Mike Levin: “Today I look forward to the Senate's speedy confirmation of Governor Ridge to be the new Secretary of the Department of…”

“Today I look forward to the Senate's speedy confirmation of Governor Ridge to be the new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. I believe that Governor Ridge is the right person for the job, and I strongly support his selection to head the new department. The challenge before Governor Ridge is massive: 22 agencies with over 170,000 people must be reassembled under one umbrella. These agencies and their personnel need to communicate with each other, to work together, and to begin retooling their operations to increase the protections needed to secure America's safety and well-being. Again, it is a massive job. But Governor Ridge is not the only one who needs to roll up his sleeves. The Congress also has work to do on homeland security, first by enacting legislative repairs to the Homeland Security Act. This Act passed at the end of the last Congress using a hastily written bill that discarded many important provisions that had been worked out on a bipartisan basis.”