Homeland Security Act

Homeland Security Act of 2002

Long title	An Act to establish the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	HSA
Enacted by	the 107th United States Congress
Effective	November 25, 2002
Citations
Public law	107-296
Statutes at Large	116 Stat. 2135
Codification
Titles amended	6 U.S.C.: Domestic Security
U.S.C. sections created	6 U.S.C. ch. 1 § 101
U.S.C. sections amended	150 sections amended
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 5005 by Dick Armey (R-TX) on June 24, 2002 Committee consideration by House Homeland Security (Select), House Agriculture, House Appropriations, House Armed Services, House Energy and Commerce, House Financial Services, House Government Reform, House Intelligence (Permanent Select), House International Relations, House Judiciary, House Science, House Transportation and Infrastructure, House Ways and Means Passed the House of Representatives on July 26, 2002 (295-132, Roll call vote 367, via Clerk.House.gov) Passed the Senate on November 19, 2002 (90-9, Roll call vote 249, via Senate.gov) with amendment House of Representatives agreed to Senate amendment on November 22, 2002 (agreed) Signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 25, 2002

The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, (Pub.L. 107–296, 116 Stat. 2135, enacted November 25, 2002) was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2002.

HSA created the United States Department of Homeland Security and the new cabinet-level position of Secretary of Homeland Security. It is the largest federal government reorganization since the Department of Defense was created via the National Security Act of 1947 (as amended in 1949). It also includes many of the organizations under which the powers of the USA PATRIOT Act are exercised.

The new department assumed a large number of services, offices and other organizations previously conducted in other departments, such as the Customs Service, Coast Guard, and U.S. Secret Service. It superseded, but did not replace, the Office of Homeland Security, which retained an advisory role. The Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2004 provided the new department its first funding. A major reason for the implementation of HSA is to ensure that the border function remains strong within the new Department.

...
Wikipedia