Sheila Jackson Lee: “As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, I rise in strong support of S. 1638, the ``Department of Homeland…”

“As a senior member of the Homeland Security Committee, I rise in strong support of S. 1638, the ``Department of Homeland Security Headquarters Consolidation Accountability Act.'' I support this bipartisan legislation because it would move DHS forward in accomplishing the important objective of establishing a home for the Department's many components and agencies. Eleven days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was appointed as the first Director of the Office of Homeland Security in the White House. In November 2002, I was proud to join my colleagues in voting to create a Department of Homeland Security. On March 1, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security official became a Cabinet-level department charged with the responsibility of unifying national homeland security efforts. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created through the integration of all or part of 22 different Federal departments and agencies into a unified, integrated Department. S.…”