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Here's another article from May 2001
Bush to Create New Terrorism Office

New York Times
May 4, 2001
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush-Terrorism.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush has drafted an executive order that would create an umbrella office on terrorism to coordinate the government's response to any biological, chemical or nuclear attack, a congressional source familiar with the plan said Friday night.

The office would exist under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Vice President Dick Cheney would oversee the creation of a national terrorism response plan, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The office would be at the helm of more than 40 federal agencies that provide emergency services and personnel.

Currently, the Justice Department has responsibility for reacting to a terrorist attack.

White House officials declined to comment on draft order, first reported by NBC News.

Bush's plan is separate from legislative efforts in Congress to reorganize the nation's anti-terrorism response. The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding hearings on the matter next week. Several emergency management agencies will testify.

Andrea Andrews, a spokeswoman for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said the president's plan is a ``step in the right direction.''

``There is a consensus that something that needs to be done to coordinate all the agencies that have jurisdiction in this area,'' Andrews said.

The federal government has received several indicators that the nation is not prepared to deal with the calamity created by a terrorist attack.

Last spring, a secret exercise to determine how a medium-sized city would cope after a terrorist detonation of a weapon of mass destruction showed that Cincinnati's hospitals, police and other services were woefully unprepared for such an attack.

The findings were presented to then-Attorney General Janet Reno, then- Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre and senior FBI officials at two sessions at the Pentagon. They immediately ordered the formation of interagency working groups to study the problems that might arise from a major terrorist attack.

The resulting study and other government studies suggested that the nation's emergency groups were too splintered to respond to a problem quickly.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Friday that the nation's cities would be overwhelmed by the probable injuries.

``Supposing someone used one of these things (bio-weapon) and we required hospitalization of 1,000 people, what community has got the ability to put together quickly the medical teams, the other equipment needed to take care of 1,000 people?,'' Warner said at a meeting Friday.

``We are unprepared, and we are determined here in the Senate to bring together, all of us, put our minds to work with those in the administration and see what we can do to prepare America.''

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