WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - As the Senate began debate Tuesday on establishing a Cabinet-level homeland security office, the head of homeland security told ABC television there is no credible threat against U.S. targets as the anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches.

"There is no specific credible information," indicating that there could be an attack on U.S. territory, Ridge said.

"I think we are considerably safer than we were on September 11," Ridge said. "I think we have made considerable progress."

More than 3,000 people were killed on September 11 when hijackers slammed airliners into the twin towers in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington and a Pennsylvania field.

Ridge said the job of beefing up security is not over.

"We still have considerable amounts of work to do in the months and years ahead."

Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush argued for more authority over managing an estimated 170,000 workers in the proposed cabinet-level Homeland Department, urging the Senate to pass a measure consolidating numerous national security-related government agencies currently spread out over numerous departments under one roof, reports CNN.

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed the White House version of the bill in July, but the Democratic-run Senate opposes Bush's insistence on allowing top officials more power over personnel issues. Bush has threatened to veto any bill that does not grant the White House that authority, reports the cable news network.

Saying the enhanced powers would undercut protections for federal employees and weaken the civil service system, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, criticized the plan, commenting that federal workers need protection: "There's going to be congressional oversight, and I think at the end of the day, the civil rights of workers are going to be protected, instead of stripping away those under the guise of management flexibility."

But both the House and Senate find common ground on other issues. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) said Tuesday the Senate is "near-unified" on the bulk of the bill, and "only a big pessimist would see the difficulty in the opportunity this department would create to secure our people and our homeland."

For his part, Ridge voiced confidence the White House and Senate Democrats would settle their differences.

"I think we will get it done before they recess for the November elections," Ridge said on NBC's "Today" program.