The White House announced Monday that while the United States launched attacks against Afghanistan that it would also look after security matters at home with the development of the new Homeland Security Office.

President George W. Bush explained in the televised event that he had chosen former Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Ridge to lead Homeland Security because he felt that Ridge was especially talented and qualified. He took the oath for the office yesterday morning and was sworn into the position by Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.

“Tom Ridge has been a chief executive. He is a leader who has shown he can draw out the best of people and out of organizations. He is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War. He is a patriot who has heard the sound of battle,” Bush said. “He’s seen the reach of terror in a field of his own state. He’s a man of compassion who has seen what evil can do. I’ve given Tom and the Office of Homeland Security a mission: to design a comprehensive, coordinated national strategy to fight terror here at home.”

The President, in his statements to the American people explained that the mission of Homeland Security was threefold. One goal, the President explained was to “take the strongest precautions against terrorism by bringing together the best information and intelligence. In a war on terror, knowledge is power.” He also outlined other goals for the office as strengthening and protecting transportation, food and water and critical infrastructure systems in order to help prevent them from being susceptible to an attack.

“The Office will work in conjunction with the new Homeland Security Council, chaired by me and made up of my Cabinet and other senior officials,” Bush explained. “The Office mission will have the full attention and complete support of the very highest levels of our government.”

Ridge pledged his support to both the office and to the President, explaining that his office would provide the American people with both security and safety.

“Americans should find comfort in knowing that millions of their fellow citizens are working every day to ensure our security at every level – federal, state, county, municipal,” Ridge said. “There may be gaps in the system. The job of the Office of Homeland Security will be to identify those gaps and work to close them. The size and scope of this challenge are immense. The President’s executive order states that we must detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, an extraordinary mission. But we will carry it out.”

He explained that he would place a strong emphasis upon candor and cooperation among his staff members in an effort to better address problems and to secure liberty.

“It’s called Homeland Security. While the efforts will begin here, it will require the involvement of America at every level. Everyone in the homeland must play a part,” Ridge said. “I ask the American people for their patience, their awareness and their resolve. This job calls for a national effort. We’ve seen it before, whether it was building the Trans-Continental Railroad, fighting World War II, or putting a man on the moon.”