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Homeland Security: Human Resources Management (CRS Report for Congress)

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Release Date Revised Feb. 20, 2004
Report Number RL31500
Report Type Report
Authors Barbara L. Schwemle, Government and Finance Division
Source Agency Congressional Research Service
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  • Premium   Revised Aug. 27, 2003 (22 pages, $24.95) add
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Summary:

Responding to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the discovery of anthrax in Washington, DC, and other cities, the Administration and Members of Congress proposed legislation to establish a Department of Homeland Security. President George W. Bush's proposal was submitted to Congress on June 18, 2002 by Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. It was subsequently introduced as H.R. 5005 by Representative Dick Armey on June 24, 2002, and was passed on July 26, 2002. In the Senate, on May 2, 2002, Senator Joseph Lieberman introduced S. 2452 to create a Department of National Homeland Security. Senate amendments to H.R. 5005 have been debated in the Senate since late July. H.R. 5005, as passed, includes a provision at Section 761, which would provide flexibility to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to establish, and from time to time adjust, a human resources management (HRM) system for some or all of the organizational units of the new department. The provision has generated considerable discussion, which has centered on the need for personnel flexibility at the department and concerns about preserving the civil service standards of merit-based hiring and preference in hiring for veterans, among other issues. If Section 761 (or a similar provision) were enacted, issues of staffing requirements and the hiring and pay systems at the new department would likely be debated.