HLS201: Introduction to Homeland Security

Lesson 2: Pre-9/11 Strategic Setting

Contemporary Roots of Homeland Security

Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996

The contemporary roots of homeland security date back to the first term of President Bill Clinton. Several major terror-related events occurred during that time prompting the drafting and passage of the Nunn-Lugar-Domenici Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Act of 1996.

The primary result of the WMD Act was the provision of greater funding for training and equipment for the nation’s first responders. The act addressed what could be done in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, but very little was done to change the way in which the federal government prevented terrorist acts from occurring in the first place. Always in the background, however, was a growing movement calling for a less fragmented and more coordinated approach to combating terrorism.

In 1996, during the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, a bomb was detonated in a crowd injuring dozens and killing one. After a lengthy investigation it was determined that the source of the attack was a delusional individual. This attack esulted in the United States recognizing the need for better systems of terrorism prevention.

Presidential Commissions

Two years after the Atlanta incident, Congress agreed with President Clinton by empaneling a group known as the Hart-Rudman Commission. This independent panel was tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of American security with the goal of designing a national security strategy. The Commission’s report that was released in early 2001 recommended the creation of a new independent National Homeland Security Agency with responsibility for planning, coordinating, and integrating various U.S. government activities involved in homeland security. Unfortunately, many of the recommendations were not heeded. Many of its findings, however, would later be integrated into the justification and legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security.

Each of these conclusions and recommendations would take on new meaning in the aftermath of 9/11. Sadly, however, in the absence of a greater recognition of a terrorist threat within the borders of the United States, no major programs were initiated to combat the growing risk. That all changed on Monday, September 11, 2001.