The Department of HomeLand Security - Research Paper Example

White (2011) asserts that, following the 2001, September 11th attacks, the United States government strived to intensify security and protect the international borders. As a result, the government formed the department of homeland security, which became operational on 24th January 2003. This department came into being when the Homeland Security act of 2002 was passed into law by the Senate. Since its formation, this department has become the third largest department in the cabinet. It ranks third after Department of that of Veteran affairs.

The Senate enacted the homeland Security act of 2002. The Department of Homeland Security can be regarded as one of the executive departments, under title 5 of the United States code. President George W. Bush directed the advisor of homeland security to study the federal government. The main aim for doing this was to establish whether the existent structure could meet the threats of terrorist attacks. Following a keen study of the security structure, the president concluded that America needed a unified structure of Homeland Security.

This gave rise to the formation of Homeland Security, with the mandate of improving security (Borgeson and Valeri, 2009). Arguments raised included America’s vast technological advancement that provided the country with an added advantage to have the department. This prompted the government to come up with the department. Therefore, the formation of the Department resulted from the numerous security threats to the United States. According to Maniscalco and Christen (2010), the department’s mission entails prevention of terrorist attacks within the United States.

Homeland security also aims at countering any probable terrorist attacks by decreasing vulnerability to terrorism. Additionally, the department has the mandate to lessen damage, which might be caused by terrorist attacks. Homeland security does this by assisting and engaging in efforts of recovery resulting