Pubdate: Fri, 09 Nov 2001
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2001 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Naftali Bendavid
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/ashcroft.htm (Ashcroft, John)

ASHCROFT PROPOSES SHAKE-UP OF AGENCIES

Details Sketchy; Congress Dubious

WASHINGTON -- Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft announced a "wartime reorganization 
and mobilization" of the Justice Department on Thursday, saying he would 
move 10 percent of the department's Washington workforce to the field and 
spend roughly $2.5 billion more to fight terrorism.

In addition, Ashcroft wants to focus the FBI and Immigration and 
Naturalization Service -- two of the department's highest-profile agencies 
- -- on anti-terrorism efforts.

"When terrorism threatens our future, we cannot afford to live in the 
past," he said. "The department will not be all things to all people. We 
cannot do everything we once did, because lives now depend on us doing a 
few things very well."

The plan submitted to Congress offered few specifics, and much of it was 
fashioned from previous initiatives. But along with President Bush's speech 
in Atlanta on Thursday, it appears to be part of a broader attempt to show 
that the administration is taking strong action against terrorism.

Reorganization plans in Washington often face fierce opposition, especially 
if the agency abandons some of its longtime missions, as Ashcroft suggested 
would happen. Lawmakers wasted little time Thursday expressing their 
reservations about the changes.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, 
urged the Justice Department to look more closely at its counterterrorism 
failures before plowing ahead with an overhaul. "You cannot plan for the 
future effectively without knowing what went wrong in the past," he wrote 
Ashcroft.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) also was skeptical. "As with any 
reorganization, the devil will be in the details," he said. "I hope for new 
accountability measures, not just structural changes."

Ashcroft said the moves are crucial for the 125,000-employee department to 
reshape itself into an efficient fighting force against terrorism. It 
remains to be seen if the public's mood since the Sept. 11 
attacks--nervousness coupled with a demand for strong action--will be 
enough to overcome resistance to the proposed changes.

The attorney general said the United States has won a victory since the 
Sept. 11 hijackings because there have been no additional terrorist 
attacks, despite "two periods of extremely high risk." That was a reference 
to the two nationwide alerts issued by the FBI.

"The home front has witnessed the opening battle in the war against 
terrorism, and America has emerged victorious," Ashcroft said.

He suggested the lack of more terrorist acts was because of the nation's 
heightened vigilance, but acknowledged there was no way of knowing for certain.

Those In For Changes

The Justice Department is made up of the FBI, the INS and the Drug 
Enforcement Administration, as well as other components such as the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Bureau of Prison; the Civil Rights 
Division; and the U.S. attorney's offices. It was not clear from Ashcroft's 
announcement how money and employees would be shuffled in the reorganization.

In the meantime, specifics were left to the future. For example, pressed on 
the declared goal of moving 10 percent of the Justice Department's 
headquarters employees to the field, department officials could not say 
where exactly they would go or even how many people would be involved. And 
they described the 10 percent figure as a general goal, not a definite plan.

This is not the first time Justice Department officials have promised to 
move people into the field. During his eight-year tenure, former FBI 
Director Louis Freeh undertook a similar initiative, moving agents from 
Washington to other locations across the country.

Department officials, however, could not say how the latest proposals would 
fit into what Freeh had done.

In declaring his intent to save 10 percent of the Justice Department's 
budget through streamlining and consolidation, Ashcroft provided no 
details. The roughly $2.5 billion savings would be spent on 
counterterrorism efforts, officials said.

"In today's Justice Department, multiple agencies perform similar 
functions," Ashcroft said. "Within six months, we must have in place a 
detailed plan to streamline, eliminate or consolidate duplicative functions."

Again, this is not the first time officials have announced such plans. 
Shortly after taking office, some in the Clinton administration wanted to 
merge the FBI and the DEA, two agencies many considered redundant. That 
proposal was killed by passionate opposition from DEA supporters.

Refocusing Agencies

FBI Director Robert Mueller has been working for weeks on a proposal to 
refocus his agency on fighting terrorism. The bureau now handles an 
enormous array of federal crimes ranging from drug dealing to espionage to 
terrorism to kidnapping.

The bureau's jurisdiction has greatly expanded over the past 10 years, and 
the new plan, whose first draft is due by year's end, would reverse that 
trend. Officials are expected to propose that the FBI leave certain routine 
crimes to state and local police, which is likely to be controversial.

The plan to reform the immigration service has also been in the works for 
some time, though it gained greater urgency after the Sept. 11 attacks on 
the World Trade Center and Pentagon by terrorists, some of whom had visa 
violations. Critics recommend splitting the agency, saying the 
law-enforcement work of the Border Patrol is completely different from such 
services as processing visas.

Ashcroft suggested Thursday that he was moving toward such a shift. If visa 
processing is handled by another agency, he hinted, the INS could emphasize 
law enforcement and concentrate on keeping out terrorists.

But immigration advocates fear this would lead to harsher treatment of 
immigrants, and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said he would want to 
scrutinize any such plan.

"The thumbnail sketch outlined today by Atty. Gen. Ashcroft warrants a 
healthy amount of skepticism and caution before any steps are taken to 
implement it," Gutierrez said. "It must be followed with strict and solid 
assurances that immigrants themselves would benefit from such radical changes."

Meanwhile, an emergency rule allows the Justice Department to listen in on 
the conversations between lawyers and their clients in federal custody 
whenever deemed necessary to prevent violence or terrorism.

Ashcroft approved the eavesdropping rule last week. In a very small number 
of cases, it permits the government to monitor conversations and intercept 
mail between people in custody and their attorneys for up to a year. The 
move is opposed by defense lawyers and civil libertarians who consider it 
an unconstitutional attack on attorney- client privilege.
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