Our Security Umbrella: Department of Homeland Security

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After the fear of terrorism grew in the United States do to the Al Qaeda 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the US Government found a need for a centralized department that umbrellas all other agencies when it comes to homeland security. The U.S. Government found this umbrella agency with the passage of the Homeland Security Act by Congress in November 2002, the Department of Homeland Security formally came into being as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department to further coordinate and unify national homeland security efforts. (Homeland Security) With the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the government had a pinpoint location for the collection and gathering of intelligence, control of policies that effect national security, and a no fail mission. The Department of Homeland Security started to engulf other agencies and created many more, a total of 22 agencies now fall under the DHS. The DHS is control of all areas that deal with national security which included but are not limited to coastal and boarder protection, domestic terrorism, international terrorism, protection of the American people, protection of key infrastructure, protection of key resources and respond to natural disasters.
The Department of Homeland Security as an umbrella department has taken in many organizations to complete their primary duties of national security. To complete their mission on boarder protection and movement from international waters the DHS had the U.S. Coast Guard assigned to it. “The Coast Guard has many duties, including the protection of coastal and inland waterways, environmental protection, the interdiction of contraband, and maritime law enforcement.” (White, 2014) Since the Coast Guard ...

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...tack, and will continuously divert any actions that are targeted against Americans on international soils and within our borders.

Works Cited

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Famous Cases & Criminals. Retrieved 05 01, 2014, from The FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing
Homeland Security. (n.d.). Creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 04 30, 2014, from Offical Website of the Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov/creation-department-homeland-security
Kappeler, L. K. (2012). Homeland Security. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). Bureau of Counterterrorism. Retrieved 05 01, 2014, from U.S. Department of State: Diplomacy in Action: http://www.state.gov/j/ct/
White, J. R. (2014). Terrorism and Homeland Security. Belmont: Wadsworth.

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