Washington ? Whether the FBI and CIA should be included in the proposed Department of Homeland Security emerged Tuesday as a potentially key issue in the congressional debate over President Bush’s plan for the massive new agency.

Several Democratic and Republican lawmakers expressed concern about the administration’s decision to exclude the FBI and CIA from the new department, worrying that it could undermine the agency’s ability to combat terrorist attacks on America.

“In this kind of war, information is even more your critical currency. We may have to pull these agencies more formally into the structure,” said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Tex.

As Congress conducted its first hearing on Bush’s proposal, several lawmakers said they were eager to act quickly on what would be the most sweeping reorganization of the federal government in more than 50 years.

But they also pelted the plan’s proponents with questions for example, what would happen to the nondefense duties of agencies that would be part of the new department, such as the Coast Guard’s mission of stopping foreign vessels from poaching in U.S. waters and the Agriculture Department’s responsibility for preventing crop-eating Medflies from entering the country.

The questions underscore the turf battles expected to complicate, and perhaps delay, congressional action on the reorganization plan. While House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., suggested finishing work on the measure by Sept. 11 the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States other leaders were skeptical about whether that could be done.

“That will be hard to achieve, but it’s a worthwhile goal,” said Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. “This is a very large reorganization. Congress needs to make sure we do it in the right way.”

Some congressional experts have wondered whether lawmakers will be able to send Bush a bill before they adjourn for the year.

But former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., an expert on national security issues, predicted in an interview Tuesday that the pressure of the November elections will prod lawmakers to act. “This is too important,” he said.

Bush unveiled his plan last week for a Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, an idea already proposed by a number of Democrats and Republicans in Congress. The department would include the Coast Guard, Customs Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the newly created Transportation Security Administration, among other agencies. It would have almost 170,000 employees and a budget of more than $37 billion.

The new department would analyze intelligence from the FBI and the CIA, although it would not gather information itself. Neither agency would be part of the new department, and that sparked questions Tuesday from some lawmakers.

“We need to find out how the new secretary of homeland security will obtain key information from other agencies like the FBI, like the CIA,” said Rep. James Gibbons, R-Nev.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said he was worried that under Bush’s proposal, the new department would be a “passive customer of whatever the CIA or FBI sends them.”

Some in Congress have argued that the FBI should remain separate because it is a law enforcement agency with many responsibilities unrelated to homeland defense. Others said that prohibitions on domestic spying by the CIA also would make it difficult to make that agency part of a Department of Homeland Security.

Rep. William “Mac” Thornberry, R-Tex., suggested that Congress approve a bill creating the new department and deal later with the questions about its interaction with the FBI and CIA.

During Tuesday’s hearing before two House Government Reform subcommittees, an array of senior officials from agencies that would become part of the new department defended the Bush plan without exception.

“We’re all leaning forward in the saddle to make this work,” said Michael Becraft, acting deputy commissioner of the INS. “This is the smart thing to do, and we need to get on with it.”