By James Gilmore

Guest Writer

In light of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the Bush administration has made many proposals to beef up security on the home front and combat domestic terrorism.

One major plan is the creation of an Office of Homeland Security. Tom Ridge, former Republican governor of Pennsylvania, has been tapped for the Cabinet-level position leading this office. This office is a good idea, and Congress ought to vote for its addition as a full Cabinet department.

Under current law, the president can propose that a Cabinet-level position be created, but the position has no funding, staff or power until Congress approves a Cabinet department for it. A bipartisan group of senators is pushing for just that, and they have the right idea.

The Office of Homeland Security would coordinate local, state and national law enforcement agencies to combat terrorism and beef up national security, acting as a clearinghouse for security and intelligence information.

Every day 1.4 million people, 400,000 vehicles and 58,000 cargo containers enter the United States, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. With increased security at the border and greater communication between the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Coast Guard, local police, the FBI, the National Security Agency and other organizations, terrorists and the supplies they need can more effectively be kept out of the country.

Another sensible proposal is the stationing of armed Federal Air Marshals on every domestic flight. Had there been an armed law enforcement officer aboard the hijacked planes on Sept. 11, it is possible that the terrorists would not have seized control of the planes, and many deaths could have been avoided.

Increasing airport security, which has been proven lax in investigations, is another idea whose time has come. It was too easy under the old system to bring weapons aboard planes or to bypass the security measures altogether.