As Congressional investigations of the September 11 terrorist attacks continue, raising doubts about the operations of the White House, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, President George W. Bush has made a televised address to the nation, announcing a shake-up of the structure of the US federal government, including the creation of a Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security.
Following the September 11 attacks, Bush appointed the former Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, to take charge of Homeland Security.
Bush said the new department would “unite essential agencies that must work more closely together — among them, the Coast Guard, the Border Patrol, the Customs Service, immigration officials, the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.