Changes

In the wake of the Presidential Election of 2000, the eventual winner, Texas Governor [[George W. Bush]] (R), reached out to the Democratic Party for his nominee to head DOT. After the closest race in 112 years, the issue hung--for five weeks--on the contested vote in Florida, with electoral votes that could have swung the election to either Bush or his Democratic rival, Vice President [[Al Gore]]. Following a [[U.S. Supreme Court]] ruling that essentially certified the Republican standard bearer's victory, Bush chose former San Jose Mayor and Congressman Norman Y. Mineta (D-CA), a Japanese-American who, along with his family, had been held in a relocation camp in Wyoming during World War II. Mineta, age sixty-nine, was, when Bush nominated him to become the nation's fourteenth Secretary of Transportation, Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce. After an extraordinarily close election, Bush turned to a Democrat who was not changing parties, just Cabinet posts, to heal the partisan breach. As such, Mineta would become the first Asian-Pacific American to serve as Secretary of Transportation-and the first DOT Secretary to have served in a previous Cabinet position.

In the wake of the Presidential Election of 2000, the eventual winner, Texas Governor [[George W. Bush]] (R), reached out to the Democratic Party for his nominee to head DOT. After the closest race in 112 years, the issue hung--for five weeks--on the contested vote in Florida, with electoral votes that could have swung the election to either Bush or his Democratic rival, Vice President [[Al Gore]]. Following a [[U.S. Supreme Court]] ruling that essentially certified the Republican standard bearer's victory, Bush chose former San Jose Mayor and Congressman Norman Y. Mineta (D-CA), a Japanese-American who, along with his family, had been held in a relocation camp in Wyoming during World War II. Mineta, age sixty-nine, was, when Bush nominated him to become the nation's fourteenth Secretary of Transportation, Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce. After an extraordinarily close election, Bush turned to a Democrat who was not changing parties, just Cabinet posts, to heal the partisan breach. As such, Mineta would become the first Asian-Pacific American to serve as Secretary of Transportation-and the first DOT Secretary to have served in a previous Cabinet position.

Less than eight months into the new Bush Administration, on [[September 11, 2001]], radical Islamic extremists with the group [[Al Qaeda]], hoping to sow terror and confusion among Americans, commandeered four American domestic airliners, and transformed them into missiles that were used to destroy the [[World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]] and to hobble the [[Pentagon]] in Arlington, Virginia, killing thousands. Under Mineta's command, DOT managers and FAA air traffic controllers performed a herculean task by bringing the rest of the fleet down safely. Responding to this new form of terrorism, Congress passed and, on November 19, 2001, Bush signed into law the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which, among other things, called for the establishment of a completely new Transportation Security Administration in the Department of Transportation, to increase security at airports and other transportation venues. On February 16, 2002, the Transportation Security Administration opened for business, and was due to become fully operational by year's end. On June 6, 2002, Bush asked for a broad-based reorganization of the Federal government, which, by establishing a Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, proposed to transfer the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration out of the Department of Transportation.

Less than eight months into the new Bush Administration, on [[September 11, 2001]], radical Islamic extremists with the group [[Al Qaeda]], hoping to sow terror and confusion among Americans, commandeered four American domestic airliners, and transformed them into missiles that were used to destroy the [[World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]] and to hobble [[The Pentagon]] in Arlington, Virginia, killing thousands. Under Mineta's command, DOT managers and FAA air traffic controllers performed a herculean task by bringing the rest of the fleet down safely. Responding to this new form of terrorism, Congress passed and, on November 19, 2001, Bush signed into law the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which, among other things, called for the establishment of a completely new Transportation Security Administration in the Department of Transportation, to increase security at airports and other transportation venues. On February 16, 2002, the Transportation Security Administration opened for business, and was due to become fully operational by year's end. On June 6, 2002, Bush asked for a broad-based reorganization of the Federal government, which, by establishing a Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, proposed to transfer the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration out of the Department of Transportation.

Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, DHS’s enabling legislation, which Bush signed into law on November 25, 2002. On January 25, 2003, former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge was sworn in as that Department’s first Secretary. On March 1, the Department of Homeland Security became fully operational. Four days earlier, on February 25, 2003, in an historic “Change of Watch” ceremony replete with color guard, speeches, silent drill team, and John Philip Sousa marches, Mineta ceremoniously transferred civilian leadership of the Coast Guard to the new department. The following day, Mineta formally handed over the Transportation Security Administration to Homeland Defense:

Congress passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, DHS’s enabling legislation, which Bush signed into law on November 25, 2002. On January 25, 2003, former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge was sworn in as that Department’s first Secretary. On March 1, the Department of Homeland Security became fully operational. Four days earlier, on February 25, 2003, in an historic “Change of Watch” ceremony replete with color guard, speeches, silent drill team, and John Philip Sousa marches, Mineta ceremoniously transferred civilian leadership of the Coast Guard to the new department. The following day, Mineta formally handed over the Transportation Security Administration to Homeland Defense: