Homeland Security: Job Description

January 12, 2005

Overview

Yesterday, President George W. Bush announced that Michael Chertoff was his second choice to succeed Tom Ridge as homeland security secretary. CNN's Miles O'Brien's interview with former Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Richard Falkenrath reveals why this might not be the most sought-after job in Washington.

Objective

Students will explore the complexity of homeland security and the responsibilities of the person who leads the department. Then, acting as Senate committee members, students will hypothesize what questions they would ask a would-be homeland security secretary and develop criteria by which the committee should evaluate his candidacy for the position.

Procedure

Remind students that the Department of Homeland Security was established in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The department is responsible for coordinating a national strategy to protect the United States against future attacks. The first secretary of homeland security was former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. He announced his resignation from the position on November 30, leaving the job open for presidential nomination.

Refer students to the Web sites below to learn more about the Department of Homeland Security. Direct students to identify the agencies that fall under this cabinet-level department, and have them review the functions of each of these agencies. As a class, create a graphic organizer to visually represent the depth and breadth of the Department of Homeland Security.

Next, discuss CNN's Miles O'Brien's interview with Richard Falkenrath, former deputy homeland security adviser to the president. Refer students to the transcript of this interview, and have them note the homeland security secretary's "list of chores." In addition, have them identify the adjectives and adverbs that Falkenrath uses to describe the characteristics of the job.

Then, organize students into small groups. Have them imagine that they are Senate committee members charged with interviewing and questioning Mr. Chertoff on his qualifications for the job of secretary of homeland security and his ideas about how he will operate in the position. Challenge the groups to prepare a list of questions that they would want to ask Mr. Chertoff to determine if he is the right person for the job. In developing their questions, students should consider what educational, political, work or personal experience a candidate for this position would need to have, as well as what characteristics or leadership traits would be necessary to be successful in the job. Students should determine by what criteria they would evaluate Mr. Chertoff. After students have presented their interview questions to the class, encourage them to write brief opinion essays that predict the outcome of the Senate confirmation hearings of Michael Chertoff.

Correlated Standards

McREL: Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education (Copyright 2000 McREL) is published online by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) (http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks), 2550 S. Parker Road, Suite 500, Aurora, CO 80014

Civics

Standard 15. Understands how the United States Constitution grants and distributes power and responsibilities to national and state government and how it seeks to prevent the abuse of power

Topic: Institutions of the national government

Level IV [Grade 9-12] Benchmark 7. Understands how specific features and the overall design of the Constitution results in tensions among the three branches (e.g., the power of the purse, the power of impeachment, advice and consent, veto power, judicial review), and comprehends the argument that the tensions resulting from separation of powers, checks and balances, and judicial review tend to slow down the process of making and enforcing laws, thus insuring better outcomes

Suggested Online Resources

Homeland Security Nominee

CNN.com: Bush nominates new Homeland Security chief (http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/11/homeland/index.html)

CNN.com Special Report: President Bush - The Second Term (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/bush.term/)

The White House: President Nominates Michael Chertoff as Secretary of Homeland Security (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050111-2.html)

Homeland Security: Job Description

Department of Homeland Security (http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/)

Keywords

Tom Ridge, Michael Chertoff, Senate, Department of Homeland Security, 9/11, liberties, Whitewater, Bernard Kerik, confirmation, Richard Falkenrath, biosafety, biosecurity