| I would drastically cut the size of the Department of Homeland
Security, using it initially only to facilitate communication between
established security agencies. While greater integration between security
agencies might be a worthwhile goal, change should be undertaken more
gradually, to avoid the gross mismanagement and waste that has accompanied
the rapid growth of DHS. | The Department of Homeland Security has not resolved the
problems of analysis, intelligence, and surveillance gaps that existed on
September 11th, 2001. The DHS remains unorganized and the critique made in
DHS’s 2005 audit remain true. The organization has still not found a
way to integrate ‘‘its many separate components in a single,
effective and economical department.” Infrastructure remains fractured
and many factions of DHS, including the US Immigration and Customs Bureau,
have failed to maintain proper financial records. I also believe that
critical areas outlined as the initial causes for the formation of DHS,
such as border security and intelligence sharing, have not been met. I
understand these types of large-scale initiatives take time but if we are
going to be serious about the safety of our citizens then we need to
seriously reconsider the steps we have taken in their name. | Abolish it. The FBI should handle domestic terrorism and
federal crimes, the CIA and defense intelligence should handle foreign
matters. Local and state police should handle local matters. While
Homeland security sounds good to a fearful public, it is evolving just as
‘‘fatherland” security developed in Germany. We so
hated the USSR because of their secret police; now we have our
own. |
