Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the security of the United States against terrorism and questions how safe Americans feel when it comes to the sanctity and security of their homeland. The paper comments that the former question is difficult to answer precisely, but given the Congressional and government reports that point out the flaws and failures of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it would seem the U.S. is not as secure as it should be. The latter question is discussed at the conclusion of this paper. The point of this paper is that the executive branch of the federal government has not done an adequate job of running the DHS, and Congress is now doing what it should have been doing all along - fiscal and management oversight. The focus of this paper is on the science and technology division of the DHS.

From the Paper:

"As to the specific DHS area of concern for this paper, Science & Technology, the congressional report card sets the stage for the 2007 report by reviewing the S&T's poor condition that existed in 2006. The report card quotes from a Washington Post article (Hsu Aug. 20, 2006) that the S&T was "hobbled by poor leadership, weak financial management and inadequate technology" (Hsu 2006). Given the vital importance to America's security, the first paragraph in the S&T section outlines needs to be addressed, including the "systemic deficiencies in financial and accounting controls" along with the "poor response to the needs of customers." In general, the 2007 said that historically the problems with DHS's S&T department are many and Congress and the public have "lost confidence in the ability of the S&T Directorate to fulfill its statutory responsibilities."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Government Accountability Office. "Department of Homeland Security: Science and Technology Directorate's Expenditure Plan." June 22, 2007. Retrieved Dec. 22, 2007, from http://www.gao.gov/news.items/do7868.pdf.
• House Committee on Government Reform - Minority Staff Special Investigations Division. "The Growth of Political Appointees in the Bush Administration." May 2006. Retrieved Dec. 23, 2007, from http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20060503160909-97328.pdf.
• House Committee on Homeland Security. "The State of Homeland Security 2007: An Annual Report Card on the Department of Homeland Security." 2007. Retrieved Dec. 22, 2007, from http://homeland.house.gov/sitedocuments/20070413143439-12273.pdf.
• Hsu, Spencer S. "DHS Terror Research Agency Struggling." Washington Post. 20 August 2006, Retrieved Dec. 22, 2007 from http://www.washingtonpost.com.
• Hsu, Spencer S. "Job Vacancies at DHS Said to Hurt U.S. Preparedness." Washington Post 9 July, 2007. Retrieved Dec. 22, 2007, from http://www.washingtonpost.com.

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