By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 1, 2001; Page A02

Citing U.S. vulnerability to terrorist attacks, porous borders and new technologies, a congressionally mandated commission on national security yesterday recommended the creation of a National Homeland Security Agency, sharply higher spending on scientific research and education, and an overhaul of government institutions.

The U.S. Commission on National Security, led by former senators Gary Hart (D-Colo.) and Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.), warned that "without significant reforms, American power and influence cannot be sustained." It offered the most far-reaching blueprint for reforming the national security apparatus since a similar effort in 1947.

The report comes as the Bush administration is in the midst of reexamining the government's foreign policy institutions. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is turning to new threats, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell is trying to reenergize the foreign service, and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice is trimming the size and altering the role of the National Security Council. Rudman said members of the study group will meet with Powell on Friday and plan meetings with other top administration officials to discuss the recommendations.

The commission's proposals include unifying the Coast Guard, the Customs Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Border Patrol into the new homeland security body, whose director would have Cabinet status. The new agency would coordinate defense against attacks as well as responses if an attack succeeded. The main task of the National Guard would be changed to deal with the prospect of an attack on U.S. soil.

"It is unlikely that we will continue to be the blessed country we've been all these years," Rudman said, referring to the possibility of an attack by a foreign power. "The threat is asymmetric and we're not prepared for it."

The report also suggested doubling federal funds for science and technology research by 2010, abolishing the National Economic Council, reducing the staff and role of the National Security Council, streamlining the Pentagon, merging authorizing and appropriations committees in Congress, and radically altering the structure of the State Department.

Members of the commission acknowledged that implementing its recommendations would be difficult, noting that many previous departmental reorganization reports were shelved.

"We put down what we thought ought to be done," Rudman said. "Just because it's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible."

The commission's most pressing language was aimed at international terrorism. "A direct attack against American citizens on American soil is likely over the next quarter century," the group said.

That seems to reflect a growing fear among policymakers at a time when the gap between the traditional war-fighting abilities of the United States and other nations has widened significantly.

Many of the report's suggestions focused on the State Department, which the group called a "crippled institution, starved for resources by Congress because of its inadequacies" and a "demoralized and relatively ineffective body." The group said the department "rarely speaks with one voice, thus reducing its influence and credibility in its interactions with the Congress and in its representation abroad." And the commission added that many of the department's "core functions were parceled out to other agencies."

To deal with a changing world, the commission suggested creating five undersecretaries for Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Near East-South Asia, and redefining the responsibilities of the undersecretary for global affairs. The position of undersecretary for political affairs would be abolished, but the undersecretary for management would be retained. Each regional undersecretary would deal with three major subcategories: economic and transnational issues, political affairs, and security matters.

The commission also was sharply critical of the Defense Department, where it said that the growth in staff had "created mounting confusion and delay." It suggested the Defense Department reduce its infrastructure costs by 20 to 25 percent over 10 years by outsourcing as many support activities as possible.

The group also said the Pentagon should change its acquisition procedures to make them less bureaucratic and better suited to long-range planning. "The weapons acquisition process is so hobbled by excessive laws, regulations and oversight strictures that it can neither recognize nor seize opportunities for major innovation," the report said.

The National Security Council, the report continued, had assumed policymaking roles that it was never intended to have. The commission report said it should return to the much-needed role of policy coordinator.

"The NSC adviser should keep a low public profile," the report said.

The Bush administration has already reduced the profile of Rice, the national security adviser, by making her position a non-Cabinet-level post.

In addition to Rudman and Hart, the commission included former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.); lawyer and former commerce undersecretary Lionel H. Olmer; former representative Lee H. Hamilton (D-Ind.), director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center; business executive and former Air Force secretary Donald B. Rice; Norman R. Augustine, chairman of Lockheed Martin Corp.'s executive committee; Anne Armstrong, a Nixon and Ford administration official and former ambassador to Britain; John R. Galvin, former supreme allied commander for Europe; Council on Foreign Relations President Leslie H. Gelb; former NBC diplomatic correspondent John Dancy; James R. Schlesinger, a former energy and defense secretary and CIA director; former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young; and retired Adm. Harry D. Train.