assist

state and local law enforcement in obtaining training

in this area.

Suppress money laundering. Terrorists use unregulated

financial services, among other means, to fund their

operations. The Money Laundering Suppression Act

(P.L. 103-325) urges states to enact uniform laws to

license and regulate certain financial services. The USA

PATRIOT Act also relies on state law to establish the

regulatory structure necessary to combat money

laundering. States should assess the current status of

their regulations regarding non-depository providers of

financial services and work to adopt uniform laws as

necessary to ensure more efficient and effective

regulation. By doing so, states would protect consumers

by providing increased stability and transparency to an

industry prone to abuse while at the same time

providing state and local law enforcement with the

tools necessary to dismantle informal and unlicensed

money transmission networks.

Ensure continuity of the judiciary. In the aftermath of a

terrorist attack, our judicial system must continue to

operate effectively. Planning is critical to this continuity. As such, states, relevant non-governmental

organizations, and representatives of the Department

of Justice and the federal judiciary should convene a

committee of representatives to consider the expedient

appointment of judges; interaction and coordination

among federal and state judiciaries; and other matters

necessary to the continued functioning of the judiciary

in times of crisis.

Review quarantine authority. State quarantine laws —

most of which are over 100 years old—fail to address

the dangers presented by modern biological warfare

and terrorism. States, therefore, should update

quarantine laws to improve intrastate response while

working with their sister states and federal regulators

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 49
to assure compliance with minimum public health

standards. To facilitate this process, the Departments

of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services,

Justice, and Defense should participate in a review of

quarantine statutes and regulations in conjunction with

state and local authorities to establish minimum

standards. In addition, legislators should provide strong

federal, state, and local evacuation authority through

appropriate legislation or regulation.

50 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
The Nation’s advantage in science and technology is a

key to securing the homeland. New technologies for

analysis, information sharing, detection of attacks, and

countering chemical, biological, radiological, and

nuclear weapons will help prevent and minimize the

damage from future terrorist attacks. Just as science

and technology have helped us defeat past enemies

overseas, so too will they help us defeat the efforts of

terrorists to attack our homeland and disrupt our way

of life.

The Nation needs a systematic national effort to

harness science and technology in support of homeland

security. Our national research enterprise is vast and

complex, with companies, universities, research institutes, and government laboratories of all sizes

conducting research and development on a very broad

range of issues. Guiding this enterprise to field

important new capabilities and focus new efforts in

support of homeland security is a major undertaking.

The Department of Homeland Security, which under

the President’s proposal will serve as the federal

government’s lead for this effort, will work with private

and public entities to ensure that our homeland

security research and development are of sufficient size

and sophistication to counter the threat posed by

modern terrorism.

The private sector has the expertise to develop and

produce many of the technologies, devices, and systems

needed for homeland security. The federal government

needs to find better ways to harness the energy,

ingenuity, and investments of private entities for these

purposes. Many businesses that could play a role in

homeland security research and development are

unaccustomed to working with the federal government

and some avoid it entirely due to onerous contracting

and oversight requirements. In addition, the

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 51

Science and Technology
government currently has very few programs that

solicit research and development proposals focused

specifically on developing new homeland security

capabilities. The Department of Homeland Security

would take the lead in overcoming these obstacles.

The President has proposed to consolidate most of the

federal government’s homeland security research and

development efforts under the coordination of the

Department of Homeland Security to ensure strategic

direction and avoid duplication. To date, research and

development activities in support of homeland security

have been underfunded, evolutionary, short-term in

nature, fragmented across too many departments, and

heavily reliant on spin-offs from the national security

and medical sectors. Many of the involved agencies

have little frontline knowledge of homeland security

and little or no experience in technology acquisition

and supporting research. The new Department would

be responsible for overcoming these shortfalls by

ensuring the pursuit of research and development

activities where none existed previously.

The President’s Fiscal Year 2003 Budget request

proposed a significant increase in homeland security

research and development funding: from nearly $1

billion in Fiscal Year 2002 to about $3 billion, with the

bulk focused on developing new countermeasures to

bioterrorism. This is a crucial first federal step for

dealing with one of our most pressing scientific

challenges. The Department must build on this down

payment to create and implement a long-term research

and development plan that includes investment in

potentially revolutionary capabilities.

Major Initiatives

Develop chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear

countermeasures. The Nation’s research and development agenda will prioritize efforts to deal with

catastrophic threats. Key initiatives will include

research and development to prevent terrorist use of

nuclear weapons, detect chemical and biological

materials and attacks, develop high-efficacy vaccines

and antivirals against biological agents, and track

laboratory use of biological agents. (See Defending

against Catastrophic Threats chapter for additional

discussion.) 

Develop systems for detecting hostile intent. Terrorism

ultimately requires individual human beings to carry

out murderous actions. These individuals, whether they

intend to commandeer an aircraft, detonate a suicide

bomb, or sneak illicit material through customs, may

behave in a manner that reveals their criminal intent.

The Department of Homeland Security would work

with private and public entities to develop a variety of

systems that highlight such behavior and can trigger

further investigation and analysis of suspected

individuals. This would allow security officials at points

of interest such as airports and borders to examine

more closely individuals who exhibit such characteristics and also have other indications of potentially

hostile intent in their background. The Department

would also explore whether appropriate sensors can

determine whether individuals have been immunized

or otherwise exposed to biological agents, chemical

agents, or nuclear materials.

Apply biometric technology to identification devices. As

our military, intelligence, and law enforcement efforts

in Afghanistan and other countries have demonstrated,

bringing justice to terrorists and their supporters is

complicated by the fact that they hide among innocent

civilians and in remote places. Finding terrorists and

preventing terrorist attacks here in the United States is

difficult for the same reason—for example, a terrorist

on the FBI’s Watch List may sneak past security

personnel at an airport thanks to false documents and a

simple disguise. These challenges require new

security actors. We will explore both evolutionary improvements to current capabilities

and development of revolutionary new capabilities. The Department of Homeland Security

will ensure appropriate testing and piloting of

new technologies. Finally, the Department,

working with other agencies, will set standards

to assist the acquisition decisions of state and

local governments and private-sector entities.

52 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y

National Vision

In the war on terrorism, America’s vast science

and technology base provides a key advantage.

With the Department of Homeland Security as

a focal point, the United States will press this

advantage through a national research and

development enterprise for homeland security

similar in emphasis and focus to that which has

supported the national security community for

more than fifty years. The Department will

establish a disciplined system to guide its

homeland security research and development

efforts and those of other departments and

agencies. As a Nation, we will emphasize

science and technology applications that address

catastrophic threats. We will build on existing

science and technology whenever possible. We

will embrace science and technology initiatives

that can support the whole range of homeland
technologies and systems to identify and find

individual terrorists. The Department of Homeland

Security would support research and development

efforts in biometric technology, which shows great

promise. The Department would focus on improving

accuracy, consistency, and efficiency in biometric

systems. Furthermore, the Department would explore

biomolecular and other new techniques, as well as

enhancements to current techniques such as noise

suppression methods for voice authentication.

Improve the technical capabilities of first responders. If we

do not protect our first responders from the dangerous

effects of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear

attacks, we may lose the very people we depend on to

minimize the damage of any such attacks. The

Department of Homeland Security would launch a

steady and long-term effort to provide first responders

with technical capabilities for dealing with the effects

of catastrophic threats—capabilities that would aid

both first responders and victims of the attack. These

capabilities would include protective gear and masks,

prophylactic treatments, and decontamination

equipment. The Department would undertake

sustained efforts to develop treatments and decontamination methodologies for radiological and nuclear

events. The Department would also focus on developing new methods to merge disparate databases and

provide first responders with accurate and usable

pictures of building layouts and other key information

about the site of a terrorist incident. In all these efforts,

the Department would pay great attention to ensuring

that these technologies are easy to use under the

extreme conditions in which first responders operate.

Coordinate research and development of the homeland

security apparatus. The Department of Homeland

Security, working with the White House and other

federal departments, would set the overall direction for

our Nation’s homeland security research and development. The Department would establish a

management structure to oversee its research and

development activities and to guide its interagency

coordination activities. It would base these efforts on a

constant examination of the Nation’s vulnerabilities,

continual testing of our security systems, and updated

evaluations of the threat and its weaknesses. It would

make sure that new technologies can scale appropriately—in terms of complexity, operation, and

sustainability—to meet any terrorist attack, no matter

how large.

The technologies developed through this research and

development should not only make us safer, but also

make our daily lives better; while protecting against the

rare event, they should also enhance the commonplace.

Thus, the technologies developed for homeland

security should fit well within our physical and

economic infrastructure and our national habits.

System performance must balance the risks associated

with the terrorist threat against the impact of false

alarms and impediments to our way of life.

Establish a national laboratory for homeland security.

Under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will establish a laboratory—actually

a network of laboratories—modeled on the National

Nuclear Security Administration laboratories that

provided expertise in nuclear weapon design throughout

the Cold War. These laboratories would provide a

multidisciplinary environment for developing and

demonstrating new technologies for homeland security

and would maintain a critical mass of scientific and

engineering talent with a deep understanding of the

various operational and technical issues associated with

homeland security systems. The Department would

establish a central management and research facility

with satellite centers of excellence located at various

national laboratories.

The national laboratory for homeland security would

develop, demonstrate, and then transition to the field

new technologies and system concepts to counter the

specific threats of chemical, biological, radiological, and

nuclear terrorism. It would transfer successful

technologies to commercial industry for manufacture

and long-term support. It would reach out to various

regional, state, and local homeland security efforts,

gaining familiarity with their issues, and providing

them core research, development, test, and evaluation

expertise. The laboratory would help the Department

of Homeland Security’s efforts to conduct and support

threat and vulnerability analyses.

Solicit independent and private analysis for science and

technology research. Under the President’s proposal, the

Department of Homeland Security will fund

independent analytic support for our homeland

security science and technology endeavors. These

efforts will support planning activities, including net

assessment, preparing agency guidance, and reviewing

agency programs and budgets; systems analyses;

requirements analyses; assessments of competing

technical and operational approaches; and the

Department’s use of “red team” techniques. (See

Intelligence and Warning chapter for additional details

on “red team” techniques.) The organizations that

provide this support to the Department will undertake

long-range projects and should have access to sensitive

government and proprietary data, including intelligence assessments. They should also possess

unquestionable objectivity, staying free from conflicts

of interest with other government institutions and the

private sector.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 53
Establish a mechanism for rapidly producing prototypes.

Technologies developed for a variety of purposes are

often directly applicable, or quickly adaptable, for

homeland security needs. Under the President’s

proposal, the Department of Homeland Security will

work with other federal agencies to provide a means for

rapid prototyping of innovative homeland security

concepts based on existing technologies. It would

collect unsolicited ideas, evaluate them, and maintain a

capability for funding the most promising ideas either

directly or in partnership with a relevant agency. The

Department would ensure that successful prototypes

are sustainable by partnering with the commercial

sector for manufacture and long-term support.

Conduct demonstrations and pilot deployments. The

Department of Homeland Security would systematically engage in pilot deployments and demonstrations

to provide a conduit between the state and local users

of technology and the federal developers of that

technology. These pilot deployments and demonstrations would serve as a focal point for the development

of regional solutions, testing how well new homeland

security technologies work under local conditions

across America. We must also test how well those

technologies work in the case of a large-scale attack.

Set standards for homeland security technology.In order to

encourage investment in homeland security science and

technology efforts, the Department of Homeland

Security, along with other federal agencies, would work

with state and local governments and the private sector

to build a mechanism for analyzing, validating, and

setting standards for homeland security equipment. The

Department would develop comprehensive protocols for

certification of compliance with these standards. This

activity will allow state and local officials to make

informed procurement decisions.

Establish a system for high-risk, high-payoff homeland

security research.Bringing the full force of science to bear

on our efforts to secure the homeland will require

systematic investment in innovative and revolutionary

research and development projects. We expect many of

these projects to fail due to the technical risks involved,

but the payoff for success will be great. The Department

of Homeland Security would establish a program with a

high level of programmatic and budgetary flexibility to

solicit private industry for innovative concepts.

Through these and other focused science and technology

programs, we will develop new tools and techniques to

secure our homeland. Our enemies are adaptive,

constantly searching for new ways to strike us. We must

do the same. Just as we did in World War II and in the

Cold War, we must use our great strength in science and

technology to triumph in the war on terrorism.

54 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
Information contributes to every aspect of homeland

security and is a vital foundation for the homeland

security effort. Every government official performing

every homeland security mission depends upon information and information technology.

Although American information technology is the

most advanced in the world, our country’s information

systems have not adequately supported the homeland

security mission. Today, there is no single agency or

computer network that integrates all homeland security

information nationwide, nor is it likely that there ever

will be. Instead, much of the information exists in

disparate databases scattered among federal, state, and

local entities. In many cases, these computer systems

cannot share information—either “horizontally” (across

the same level of government) or “vertically” (between

federal, state, and local governments). Databases used

for law enforcement, immigration, intelligence, and

public health surveillance have not been connected in

ways that allow us to recognize information gaps or

redundancies. As a result, government agencies storing

terrorism information, such as terrorist “watch lists,”

have not been able to systematically share that information with other agencies. These differences can

sometimes result in errors if, for example, visa applications and border controls are not checked against

consistent “watch lists.” It is crucial to link the vast

amounts of knowledge resident within each agency at

all levels of government.

Despite spending some $50 billion on information

technology per year, two fundamental problems have

prevented the federal government from building an

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 55

Information Sharing and

Systems
efficient government-wide information system. First,

government acquisition of information systems has not

been routinely coordinated. Over time, hundreds of

new systems were acquired to address specific agency

requirements. Agencies have not pursued compatibility

across the federal government or with state and local

entities. Organizations have evolved into islands of

technology—distinct networks that obstruct efficient

collaboration. Second, legal and cultural barriers often

prevent agencies from exchanging and integrating

information.

Information-sharing capabilities are similarly deficient

at the state and local levels. Many states maintain

terrorism, gang, and drug databases that other states

cannot access. In addition, there are deficiencies in the

communications systems used by municipalities

throughout the country. If an attack were to occur

today, most state and local first responders would not

be using compatible communications equipment.

Wireless technology used by most communities is

outdated, and one-third of public safety agencies have

reported trouble communicating with counterparts

during incidents (according to the Public Safety

Wireless Network, a joint program of the Departments

of Justice and Treasury). Although many states have

instituted new infrastructures for sharing information

within their jurisdiction, sharing with other states and

with federal agencies remains fragmented. This lack of

interoperability was evident many times over the past

decade—during the 1993 World Trade Center

bombing, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1999

Columbine school shootings, and the September 11

attacks. At Columbine, the responders included 23

local and county law enforcement agencies, two state

and three federal law enforcement agencies, six local

fire departments, and seven local emergency medical

services—most with incompatible communications

procedures and equipment.

Major Initiatives

Five principles will guide our country’s approach to

developing information systems for homeland security.

First, we will balance our homeland security requirements with citizens’ privacy. Second, the homeland

security community will view the federal, state, and

local governments as one entity—not from the point of

view of any agency or level of government. Third,

information will be captured once at the source and

used many times to support multiple requirements.

Fourth, we will create databases of record, which will

be trusted sources of information. Finally, the

homeland security information architecture will be a

dynamic tool, recognizing that the use of information

technology to combat terrorism will continually evolve

to stay ahead of the ability of terrorists to exploit our

systems.

It is important to protect the public’s right to access

information, but to do so in balance with security

concerns. In general, laws such as the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) provide for access to

government information to the extent that records are

not exempt from disclosure. At the same time,

Congress has crafted numerous exemptions identifying

categories of information that should not be publicly

disclosed as the public interest weighs against it. In

making decisions about this category of information—

such as whether to make it available on agency web

sites—agencies must weigh the benefits of certain

information to their customers against the risks that

freely-available sensitive homeland security information may pose to the interests of the Nation.

Integrate information sharing across the federal

government. Under the President’s proposal, the

Department of Homeland Security will coordinate the

sharing of essential homeland security information

of the personnel and resources available to

address these threats. Officials will receive the

information they need so they can anticipate

threats and respond rapidly and effectively.

The incorporation of data from all sources

across the spectrum of homeland security will

assist in border management, critical infrastructure protection, law enforcement, incident

management, medical care, and intelligence. In

every instance, sensitive and classified information will be scrupulously protected. We will

leverage America’s leading-edge information

technology to develop an information architecture that will effectively secure the homeland.

56 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y

National Vision

We will build a national environment that

enables the sharing of essential homeland

security information. We must build a “system

of systems” that can provide the right information to the right people at all times.

Information will be shared “horizontally” across

each level of government and “vertically” among

federal, state, and local governments, private

industry, and citizens. With the proper use of

people, processes, and technology, homeland

security officials throughout the United States

can have complete and common awareness of

threats and vulnerabilities as well as knowledge
nationwide through the Critical Infrastructure

Assurance Office. This would include the design and

implementation of an interagency information architecture to support efforts to find, track, and respond to

terrorist threats in a way that improves both the time

of response and the quality of decisions. The Critical

Infrastructure Assurance Office will also define pilot

projects to address immediate homeland security

requirements while laying the foundation for

continuous improvement. New coordination groups

will recommend better information-sharing methods,

focusing on, among other things, border security;

transportation security; emergency response; chemical,

biological, radiological, and nuclear countermeasures;

and infrastructure protection.

As described in the Domestic Counterterrorism chapter,

the FBI will create a consolidated Terrorism Watch

List that includes information from a variety of sources

and will be fully accessible to all law enforcement

officers and the intelligence community. The

Department of Homeland Security, as proposed by the

President, will oversee a joint project of the U.S.

Customs Service, Immigration and Naturalization

Service, Transportation Security Administration, and

International Trade Data System Board of Directors

for large-scale modernization at border crossings.

Integrate information sharing across state and local

governments, private industry, and citizens. Several

efforts are underway to enhance the timely dissemination of information from the federal government to

state and local homeland security officials by building

and sharing law enforcement databases, secure

computer networks, secure video teleconferencing

capabilities, and more accessible websites.

First, the FBI and other federal agencies are

augmenting the information available in their crime

and terrorism databases such as the National Crime

Information Center and the National Law

Enforcement Telecommunications Systems. These

databases are accessible to state and local authorities.

Second, state and local governments should use a

secure intranet to increase the flow of classified federal

information to state and local entities. This would

provide a more effective way to disseminate information about changes to the Homeland Security

Advisory System and share information about

terrorists. The federal government will also make an

effort to remove classified information from some

documents to facilitate distribution to more state and

local authorities. The effort will help state and local

law enforcement officials learn when individuals

suspected of criminal activity are also under federal

investigation and will enable federal officials to link

their efforts to investigations being undertaken in the

states. The Department of Homeland Security would

create a Collaborative Classified Enterprise

environment to share sensitive information securely

among all relevant government entities. This effort,

which is to include dozens of agencies, will put in place

a secure communications network to allow agencies to

“plug in” their existing databases to share information.

Third, a secure video conferencing capability

connecting officials in Washington, D.C. with all

government entities in every state will be implemented

by the end of the calendar year. This capability will

allow federal officials to relay crucial information

immediately to state homeland security directors and

enhance consultation and coordination.

Fourth, expansion of the ‘.gov’ domain on the Internet

for use by state governments has already been

completed. In the past, only federal government

websites were permitted to use the ‘.gov’ domain. This

change will ensure the legitimacy of government

websites and enhance searches of all federal and state

websites, thereby allowing information to be accessed

more quickly. These ‘.gov’ sites will also allow

homeland security officials to exchange sensitive information on the secure portions of those websites.

Adopt common “meta-data” standards for electronic 

information relevant to homeland security. The

Administration has begun several initiatives to

integrate terrorist-related information from databases

of all government agencies responsible for homeland

security. As this information is assembled, it is crucial

to compile simultaneously information about the information so that homeland security officials understand

what is available and where it can be found. This

complements the effort to analyze the information

with advanced “data-mining” techniques to reveal

patterns of criminal behavior and detain suspected

terrorists before they act. The Department of

Homeland Security, Department of Justice, FBI, and

numerous state and local law enforcement agencies

would use data-mining tools for the full range of

homeland security activities.

The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) is a

working example of compiling meta-data to facilitate

integration of data and support decision making. The

NSDI is a network of federal, state, and local

geospatial information databases that provide metadata for all information holdings to make information

easier to find and use. The assembled data will include

geospatial products, including geographic information

systems that will be used with incident management

tools and allow immediate display of maps and satellite

images. The President’s geospatial information

integration e-government initiative will increase the

amount of meta-data available on the NSDI and

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 57
develop data standards that permit additional

integration of information. The geospatial e-gov

initiative efforts will be coordinated with incident

reporting data to create real time maps and images for

use across government in domestic counterterrorism

and incident management.

Improve public safety emergency communications. In an

emergency, rescue personnel cannot afford to be

hampered by incompatible communications assets.

Under the President’s proposal, the Department of

Homeland Security will work to develop comprehensive emergency communications systems. The

National Communications System would be incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security to

facilitate the effort. These systems will disseminate

information about vulnerabilities and protective

measures, as well as allow first responders to better

manage incidents and minimize damage. The new

Department would pursue technologies such as “reverse

911” which would call households to alert those at risk.

Project SAFECOM, one of the President’s egovernment initiatives, is being designed to address the

Nation’s critical public safety wireless shortcomings

and will create a tactical wireless infrastructure for first

responders and federal, state, and local law

enforcement and public safety entities.

Ensure reliable public health information. The

Department of Homeland Security, in cooperation

with the Department of Health and Human Services,

would also work to ensure reliable public health

communications. Prompt detection, accurate diagnosis,

and timely reporting and investigation of disease

epidemics all require reliable communication between

medical, veterinary, and public health organizations.

Once an attack is confirmed it is crucial to have realtime communication with other hospitals, public

health officials, other health professionals, law

enforcement, emergency management officials, and the

media. The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention has created the Health Alert Network to

increase the interconnectivity of federal, state, and local

public health and emergency response agencies for

timely communications about health advisories,

laboratory findings, information about disease

outbreaks, and distance learning. Under this plan, 90

percent of every state will be covered by this highspeed network and the capacity to receive emergency

broadcast health alert messages. Providing the public

timely and accurate risk communication during a

public health emergency will inform as well as reassure

concerned Americans.

58 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
In a world where the terrorist pays no respect to traditional boundaries, a successful strategy for homeland

security requires international cooperation. America

must pursue a sustained, steadfast, and systematic

international agenda to counter the global terrorist

threat and improve our homeland security. This agenda

lies at the nexus of the National Strategy for Homeland

Security and the National Security Strategy of the United

States.

Following September 11, the United States began a

campaign to engage our partners around the globe in

the fight against terrorism. We have made significant

progress. We have built international support for action

against global terrorism. We have entered into cooperative efforts to improve security against terrorist attacks

on the United States. We have, for example, made

arrangements with Canada and Mexico to improve the

security of our shared land borders. Similarly, we are

working with partners around the world to improve

the security of international commerce and transportation networks to prevent their exploitation by

terrorists. And we have embarked upon joint scientific

technological research and development aimed at

countering the many dimensions of the terrorist threat.

Our global engagement to secure the homeland intersects with our government’s efforts in other areas as

well. Consequently, some initiatives will be closely

coordinated, and even shared, between the National

Strategy for Homeland Security and our other national

strategies, especially the National Security Strategy of the

United States, the National Strategy for Combating

Terrorism, and the National Strategy to Combat Weapons

of Mass Destruction. Oversight of such initiatives—

which include international law enforcement and

intelligence cooperation and the protection of critical

infrastructure networks—will be shared between our

government’s homeland security and national security

structures to reduce seams in our defenses that may be

exploited by our enemies.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 59

International Cooperation
Major Initiatives 

Create “smart borders.” The United States is working

closely with its neighbors to improve efforts to stop

terrorists and their instruments of terror from entering

the United States. The United States has entered into

“Smart Border” agreements with Mexico and Canada

to meet this objective. (See Border and Transportation

Security chapter for additional discussion.) 

Combat fraudulent travel documents. More than 500

million people cross our borders every year. Verifying

that each has a legitimate reason to enter the United

States requires international support. The United

States is working with the G-8 group of nations, the

International Civil Aviation Organization, and other

entities to set improved security standards for travel

documents such as passports and visas. The

Department of State, working with the Department of

Homeland Security, will negotiate new international

standards for travel documents by the earliest possible

date. The United States will launch a pilot program

with select countries to share information about

specific incidents of travel document fraud and illegal

entry and deportation.

Increase the security of international shipping containers.

Sixteen million containers enter our Nation every year.

The United States will work with our trade partners

and international organizations to identify and screen

high-risk containers and develop and use smart and

secure containers. (See Border and Transportation

Security chapter for additional discussion.)

Intensify international law enforcement cooperation.

Since September 11, the U.S. government has worked

with individual countries and through multilateral

international organizations to improve cooperation on

law enforcement action against terrorists. These efforts

have focused on freezing the assets of terrorists and

affiliated persons and organizations. We have also

worked together to prevent terrorist recruitment,

transit, and safe haven, and have cooperated with other

countries to bring terrorists to justice.

The Department of Justice, in cooperation with the

Department of State, will continue to work with its

foreign counterparts on law enforcement issues. The

FBI headquarters will build closer working relationships with foreign counterparts on counterterrorism

matters through its new Flying Squads. (See Domestic

Counterterrorism chapter for additional discussion.) The

United States will continue to press its G-8 counterparts for implementation of the 25-point

Counterterrorism Action Plan approved at the

November 2001 joint meeting of the G-8 Lyon Group

(International Crime Experts Group) and Roma

Group (Counterterrorism Experts Group).

Help foreign nations fight terrorism. The U.S.

government provides other countries with specialized

training and assistance to help build their capacities to

combat terrorism. Some of these programs are military

in nature, but many focus on improving the efforts of

civilian authorities. They range from seminars in

drafting legislation to the provision of equipment for

enhancing border security and customs capabilities.

Expand protection of transnational critical infrastructure.

The United States will continue to work with both

Canada and Mexico to improve physical and cyber

security of critical infrastructure that overlaps with

both countries. (See Protecting Critical Infrastructure

and Key Assets chapter for additional discussion.)

National Vision

The United States will work with traditional

allies and new friends to win the war on

terrorism. We will sustain a high level of international commitment to fighting terrorism

through global and regional organizations (such

as the United Nations and the Organization of

American States), major international fora

(such as the G-8), specialized organizations

(such as the World Health Organization, the

International Civil Aviation Organization, and

the International Maritime Organization),

multilateral and bilateral initiatives, and, where

needed, new coordination mechanisms. We will

work with our neighbors and key trading

partners to create systems that allow us to verify

the legitimacy of people and goods entering our

country. We will increase information sharing

between law enforcement, intelligence, and

military organizations to improve our collective

ability to counter terrorists everywhere,

including in America. We will increase international cooperation on scientific and

technological research designed to help prevent,

protect against, and respond to terrorist threats

and attacks. We will work with our partners to

prepare to support one another in the wake of

any attack. As we implement this Strategy we

will be sensitive to treaty and other obligations;

however, where we find existing international

arrangements to be inadequate or counterproductive to our efforts to secure our homeland, we

will work to refashion them. Throughout these

efforts, we will harmonize our homeland

security policies with our other national security

goals.

60 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
Amplify international cooperation on homeland security

science and technology. In addition to our national

program to develop and deploy new technologies and

new uses of technology against terrorism, the U.S.

government will encourage and support complementary international scientific initiatives. For

example, the United States will seek to establish

cooperative endeavors with Canada and Mexico for

cross-border efforts to detect biological weapons

attacks; eventually, these programs may be expanded to

include other friendly nations. In conjunction with the

Department of State and the intelligence community,

the Department of Homeland Security would also

work with certain close allies to improve techniques

and develop new technologies for detecting hostile

intent.

Improve cooperation in response to attacks. The United

States will continue to work with other nations to

ensure smooth provision of international aid in the

aftermath of terrorist attacks. The Department of

State, working closely with the Department of

Homeland Security and others, will lead these efforts.

The United States will expand its exercise and training

activities with Canada in 2003 as part of the Smart

Border Initiative. It will establish similar activities with

Mexico. It will also initiate bilateral and multilateral

programs to plan for efficient burden sharing between

friendly nations in the case of attack. For example, the

United States will work with its NATO allies to

outline the organization’s role in preventing and

responding to terrorist attacks on member states.

Review obligations to international treaties and law. The

United States is party to all 12 counterterrorism instruments adopted by the United Nations in recent years.

These treaties form an important part of our multilateral counterterrorism strategy. We are actively

encouraging all United Nations members to join and

fully implement all 12 conventions.

On a bilateral basis, the United States will negotiate

and renegotiate, if appropriate, mutual legal assistance

treaties (MLATs) based on U.S. law enforcement

priorities that will help advance homeland security.

MLATs allow the exchange of evidence in a form

usable at trial. MLATs also enable law enforcement to

obtain information abroad in connection with the

investigation, prosecution, and prevention of offenses

in a manner that is more speedy, efficient, and reliable

than the traditional judicial letters rogatory process.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 61
62 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
The national effort to enhance homeland security will

yield tremendous benefits and entail substantial

financial and other costs. The benefit will be a

reduction in both the risk of future terrorist events and

their consequences should an attack occur. The

financial costs are the amount of money, manpower,

equipment, and innovative potential that must be

devoted to homeland security—resources which then

cannot be used for goods, services, and other

productive investments. Americans also incur

substantial costs in longer delays at airport security

checkpoints and restrictions on some individual

freedoms. While these costs are often difficult to

measure quantitatively, they are no less real and

burdensome to Americans. We must measure and

balance both benefits and costs to determine the

correct level of homeland security efforts. This chapter

describes the broad principles that should guide the

allocation of financial resources for homeland security,

help determine who should bear the financial burdens,

and help measure the costs.

The United States spends roughly $100 billion per 

year on homeland security. This includes the services 

of federal, state, and local law enforcement and

emergency services but excludes most spending for the

armed forces. The cost is great, and we will strive to

minimize the sacrifices asked of Americans, but as a

Nation we will spend whatever is necessary to secure

the homeland.

Principles to Guide Allocation of

Homeland Security Costs

Balancing benefits and costs. Decisions on homeland

security activities and spending must achieve two

overarching goals: to devote the right amount of scarce

resources to homeland security and to spend these

resources on the right activities. To achieve the first

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 63

Costs of Homeland Security
goal, we must carefully weigh the benefit of each

homeland security endeavor and only allocate resources

where the benefit of reducing risk is worth the amount of

additional cost. One implication of this standard is that it

is not practical or possible to eliminate all risks. There

will always be some level of risk that cannot be mitigated

without the use of unacceptably large expenditures.

The second goal for homeland security spending is to

prioritize those activities that most require additional

resources. Given the resources available, we should

strive to maximize security by distributing additional

funding in such a way that the value added is approximately equal in each sector. Because some activities

might achieve substantial benefits at low cost, while

others result in minimal gain at a high price, resources

should be shifted to their most “productive” use. These

shifts should continue until the additional value of risk

mitigation per dollar is equalized.

The role for government. The government should only

address those activities that the market does not

adequately provide—for example, national defense or

border security. Our government provides these services

on behalf of American citizens for our collective benefit.

Many homeland security activities—such as a national

incident management system—require government

action.

For other aspects of homeland security, sufficient

incentives exist in the private market to supply

protection. In these cases, we should rely on the private

sector. For example, owners of large buildings and

hosts of large events may have a sufficient incentive to

provide security for those venues.

Federalism and cost sharing of expenditures. The

homeland security mission requires a national effort—

federal, state, and local governments partnering

together and with the private sector. It is critical that

we identify tasks that are most efficiently accomplished

at the federal versus local or regional level. A central

criterion is the degree to which the activity is national

or sub-national in scope. Many homeland security

activities, such as intelligence gathering, border

security, and policy coordination, are best accomplished

at the federal level. In other circumstances, such as

with first responder capabilities, state and local governments are better positioned to handle these

responsibilities.

At a time when budgets are tight across the country,

the federal government will play a key role in securing

the homeland. It is critical, however, that all levels of

government work cooperatively to shoulder the costs of

homeland security. The federal government will lead

the effort, but state and local governments can and

should play important roles. As a result, Americans will

gain from these homeland security efforts every day

with improvements in public services such as law

enforcement and public health systems.

Regulations. Traditionally, governments have used

regulations in addition to direct expenditures to meet

their objectives. Rigid regulation, however, has proven

to be an inefficient means of meeting objectives. To the

extent that homeland security objectives are to be met

by regulations for state and local governments or

private-sector firms, the federal government will

provide an incentive to minimize costs and reward

innovation by permitting maximum flexibility in

meeting those objectives. The federal government will

focus on specifying outcomes rather than the means by

which they will be achieved.

The Costs of Homeland Security

Homeland security requirements take real resources

(such as labor, capital, technology, and managerial

expertise) away from valued economic activities (such

as household consumption or business investment). In

some cases, homeland security spending also reduces

resources that could be used to purchase other types of

public safety, such as cleaner water or safer highways.

In other cases, the investment in homeland security

will result in public safety benefits; water testing to

detect chemical or biological agents, for example, will

improve overall water quality. The sum of these

economic resources shifted toward homeland security is

the fundamental economic cost of the endeavor.

Direct federal expenditure. In recent years, the federal

government has allocated considerable resources to

homeland security. Including supplemental funding,

the federal budget allocated $17 billion to homeland

security in Fiscal Year 2001. This amount increased to

$29 billion in Fiscal Year 2002. In Fiscal Year 2003,

the President budgeted $38 billion for homeland

security activities. These budget allocations must be

viewed as down payments to cover the most immediate

security vulnerabilities.

The President has noted that terrorism is the greatest

national security threat since World War II. Minimizing

the overall economic impact of fighting the war on

terrorism will require that increased budgetary spending

on homeland security occur within the context of overall

fiscal spending restraint. It is important to reprioritize

spending to meet our homeland security needs, and not

simply to permit unchecked overall growth in federal

outlays. Over the long term, government spending is

balanced by either higher taxes or inflation, both of

which hinder the rapid economic growth that serves as

the ultimate source of resources for families’ standards of

living and national needs.

64 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
If we do not reprioritize spending, then the costs of

homeland security will be even greater because these

expenditures do not represent the full cost of homeland

security to the economy. As noted earlier, the $38

billion in taxes needed to finance the Fiscal Year 2003

homeland security budget request will not be available

for other uses such as personal consumption and

private sector investments. The Council of Economic

Advisers estimates that of the $38 billion, $24 billion

would come from reduced consumption, while $14

billion would take the form of reduced private sector

investment. The cost is even higher, however, because

of the economic distortions introduced by the tax

system. Under any tax system, every dollar collected in

taxes results in distortions that reduce the efficiency of

the economy and lower national income. This

economic distortion (referred to as deadweight loss) is

roughly $0.27 per dollar of tax revenue.

State and local governments. It is difficult to measure

the financial contributions to homeland security made

by state and local governments. It is evident, however,

that state and local governments are spending money

or planning to spend money which was never expected

to be spent on defending and protecting their

respective communities. These costs include protecting

critical infrastructure, improving technologies for information sharing and communications, and building

emergency response capacity. At this time, the

National Governors’ Association estimates that

additional homeland security-related costs, incurred

since September 11 and through the end of 2002, will

reach approximately $6 billion. Similarly, the U.S.

Conference of Mayors has estimated the costs incurred

by cities during this time period to be $2.6 billion.

Private expenditures. Private businesses and individuals

have incentives to take on expenditures to protect

property and reduce liability that contribute to

homeland security. Owners of buildings have a significant stake in ensuring that their buildings are

structurally sound, properly maintained, and safe for

occupants. To accomplish this, they often take

protective measures that include employee education

and training, securing services, infrastructure

assessment, technology, and communication enhancements. Properly functioning insurance markets should

provide the private sector with economic incentives to

mitigate risks.

Costs of homeland security in the private sector are

borne by both the owners of businesses in the form of

lower income and their customers in the form of

higher prices. The Council of Economic Advisers

estimates that private business spent approximately 

$55 billion per year on private security before the

September 11 attacks. As a result of the attacks, their

annual costs of fighting terrorism may increase by 50

to 100 percent. Increases in the cost of insurance

premiums have been more dramatic.

Economic Recovery

Additional homeland security costs would be incurred

in the event of a terrorist attack. The economic

response and recovery efforts would involve four

central activities.

Local economic recovery. The federal government is

developing a comprehensive and coordinated economic

recovery plan. The plan will improve federal support to

state and local governments for incidents that

overwhelm state, local, and private-sector resources.

This approach will help develop a better planned and

more flexible federal response, support stronger local

planning for economic recovery, lessen federal demands

on state and local officials at the time of an incident,

and provide federal assistance to state and local bodies,

when appropriate, in a more user-friendly and effective

way.

Restoration of financial markets. In the aftermath of an

attack, the Department of Homeland Security, the

Department of the Treasury, and the White House

would oversee efforts to: effectively monitor financial

market status; identify and assess impacts on the

markets from direct or indirect attacks; develop appropriate responses to such impacts; inform senior federal

officials of the nature of the incident and the appropriate response options; and implement response

decisions through appropriate federal, state, local, and

private sector entities.

National economic recovery. A major terrorist incident

can have economic impacts beyond the immediate

area. Therefore, the Departments of Homeland

Security, Treasury, and State and the White House

would identify the policies, procedures and participants

necessary to assess economic consequences in a coordinated and effective manner. This group will develop

recommendations to senior federal officials on the

appropriate federal response. The group will ensure

that government actions after an attack restore critical

infrastructure, services, and our way of life as quickly as

possible and minimize economic disruptions. This

group will also develop effective policies and procedures for the implementation of those responses

through appropriate federal, state, local, and private

sector bodies.

Economic impact data. Sound information about the

nature and extent of the economic impact of an

incident is important in developing an effective

response. The Department of Commerce’s Economics

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 65
and Statistics Administration and other federal

agencies are developing an economic monitoring,

assessment, and reporting protocol to provide credible

information concerning the economic status of the area

before an incident, assess the direct economic impacts

of the incident, and estimate the total economic consequences in a more timely and accurate manner. This

protocol will help develop more accurate national,

regional, and local economic impact data. This information will be provided to appropriate government

officials to help assess the appropriate response to the

economic consequences of an incident.

66 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
This National Strategy for Homeland Security has set a

broad and complex agenda for the United States. The

Strategy has defined many different goals that need to

be met, programs that need to be implemented, and

responsibilities that need to be fulfilled. The principal

purpose of a strategy, however, is to set priorities. It is

particularly important for government institutions to

set priorities explicitly, since these institutions generally

lack a clear measure of how successfully they provide

value to the citizenry.

Setting priorities is important to homeland security in

two distinct respects. First, there is the question of the

priority of homeland security compared to everything

else the government does or might do. There is a

strong consensus that protecting the people from

terrorist attacks of potentially catastrophic proportions

is among the highest, if not the highest, priority any

government can have. There will, of course, be vigorous

debate over how to achieve specific homeland security

goals, who should pay, how much security is enough,

and what the responsibilities of different entities

should be, but there is little disagreement that securing

the homeland is more important than just about every

other government activity.

Second, there is the more complex question of priorities within the homeland security agenda. This point

is absolutely essential in determining how to allocate

the taxpayers’ money in a government budget. The

President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2003, which was

finalized in the weeks immediately following

September 11 and submitted to Congress in February

2002, recognized the need for priorities. It identified

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 67

Conclusion:

Priorities for the Future
four key areas for extra attention and carefully targeted

increases in federal expenditures:

Support first responders. The President’s 2003 budget

request included $3.5 billion to enhance first

responders’ response capabilities in communities across

the Nation. These funds will support states and

communities as they conduct exercises, purchase

equipment, and train personnel.

Defend against biological terrorism. The 2003 budget

request proposed increasing, by $4.5 billion to $5.9

billion total, spending on programs that counter the

threat of biological terrorism. Areas of emphasis

include: improving disease surveillance and response

systems; increasing the capacity of public-health

systems to handle outbreaks of contagious diseases;

expanding research on vaccines, medicines, and

diagnostic tests; and building up the National

Pharmaceutical Stockpile.

Secure America’s borders. The Administration proposed

increasing spending on border security by $2.2 billion

to $11 billion in 2003. These funds will expand the

number of inspectors at ports of entry; purchase

equipment to increase inspections of containers and

cargo; design and test a statutorily required system that

records the entry of individuals into the United States

and their subsequent exit; and improve the Coast

Guard’s ability to track maritime activity.

Use information to secure the homeland. The 2003

budget proposed an increase in spending of $722

million on programs that will use information

technology to more effectively share information and

intelligence horizontally (between federal agencies) and

vertically (between federal, state, and local governments).

These initiatives are the President’s budgetary priorities

for Fiscal Year 2003, and will remain important issues

for the foreseeable future.

There is, however, an additional statutory and institutional priority at the present time—namely, the

establishment of the new Department of Homeland

Security as proposed by the President on June 6, 2002.

Congress is considering legislation to implement the

President’s proposal even as this National Strategy is

being published. Building a strong, flexible, and

efficient Department of Homeland Security is an

enormous challenge and a top federal priority.

Assuming Congress passes legislation to implement

the President’s proposal to create the Department of

Homeland Security, the budget will fully reflect the

reformed organization of the executive branch for

homeland security. The Fiscal Year 2004 Budget will

also have an integrated and vastly simplified account

structure based on the six critical mission areas defined

by the National Strategy.

Indeed, work has already begun on the Fiscal Year

2004 budget. At the time this National Strategy was

published, it is expected that in Fiscal Year 2004 the

Administration will attach priority to the following

items.

Enhance the analytic capabilities of the FBI (p. 17). The

first objective of this strategy is to prevent terrorist

attacks. The FBI is among the most important federal

institutions for achieving this objective. The FBI is

seeking to enhance its analytic capabilities to support

counterterrorism investigations and operations, as well

as to enhance the counterterrorism capabilities of other

components of the federal government.

Build new capabilities through the Information Analysis

and Infrastructure Protection Division of the proposed

Department of Homeland Security (p. 18). Under the

President’s proposal, the Department of Homeland

Security will build on capabilities to comprehensively

assess the vulnerabilities of our critical infrastructure

and key assests, map threats against those vulnerabilities, issue timely warnings, and work with federal,

state, and local governments and the private sector to

take appropriate protective action.

Create “smart borders” (p. 22). We must prevent

terrorists and the implements of terror from entering

the United States. At the same time, our economic

security depends on the efficient flow of people, goods,

and services. We will build a “smart border” that

achieves both of these critical goals. It will feature

strong, advanced risk-management systems, increased

use of biometric identification information, and

partnerships with the private sector to allow precleared goods and persons to cross borders without

delay.

Increase the security of international shipping containers

(p. 23). Ensuring the security of the global trading

system is essential to our security and world commerce.

Some 16 million shipping containers enter the United

States each year; roughly two-thirds come from 20

“mega” seaports. The United States will work with its

trade partners to increase security in these ports,

establish greater controls over containers, pre-screen

containers before they arrive in America, and develop

technologies to track in-transit containers.

Recapitalize the U.S. Coast Guard (p. 23). The President

is committed to building a strong and effective Coast

Guard. The Administration’s Fiscal Year 2004 Budget

proposal will provide resources to acquire the sensors,

command-and-control systems, shore-side facilities,

boats and cutters, aircraft, and people the Coast Guard

68 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
requires to perform all of its missions, including

assuring the safety of Americans at sea, maritime

domain awareness, and fisheries enforcement.

Prevent terrorist use of nuclear weapons through better

sensors and procedures (p. 38). The federal government

will support research efforts for improved technologies

to detect nuclear materials and weapons. In particular,

the Department of Homeland Security would develop

and deploy new detection systems and inspection

procedures against the entry of such materials at all

major ports of entry and throughout our national

transportation infrastructure.

Develop broad spectrum vaccines, antimicrobials, and

antidotes (p. 39). The Department of Homeland

Security and the Department of Health and Human

Services would support research efforts to expand the

inventory of diagnostics, vaccines, antidotes, and other

therapies that can mitigate the consequences of a

chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack.

Protecting a diverse population of all ages and health

conditions requires a coordinated national effort with a

comprehensive research and development strategy and

investment plans. Such efforts will also benefit other

infectious disease and medical research.

Integrate information sharing across the federal

government (p. 56). The federal government will

develop systems to coordinate the sharing of essential

homeland security information. The federal

government will design and implement an interagency

information architecture that will support efforts to

find, track, and respond to terrorist threats in a way

that improves both the time of response and the

quality of decisions.

These items will be the budgetary priorities of the

federal government for the next budget cycle. In the

intervening months, the executive branch will prepare

detailed implementation plans for these and most other

initiatives contained within this Strategy. These plans

will ensure that the taxpayers’ money is spent only in a

manner that achieves specific objectives with clear

performance-based measures of effectiveness.

State and local governments, private industry, and

concerned citizens groups should go through a similar

process of priority-setting and long-term planning.

* * *

Americans will never forget the murderous events of

September 11, 2001. Our Nation suffered great harm

on that terrible morning. The American people have

responded magnificently with courage and compassion,

strength and resolve. There should be no doubt that we

will succeed in weaving an effective and permanent

level of security into the fabric of a better, safer,

stronger America.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 69
70 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
APHIS: Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service

ATSA: Aviation and Transportation Security Act

ATTF: Anti-Terrorism Task Force

CBRN: Chemical, Biological, Radiological and 

Nuclear

CDC: Center for Disease Control

CIA: Central Intelligence Agency

CIAO: Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office

CTC: Counter-Terrorism Center

DCI: Director of Central Intelligence

DHS: Department of Homeland Security

(proposed)

DoD: Department of Defense 

DoE: Department of Energy

EIS: Epidemic Intelligence Service

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

FAA: Federal Aviation Administration

FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation

FDA: Food and Drug Administration

FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency

FTTTF: Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force

HAN: Health Alert Network 

HHS: Health and Human Services

HSTF: Homeland Security Task Force (proposed)

IIPO: Information Integration Program Office

IMS: Incident Management System

INS: Immigration and Naturalization Service

ITDS: International Trade Data System

JTTF: Joint Terrorism Task Force

MRC: Medical Reserve Corps 

MLAT: Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty

NCIC: National Crime Information Center

NCS: National Communication System

NDMS: National Disaster Medical System

NEDSS: National Electronic Disease Surveillance 

System

NIH: National Institutes of Health

NLETS: National Law Enforcement 

Telecommunications System

NRC: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NSA: National Security Agency

NSC: National Security Council

NSDI: National Spatial Data Infrastructure

NWP: Neighborhood Watch Program

OHS: Office of Homeland Security

OMB: Office of Management and Budget

TIPS: Terrorism Information and Preventive 

Systems

TSA: Transportation Security Administration

TSWG: Technical Support Working Group 

VIPS: Volunteers in Police Service

WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction

WTC: World Trade Center

H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y S T R AT E G Y 71

Acronyms
The American people responded to the attacks of

September 11 with compassion and resolve. Virtually

every American participated in one way or another in

helping our Nation recover and grow stronger. Some

rushed into burning buildings to save the lives of

colleagues, friends, and strangers. Others demonstrated

their solidarity by wearing an American flag on their

lapel. Members of our military flew combat air patrols

over our cities; some fought overseas. Many people

ministered to the injured and comforted the grieving,

while others worked in their official capacities—as

legislators, policymakers, investigators, prosecutors, first

responders, health officials, environmental experts,

counselors, and economists—to help America recover

from the attacks and confront the terrorist threat.

People in every state, every city, and every government

agency have contributed to the effort to make America

safer. Our efforts so far have created the solid foundation

on which we continue to build our defenses. While the

work to protect Americans and our way of life will

continue indefinitely, we as a country can be comforted

by our knowledge that the work is well underway.

Highlighted below are a few of the many actions taken

by our Nation since September 11.

The Immediate Response to the Attacks

Rescue, recovery, and victim support. The response to the

September 11 terrorist attacks began onboard the

hijacked planes as passengers did all they could to

thwart the terrorists, and continued in the streets of

New York City, in the rubble of the Pentagon, and in

the burning Pennsylvania countryside. Colleagues

assisted each other in escaping from the collapsing

buildings. Firefighters, police officers, emergency

medical professionals, and public works employees

responded immediately to the crime scenes, while

hospitals treated the many victims. The recovery and

clean-up efforts involved significant contributions from

all sectors of our society—federal, state, and local

agencies and entities, the private sector, volunteer

organizations, as well as individual citizens.

The work to help the recovery effort and to assist the

victims of September 11 did not stop at Ground Zero.

It continued as Congress and the President worked to

appropriate $40 billion in emergency funds to

compensate victims, aid the reconstruction efforts in

New York and Virginia, and strengthen our fight

against terrorism. In addition, the American response

persisted in the board rooms of private companies and

charitable organizations as various sectors worked to

raise money and donate supplies to aid the victims.

The investigation. In response to September 11, the

U.S. government initiated the largest criminal investigation in our Nation’s history, committing more than

4,000 FBI agents and 3,000 support staff to the effort.

The investigation has been supported by numerous

federal agencies, as well as state and local law

enforcement.

While the investigation has been led by law

enforcement, significant contributions have come from

many sectors. For example, Congress and the President,

by passing and signing into law the USA PATRIOT

Act, provided law enforcement with the tools necessary

to bring the guilty to justice. In addition, the international community joined us in the global war on

terrorism, enabling law enforcement to investigate

groups and terrorist cells throughout the world. The

American population helped as well, by providing law

enforcement with important investigatory leads, calling

the Justice Department’s hotline to report suspected

terrorist activity, and logging onto the web site created

so that people could share information.

After September 11, the federal government committed

not only to rooting out terrorists wherever they are, but

also to cutting off their sources of financial support. To

support this effort, and to identify and eliminate

funding sources of suspected terrorists, the Treasury

Department launched Operation Green Quest at the

U.S. Customs Service and the FBI established the

Financial Review Group. Within weeks of September

11, the President issued an Executive Order to starve

terrorists of their support funds. To date, the United

States has blocked $34.3 million in assets of suspected

terrorist organizations and terrorist supporters/financiers. The global effort of more than 160 countries has

resulted in the freezing of over $112 million in assets.

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y A-1

Appendix: September 11 

and America’s Response
The Response to the Terrorist Threat

Federal, state, and local governments and the private

sector must coordinate on issues affecting homeland

security in order to succeed in the fight against

terrorism.

Officials across all levels of government have been

working together on homeland security related task

forces to meet this goal. In addition, each state now

has a designated individual, charged by the respective

Governor, to perform homeland security responsibilities.

The private sector has also worked closely with the

government and with one another to better secure the

homeland. For example, the Business Roundtable, an

organization of Fortune 100 companies, established

CEO COM Link, the Critical Emergency Operations

Communication Link, to quickly alert and mobilize

America’s business leaders in times of national crisis or

a natural disaster. Working closely with government

officials, the Grocery Manufacturers of America

launched Project Vigilance—a program that encompasses a task force on food security, “twenty-four,

seven” databases, and other food industry actions to

help assure the security of food and consumer

products.

Supporting first responders. The members of the

Nation’s emergency services community are our first

responders to terrorist attacks. Americans have done a

great deal since September 11 to support our

firefighters, police officers, emergency personnel, and

other responders. In the wake of the attacks, many

cities reviewed and made changes to their emergency

plans. Congress appropriated $650 million for federal

grant assistance to states and localities for improving

first responder terrorism preparedness. With this vital

federal assistance, first responders have received and

will continue to receive extensive training (including in

weapons of mass destruction response) and necessary

equipment.

Americans in their private capacities have joined in

supporting our emergency personnel as well. The

President created USA Freedom Corps to strengthen

and expand opportunities to protect our homeland, as

well as to support our communities and to extend

American compassion around the world. As part of

this initiative, Citizen Corps offers a wide range of

volunteer opportunities to support first responders

through its five national level programs. To name just

one example, the Federal Emergency Management

Agency’s Community Emergency Response Team

program—part of Citizen Corps—trains volunteers to

help support first responders during an incident. (See

Organizing for a Secure Homeland chapter for additional

discussion and description of Citizen Corps programs.)

Critical infrastructure and key asset protection. Our

Nation’s efforts to protect against the terrorist threat

have included increased security of our country’s

critical infrastructure and key assets. This increased

security has taken many forms—heightened patrols,

threat assessments, access restrictions—and has been

undertaken by many agencies at all levels of

government. For example, the Department of Defense

has flown more than 22,000 combat air patrol missions

within the United States since September 11 to protect

our critical infrastructure from air attacks. The Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC) placed nuclear power

plants across the Nation on the highest level of security

after the attacks, while the U.S. Customs Service

placed the Nation’s air, land, and sea ports of entry on

Alert 1 Level, ensuring more thorough examinations of

people and cargo. In addition, the NRC initiated a

top-to-bottom security review of nuclear power plants,

including an assessment of plant vulnerability to

aircraft.

Yet the federal government has not acted alone in

protecting our physical infrastructure. States and cities

have also increased security at critical sites. In

Jonesboro, Arkansas, the police department has

concentrated security into areas that traditionally did

not receive much attention, directing patrols for

communication towers, water storage and treatment

facilities. Local law enforcement coordinated with the

Coast Guard to create a safety zone around Indian

Point Energy Center, located 50 miles from New York

City. Utah, with federal assistance, instituted flight and

satellite surveillance over reservoirs. In Fresno,

California, the police department staffed an antiterrorism unit that conducted a survey of city buildings

and security readiness. In Tampa, Florida, marine, air,

and uniform patrols have been instituted at an

important port, while in Wellington, Florida, new

security measures have been installed in a water

treatment plant.

The private sector, which owns the majority of our

infrastructure, has also increased its security of its facilities. For example, the National Food Processors

Association formed the Alliance for Food Security

almost immediately after September 11 to better

protect the food supply from intentional contamination. The American Chemistry Council’s emergency

communication center joined with the FBI’s

Hazardous Materials Response Team shortly after

September 11, augmenting and improving their information-sharing and coordination activities.

In addition to our physical infrastructure, all levels of

government, as well as private entities, have taken

A-2 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
measures to increase the security of our critical

computer and information infrastructure. The

President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board has

spurred research into potential methods to protect vital

communications networks. The U.S. government

established stronger encryption standards to safeguard

sensitive, non-classified electronic information. The

state legislatures of Louisiana, Michigan, and the

Commonwealth of Virginia have passed cyberterrorism laws.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and on the

Pentagon starkly illustrated the need to protect our

transportation systems, among other critical infrastructures, from acts of terrorism. Accordingly, more than

7,000 members of the National Guard, and later

thousands of state and local law enforcement

personnel, were deployed to help secure the Nation’s

airports. Congress passed the Aviation and

Transportation Security Act, which established a series

of challenging milestones to achieve a secure air travel

system. The Federal Air Marshals program was

substantially expanded and new security procedures

have been implemented at the Nation’s 429 commercial

airports.

Cities and states have also committed energy and

resources to protecting our means of transportation,

and across the country, local law enforcement and state

governments have dedicated more hours, money, and

personnel to securing modes of transportation. For

example, in West Virginia state employees patrolled

the state’s highways, bridges, and waterways, while the

City of Chicago increased security at its bridges and

airports. States, including New Jersey, North Carolina,

and Virginia, have also taken measures to increase

security relating to driver’s licenses by changing the

requirements and identifying information necessary to

obtain a license.

Protecting large events. The September 11 attacks

created public concern regarding the safety of large

spectator events, to which law enforcement at every

level has responded with careful planning and coordination of security arrangements. The February 2002

Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, were

a major test of America’s ability to protect a large

public event. Security at Salt Lake City was more

thorough, more visible, better planned, and better

coordinated than at any Olympics in history. The

designation of the Olympics as a National Special

Security Event brought federal support to the Games

in the areas of venue security, air space security,

training, communications, and credentialing.

Throughout the Games, federal, state, and local

agencies shared intelligence to ensure a high level of

readiness, and dozens of state and local law

enforcement agencies took part in security planning,

contributing valuable resources and invaluable

expertise.

National biodefense. On the heels of the tragedies of

September 11, we found ourselves under attack once

again – this time from the dissemination of anthrax

through the mail. These attacks illustrated the need to

make prevention of and protection against bioterrorist

attacks a top priority. Our country has already taken

several important steps, including the procurement of

200 million doses of smallpox vaccine, and the

expansion of the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile.

(See Emergency Preparedness and Response chapter for

additional discussion.)

While the federal government plays a critical role in

increasing our defenses against bioterrorist attacks,

state and local governments are integral to prevention

as well, and they have taken action. Michigan spent

$2.6 million for epidemiologists, microbiologists, and

lab personnel to increase the state’s ability to respond

to bioterrorist attacks. The City of Baltimore created a

web-based surveillance system to track the appearance

of common symptoms in uncommon amounts that

might indicate a biological attack.

Private industry has engaged as well. For example, four

major pharmaceutical companies, using information

from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention,

have begun to distribute reference guides to doctors

and caregivers on how to detect and treat anthrax in

patients.

Protecting our borders. Since September 11, we have

taken important measures to protect our borders more

effectively. The U.S. Coast Guard deployed additional

personnel to protect our ports of entry immediately

after the attacks, while the Immigration and

Naturalization Service and the National Guard

augmented their presence on our northern and

southern borders. In addition, the Foreign Terrorist

Tracking Task Force has been working to bar terrorists

or terrorist-supporting aliens from the United States

and to track down and deport any who have illegally

entered the United States.

We need the help of our closest neighbors—Mexico

and Canada—to fully protect our borders. In

December 2001, the United States and Canada

concluded a “Smart Border Declaration,” which

committed our governments to working together to

build a secure border that operates efficiently and

effectively under all circumstances. The U.S. and

Canadian governments have already made great strides

in realizing that vision, aggressively implementing a

detailed 30-point action plan of specific measures to

T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y A-3
A-4 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y

securely facilitate the free flow of people and

commerce.

In a similar fashion, the United States and Mexico

signed the “U.S. – Mexico Border Partnership” declaration in March 2002. Currently, border management

agencies from both the United States and Mexico are

working together to implement a 22-point action plan

of specific measures to ensure the secure flow of legal

goods and people, and to build adequate bordermanagement systems and infrastructure.

Protecting our borders involves not only knowing who

enters our country, but also what comes across our

borders. To protect the security of cargo entering the

United States, the U.S. Customs Service launched

Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. This

joint initiative of the government and the private sector

requires importers to take steps that will ensure tighter

security of cargo, and, in return, the government agrees

to give the more secure, low risk cargo the “fast lane”

through our ports of entry.

Communicating with and engaging the public. The

attacks of September 11 filled America with apprehension. Government representatives have worked to

alleviate the anxiety in the months that have followed

through responsible communication with the public.

The government faces a balancing act on this front: the

public’s need and right to know about terrorist threats

versus the risk of raising alarm unnecessarily or fruitlessly by relaying all information including ambiguous

or non-specific threat information. In response to this

pressing need for clear communication, and recognizing that an informed public is a key asset, the

President created the Homeland Security Advisory

System to provide the public with the necessary information and awareness regarding terrorist threats and

protective action.

Our citizens also responded to September 11 with a

dedication to overcome the terrorist threat at home.

The President created the Citizen Corps initiative to

offer Americans the opportunity to volunteer to

protect their communities through emergency response

and preparation. Public response has been impressive.

More than 100 communities, ranging from major

metropolitan areas to small suburban and rural

communities, have formed Citizen Corps Councils to

coordinate local volunteer activities to support first

responders. More than 38,000 individuals from all 50

states have signed up online to participate in one or

more of the federally supported Citizen Corps

programs, including Volunteers in Police Service,

Neighborhood Watch and Operation TIPS, sponsored

by the Department of Justice; the Medical Reserve

Corps, sponsored by the Department of Health and

Human Services; and the Federal Emergency

Management Agency’s Community Emergency

Response Team training.
72 T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y
T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y 55
xiv T H E N AT I O N A L S T R AT E G Y F O R H O M E L A N D S E C U R I T Y