Senator John Edwards has issued a press release calling for the creation of a new homeland intelligence agency, one with civil liberties safeguards. The objective: to root out terrorist cells in the U.S.

“What we need is a domestic intelligence agency that is focused on fighting terrorism here at home and having a watchdog in place to make sure our freedoms are protected,” said Senator Edwards, who last year introduced legislation to overhaul how terrorists are tracked within the United States .

President Bush, whose administration has until now resisted reforms at the FBI, told reporters on Monday, “Now may be a time to revamp and reform our intelligence services.” Said Senator Edwards, “The president has finally come around to the idea that we need serious structural reform, and this is a structural problem. We have a law enforcement agency trying to do something that they are not suited to do, which is domestic intelligence.”

Senator Edwards on February 13, 2003 proposed legislation to create a Homeland Intelligence Agency to replace FBI units that failed to uncover the plot to attack the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The new agency would focus on intelligence, not law enforcement, so it could do a better job tracking terrorist operatives in this country, improve coordination with local law enforcement and other federal agencies, and protect civil liberties.

We'd like to hear more about the civil liberties protections envisioned for the new agency. We're not jumping aboard this train, at least not yet.