assured that NORAD has now embraced the full mission. Northern Com-
mand has been established to assume responsibility for the defense of the
domestic United States.
committees should regularly assess the adequacy of Northern Com-
mand's strategies and planning to defend the United States against
military threats to the homeland.
national infrastructure, most of which is in private hands. It should identify
those elements of our transportation, energy, communications, financial, and
other institutions that need to be protected, develop plans to protect that infra-
structure, and exercise the mechanisms to enhance preparedness. This means
going well beyond the preexisting jobs of the agencies that have been brought
together inside the department.
oversight committees should regularly assess the types of threats the
country faces to determine (a) the adequacy of the government's
plans--and the progress against those plans--to protect America's
critical infrastructure and (b) the readiness of the government to
respond to the threats that the United States might face.
mended, and we will participate vigorously in that debate.