WASHINGTON — President Bush proposed a Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security to prevent a repeat of the Sept. 11 attacks Thursday night, calling on Congress to remake the government for "a titanic struggle against terror."
"Tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the American homeland and protecting the American people," Bush said in a prime-time address to the nation.
Congress welcomed the proposal, even as it intensified its inquiry into lapses before the Sept. 11 attacks, hearing from an FBI whistle-blower as well as the agency's director.
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