Congress should create a single, principal point of oversight and review for homeland security. 107-296 was signed into law, the Select Committeeon Homeland Security was abolished, butnot before the new law included language in Section 1503 stating, "It is the sense of Congress that each House ofCongress should review its committeestructure in light of the reorganization of responsibilities within the executive branch by the establishment of theDepartment." The structure of the House and SenateAppropriations Committees have been changed to account for the creation of the new department. A number of proposals have been offered in the House and Senate to establish a new temporary select, permanentselect, or standing committee on homelandsecurity, to alter the appropriations process, or to make other changes in congressional structures dealing withhomeland security issues. With the 9/11 Commission'srecent recommendations and the September 30,2004, deadline for committee system reform proposals from the House Homeland Security Committee, some sayreforms are so vital that they should beadopted before Congress adjourns for the election. Retain Current Structure. Realign Committee Jurisdiction. Create a Joint Committee on Homeland Security.
The 9/11 Commission Report recommended that the House and Senateeach have a "permanent standingcommittee" as the principal committee for conducting oversight and review for homeland security. Earlier, pursuantto PL 107-296, the Homeland SecurityAct, a new Department of Homeland Security was established. Congress began discussions regarding theappropriate congressional structure to conductoversight and fund the new department. Section 1503 of the legislation states the sense of Congress that eachchamber should review its committee structure inlight of the reorganization of the executive branch, and the House, in the 108th Congress, establisheda Select Committee on Homeland Security with a mandateto report recommendations for changes in the House committee system by September 30, 2004.
Each chamber might decide to retain its current structure, make minor alterations to its current jurisdictionalalignment, make extensive jurisdictional changes,create a standing committee, re-establish the existing House select committee, or establish one or more new selectcommittees with revised authorities. Furtherchanges might also be made in the structure of the Appropriations Committees. This report addresses some of theseoptions and will be updated as eventswarrant.