Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush said he wants to create the position of national intelligence director and an office to coordinate government-wide efforts to combat terrorism, two recommendations of the commission that studied the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush, acting 11 days after the bipartisan panel released its findings and recommendations, also backed giving a handful of congressional committees the authority over intelligence and homeland security that's now shared by dozens of panels.

``We are a nation in danger,'' Bush said, citing fresh warnings about terrorist plots to bomb financial buildings in New York City, northern New Jersey and Washington. ``We're doing everything in our power to confront the danger.'' He spoke at the White House in Washington, with members of his Cabinet at his side.

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, 60, said Bush had three years to make the country safer against a terrorist attack. ``We Americans have a right to ask why you haven't done the things necessary to make America as safe as possible,'' Kerry, a four-term U.S. senator from Massachusetts, said in an interview with Cable News Network.

Asked about that criticism, Bush said, ``My job is to take a look at what I think is right'' and build on improvements already made. ``We have already done a lot,'' said Bush, 58.

`Stand-Alone Group'

The national intelligence director would be a step above the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and creating the post requires Congress to revise the 1947 National Security Act that created the CIA, Bush said.

He disagreed with the commission on where the new director should work. The panel said the post should be in the executive office of the president.

Bush said the new director ``will serve as the president's principal intelligence adviser'' but shouldn't be located in the White House nor be a member of his Cabinet.

``I think it ought to be a stand-alone group to better coordinate, particularly between foreign intelligence and domestic intelligence matters,'' he said. ``I will hire the person and I can fire the person.''

Currently, the CIA director heads 14 other intelligence agencies as well as his own, even as he has no budgetary authority over these other agencies. Bush said the new intelligence director should oversee all U.S. intelligence agencies and ``ought to be able to coordinate budgets.''

`Knowledge Bank'

The Sept. 11 commission said that under the current system, no single intelligence agency has all relevant information about threats. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee opened hearings last week on the panel's proposal to restructure U.S. intelligence gathering.

Bush said the proposed counterterrorism center would be the government's ``knowledge bank for information about known and suspected terrorists.'' The commission, in its report, said the new center should be staffed by personnel from various counterterrorism agencies and lead intelligence-gathering and operational planning.

The two changes to how the federal government operates are among the most specific of the 41 proposals of the 10-member federal commission, which released a 567-page report. Bush said his administration ``has already taken numerous actions consistent with the commission's recommendations,'' such as improving border security.

`Public Pressure'

Representative Jane Harman, senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said ``it is a shame it took so much public pressure'' for Bush to entertain the idea of an intelligence director.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call set up by the Kerry campaign, the California congresswoman said she is concerned Bush won't fight for the idea if confronted by opposition within his Cabinet. ``This won't happen if he just talks about it,'' she said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush made his final decisions yesterday and that the first moves will be taken through presidential directives over the next few days. Other steps require legislation or funding by Congress.

Financial institutions in New York, Washington and Newark, New Jersey are under heightened security after Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said they're potential targets of al-Qaeda bomb attacks. Ridge said the U.S. had uncovered information that was unusually specific, even as it's not clear an attack might be imminent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laurence Arnold in Washington larnold4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 2, 2004 13:38 EDT