U.S. Chamber of Commerce - June 28 - U.S. Chamber Supports New Homeland Security Department

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States Chamber of Commerce gave its support to the administration's goal to establish a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security and applauded recent action by Congress to create a process and timetable for promptly considering the White House proposal.

"The most important function of the federal government is to protect and defend the American people and our way of life," said Thomas Donohue, Chamber president and CEO. "With the ongoing threat from terrorist activity, we live in a changed world and the president recognizes the need to realign government functions under a single department to meet this new reality."

The White House proposal to consolidate homeland security resources under one agency will be the most significant transformation of the U.S. government in more than half a century. It will reorganize and streamline many currently overlapping federal activities that directly relate to the ongoing commerce of our nation, including immigration, transportation, trade, and infrastructure protection.

"The lawmakers who agreed to put aside parochial political concerns and acted with dispatch should be celebrated," said Donohue. "But the debate which will follow must recognize that a principal element of America's security is the well-being of our economy. The new Department of Homeland Security must, from the outset, work with the private sector and recognize that the expeditious flow of goods, services, and people -- domestically and internationally -- is the very system we are working to protect.

"Our millions of business and professional members encourage a process that will blend the current patchwork of government programs into a single organization that is cost effective, operationally agile, and results oriented," Donohue added. "We must ensure, however, that the final structure actually heightens governmental effectiveness and does not inadvertently impede our economy."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.