Ridge Sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security

Moments before Tom Ridge took the oath Monday as head of the domestic effort to fight terrorism, his attention focused on a more personal matter. He exchanged winks with his 14-year old son Tommy and whispered "I love you."

The former Pennsylvania governor, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and rust-colored tie, was then sworn in. The oath was administered by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as Ridge's wife Michele, Tommy and daughter Lesley, held the Bible. Ridge's family had been waiting for him on the platform in the White House East Room as he and President Bush walked in together.

Most of Bush's Cabinet and several dignitaries from Pennsylvania, including Education Secretary Charles Zogby and Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, attended the ceremony.

On a day that began with a senior presidential staff meeting and an FBI briefing in the Oval Office with Bush, Ridge began a job whose powers and responsibilities were still being defined.

In his remarks, he compared the task ahead to building the transcontinental railroad, fighting World War II and putting a man on the moon.

Ridge described his responsibilities as "difficult, but not impossible." He then cited the Army Corps of Engineers motto: "The difficult, we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer."

His job, whose formal title is assistant to the president for Homeland Security, is to head a Cabinet-level office that coordinates the efforts of more than 40 federal agencies. Ridge's windowless office is across the hall from Deputy White House chief of staff Josh Bolten on the main floor of the West Wing, about a minute's walk away from the Oval Office. Bush administration officials remained vague about how much power Ridge would have to overrule agency heads and how much budget authority his agency would have. On Monday afternoon, Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer sidestepped questions about the office's place in the overall power structure but promised Ridge would play a "very central and important role in protecting the United States from terrorist attacks."

Local officials, such as Pittsburgh Mayor Murphy, hope Ridge will be able to give them money to do more to prevent terrorist attacks.

Murphy said his city will have to spend $3 million to $5 million more next year to improve security, such as adding metal detectors at public buildings. He wants the federal government to pay part of those costs.

He declined to assess the chances of that happening and said he was "just in the talking stages" with the Bush administration about it.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 - ABC, Action News