Conservative Watch

Citizen Corps 

In his State of the Union address, the president announced his new service initiative—the USA Freedom Corps—and called on all Americans to volunteer the equivalent of 2 years, or 4,000 hours, over a lifetime. According to a USA Freedom Corps handbook, the president is “requesting” more than $560 million in new funds in Fiscal Year 2003 to support the new initiative. 

According to a White House press release, one avenue for volunteering is the Citizens Corps (CC), which will “engage citizens directly in improving homeland security.” 

The Citizen Corps, coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will create community-based Citizen Corps councils charged with “developing community action plans, assessing possible threats, identifying local resources and coordinating other Citizen Corps programs.” These councils will consist of law enforcement leaders, fire and emergency medical services personnel, and citizens from business (“especially security firms”), schools, places of worship, health care facilities, public works, and other key community sectors. 

The White House release said that the president would request $144 million “in matching funds to support the formation and training of local Citizen Corps Councils. CC volunteers will be able to participate in a variety of programs that match their skills and abilities.” 

Operation Tips 

In addition to reinvigorated Neighborhood Watch Programs, a Volunteers in Police Service Program, Medical Reserve Corps, and Community Emergency Response Teams, the Citizens Corps calls for setting up Operation TIPS, the Terrorist Information and Prevention System. 

Operation TIPS, which comes under the auspices of the Justice Department, intends to train one million workers who in the course of their daily activities will act as tipsters on the lookout for “suspicious and potentially terrorist related activity.” The Administration has requested $8 million for TIPS. 

In March, a Justice Department spokesperson told me that Operation TIPS is a pilot project developed by a “working group” made up of people from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and several other agencies. When asked about the identity of members of the “working group,” she said she was unable to disclose their names at this time. She said that since the project was still evolving, it was “too soon to speak to the people involved.”  

Although the “industries,” or sectors of workers, have not yet been selected, the DOJ spokesperson stated that the project may involve truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, and utility employees—workers who in the course of their daily activities are well-situated to be “extra eyes and ears” in the struggle against terrorism. When asked if unions were aware of or involved in developing the project, she said that to the best of her knowledge they weren’t. She didn’t rule out their participation somewhere down the line. 

So why are unions being kept in the dark? David Bacon, labor reporter and photojournalist, believes there are several reasons. “For the most part,” he said, “the administration doesn’t think unions are all that relevant, therefore they might as well go directly to the workers.” The Administration might also be concerned about “stirring up a hornets nest, since many unions are concerned about civil liberties,” he added. 

In the course of researching this story, I found that the program was shrouded in secrecy. The initial responses from spokespeople at the headquarters of the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters Union in Washington, DC, the press office of the ACLU in New York City, and the Washington offices of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee were the same—no one had heard of Operation TIPS. 

After Rob Black, spokesperson for the Teamsters, had a chance to look into Operation TIPS, he told me that the union’s legislative staff “is going over the TIPS proposal to see how it would effect our members.” 

At the Washington, DC offices of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the head of public relations, Drew VonBergen, indicated he had heard of Operation TIPS but was “not aware that any formal notification” had been given to the union. He had “nothing further to say about TIPS right now,” he added. 

According to the TIPS website, “Every participant will be given an Operation TIPS information sticker to be affixed to the cab of their vehicle or placed in some other public location so that the toll-free reporting number is readily available. Everywhere in America, a concerned worker can call a toll-free number and be connected directly to a hotline routing calls to the proper law enforcement agency” (see www. citizencorps.gov/tips). 

Participants in the program are being encouraged to create a “record of service”—a private journal of each individual’s volunteer time and experiences—at the Citizens Corps website. 

What constitutes “suspicious terrorist activity” nearly one year after September 11? With a permanent war on terrorism, it’s anybody’s guess.  

CSIS 

A number of right-wing think tanks, including the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) to the Heritage Foundation, have developed a homeland security project. 

In late-November 2001, CSIS published “To Prevail: An American Strategy for the Campaign Against Terrorism.” Kurt M. Campbell and Michele A. Flournoy, the principal authors of “To Prevail,” suggest the “president should create a task force to explore the creation of a Homeland Security Service Corps for young and old Americans alike, who are prepared to give two years to help serve and protect the nation. Volunteers would be trained to serve in a variety of fields, including the Public Health Service, Airport Security, and the National Guard and Reserve.” 

PCIC 

At an early-January 2002 news conference the two chairpeople of the Heritage Foundation’s Homeland Security Task Force, former Attorney General Edwin Meese and Reagan administration counter-terrorism Chief L. Paul Bremer unveiled its report, “Defending the American Homeland.” 

The Heritage Foundation report recommends, “Local police departments should include citizens’ assessments of local threats and vulnerabilities through the Police-Citizen Interaction Committee (PCIC) mechanism—a formal platform for regular precinct-level meetings with citizens to discuss problems and solutions of interest to the community. Implementing community policing tactics, like PCICs, should not require federal funding.” 

While it acknowledges the importance of individuals volunteering, the report is primarily concerned with “unleash[ing] market forces to mobilize the private sector to promote infrastructure security,” and the need for building a stronger private sector/government partnership. 

In an op-ed piece in support of the Task Force’s recommendations, posted at the foundation’s website in late-January, Meese and Kim Holmes, director of the foundation’s Homeland Security Project, argued that in order to defend the nation properly “we must downgrade functions of government not related to defense—particularly those that haven’t proven effective.” 

In keeping with the promotion of Heritage’s mission—privatization, de-regulation, and smaller government—the Task Force maintains “many government initiatives, such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), antitrust legislation, liability concerns, and current tax policies, inhibit the development of a true partnership for security between the private sector and the government.” 

Due to the possibility of chemical and biological attacks, the Heritage Task Force recommends the creation of “a national surveillance system…built from the ground up. Local surveillance networks that collect information on, for example, the number of hospital admissions, school absences, and state employee absences each day should provide these data regularly to the states, and the states should then compile this information and make regular reports to the federal government.” 

Spotting “suspicious activity” could easily turn into racial profiling—watching out for Middle Eastern-looking men visiting a neighborhood—or reporting someone posting flyers announcing an upcoming demonstration or anti-war rally. Perhaps reporting on “suspicious” mail that certain postal customers are receiving. If Attorney General Ashcroft stands behind what he told Congress—that dissent and questioning the “war on terrorism” supports the terrorists—then “suspicious activity” might include whatever your neighbors believe constitutes opposition to the president’s permanent war on terrorism. In some towns in America, not hanging out the flag might be construed as “suspicious” activity.    Z 

Bill Berkowitz is a freelance writer covering conservative movements/politics. Research assistance by Laura Ross.