US President George W Bush has signed the Homeland Security Act, creating a huge new government department dedicated to preventing a repeat of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security will have nearly 170,000 employees and merge the functions of 22 existing agencies - which have a combined budget of about $40bn.

"Today we are taking historic action to defend the US and protect our citizens against the dangers of a new era," Mr Bush said before signing the bill. "Creating a new Department of Homeland Security will ensure that our efforts to defend this country are comprehensive and united."

We are fighting a war against terror with all our resources and we are determined to win

George W Bush

Mr Bush nominated Tom Ridge, who has run the White House office of homeland security in the wake of last year's terror attacks, to head the department.

The US Senate voted overwhelmingly on 20 November to create the cabinet-level agency, a week after the House of Representatives approved the plan.

Intelligence failures

President Bush initially opposed the bill, first proposed by Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman in the wake of intelligence failures which became apparent following the attacks that killed roughly 3,000 people.

Mr Lieberman first proposed the department

As it gained support, however, he offered his own version several months later, and it became the cornerstone of his counter-terrorism policy.

President Bush made the bill's passage a key issue in mid-term elections earlier this month.

The move was held up for months by wrangling between Democrats and Republicans over how the administration planned to combine so many agencies and staff into one department.

The new department will include the Coast Guard, Secret Service and the Border Patrol, but not the CIA or the FBI - the two departments most heavily criticised for not preventing the attacks.

"From the morning of 11 September 2001 to this hour, America has been engaged in an unprecedented effort to defend our freedom and our security," Mr Bush said.

"We are fighting a war against terror with all our resources and we are determined to win."

Nominees

Mr Bush nominated Navy Secretary Gordon England to be deputy secretary of homeland security, and Drug Enforcement Administration head Asa Hutchinson to be undersecretary for border and transportation security.

Mr Ridge is likely to be confirmed easily

Like Mr Ridge, both are expected to face easy Senate confirmation hearings.

Correspondents say the White House believes the department will give the president the tools he needs to make the country safer, by increasing co-operation and co-ordination between often competing agencies.

Critics say it fails to resolve the intelligence lapses that preceded the 11 September attacks.

It could take as much as a year to complete the mammoth shake-up.

The new department will employ some 170,000 people, making it Washington's largest reorganisation since the creation of the Department of Defense after World War II.