DHS Secretary Speeches Feed

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s Third Annual Address on the State of Homeland Security

stacey.hawkins — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:59:28 +0000

Release Date:

February 26, 2013

Washington, D.C.
The Brookings Institution
(Remarks as Prepared)

Thank you for that introduction, Elaine, and thank you all for the warm welcome. It’s a pleasure to be here this morning. As most of you know, in a few days, we will mark the 10th anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security.

And while ten years may not sound like a long time in the lifespan of a Federal department, it’s a significant milestone, as well as an opportunity to consider just how much has changed in that time.

The attacks of 9/11 served as the impetus for the creation of DHS, and also brought to light the changes to our world that had been building for many years … changes that required immediate action … and a fundamental shift in how to keep the nation safe.

Our security posture in these difficult times was, in many ways, a necessary function of protecting our nation from threats that we were just beginning to understand. In that way, the immediate post-9/11 period and the early years of the Department were a kind of DHS version 1.0 … the foundation for much of what has developed since.

Over the past four years, we’ve seen a second phase of the Department’s development and advancement – DHS 2.0 – with stronger partnerships with all involved with homeland security, including government, law enforcement, first responders, the private sector, and the public, at every level.

We now reach our next era – DHS 3.0 if you will. And as you’ll see, the software metaphor isn’t really accidental at all. So for this, my third annual State of Homeland Security address, I want to talk a bit about the significant change we’ve seen over the past ten-plus years, and some of the considerable progress that we’ve made in that time.

To be clear, this isn’t the traditional report about the state of the Department. It’s about the state of our nation’s homeland security. It’s the state of a concept that, before 9/11, only existed on paper within a few think tanks, like here at Brookings.

Today, a decade after the creation of a Cabinet-level agency bearing that name, homeland security has come to mean much more … it means the coordinated work of hundreds of thousands of dedicated and skilled professionals, and more than ever, of the American public, of our businesses and families, communities and faith-based groups.

It’s the collective effort of all of these on which I report today.

Pre 9/11

Our nation emerged from the tragedy of 9/11, and with the benefit of hindsight, we now know how multiple failures contributed to those attacks. Intelligence failures prevented us from uncovering the details of al-Qaeda’s plot ahead of time, and institutional barriers prevented what limited information we did have about the hijackers from being shared among authorities, and, therefore, connecting the dots.

Weaknesses in our visa and border entry procedures enabled some of the terrorists to lawfully enter and stay in the United States using fraudulent documents, or by providing false information. Gaps in our aviation security system allowed them to board aircraft and carry out the plot; once we learned of the hijackings, a lack of coordination slowed our response.

And despite the heroism of first responders on the ground, larger, systemic problems, like a lack of emergency communications, hindered rescue operations. In other words, pre 9/11, our state of security was reactive and disjointed, with ad hoc intelligence-sharing, overwhelmed and ineffective border and immigration processes, lack of partnerships among law enforcement, and too much focus on investigation after the fact instead of prevention and protection.

I saw this firsthand. On 9/11, I was Attorney General of Arizona, and I can attest to the many questions we had in those first hours, and the gaps that existed, between the Federal government and the states. Addressing these fundamental gaps was the driving force behind the creation of the Department of Homeland Security ten years ago.

DHS 1.0

I think any discussion of the history of DHS must first begin with an acknowledgment of the critical work of my predecessors – Governor Tom Ridge and Secretary Michael Chertoff. They and their leadership teams had a monumental undertaking on their hands … bringing together the original 22 agencies that formed the department and integrating their functions, against a backdrop of continued terrorist threats from at home and abroad.

The early years of the Department led to many important innovations and enhancements – from major improvements to our aviation security system, including federalizing our screener workforce, to the creation and use of a single US Government known or suspected terrorist watchlist to screen travelers, establishing a biometric entry system at ports of entry, and other major advancements in port, cargo, and border security. This was tough work, and a lot of credit should go to all of the men and women who helped build DHS over its first several years.

DHS 2.0

When I became secretary in 2009, we looked hard at how we could build on this progress and accelerate it further … in essence, create DHS 2.0. Fundamental to this was the recognition that even though we had made significant progress since the 9/11 attacks, the threat landscape was constantly shifting and we needed to stay ahead of it.

We still faced threats from al-Qaeda, and other foreign-based terrorist groups inspired by their ideology. Indeed, we better understood how terrorist threats on the other side of the world could affect our homeland, with far-reaching consequences to our global systems of trade and travel, communications and finance.

We were also confronting the reality of homegrown threats, including from individuals who may have no particular connection to terrorism, but nevertheless can threaten our cities and communities, our schools, and our places of worship. And so what we’ve spent the past four years putting in place is something completely different – an approach that is more efficient, risk-based, and designed to detect, prevent, and respond to a range of threats – from terrorist attacks to natural disasters.

This approach is built upon the notion that in a world of evolving threats, we can no longer simply be reactive or isolated. We have to leverage information to identify threats sooner, target our security measures to areas where they will have the greatest impact in decreasing risk, allocate our resources according to risk-based priorities, and engage a full range of partners in our work.

Terrorism

A good example is how we’ve brought this thinking to our founding mission – protecting against a terrorist attack. We know it is essential not only that information is shared among relevant agencies, but also that law enforcement and frontline personnel at all levels: internationally, in our states, cities, and communities, as well as those who screen passengers and cargo and protect our borders, have a comprehensive understanding of threats. And … and … that we get them that information in real-time.

This is the driving force behind the integration of our intelligence sharing and analysis capabilities, to fix gaps such as those exploited by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in trying to down a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day in 2009. This is also the driving force behind our support for the national network of fusion centers that serve as centers of information-sharing and analysis among state and local law enforcement.

And we see the results of this collaboration every day. For example, after the attempted bombing in Times Square in 2010, information from state and local databases was shared between fusion centers, which aided the investigation and helped law enforcement identify possible associates.

Border Security

We have applied this data-driven, risk-based model to how we secure our borders – land, air, and sea – and how we enforce our immigration laws as well. Today, a single, unified agency secures our ports of entry and ensures the flow of travel and trade. Our officers are better trained, and we have invested in technology and infrastructure improvements to help expedite lawful travelers and cargo.

We have also deployed historic levels of staffing and technology along our land borders, and as a result, we have a far better ability to detect, deter, and apprehend those trying to illegally enter our country, including through aerial surveillance of the entire Southwest border. As a result, illegal immigration attempts are now at 40 year lows.

Immigration Enforcement

Lkewise, we now enforce our immigration laws according to common sense priorities focused on the greatest threats to our communities. Previously, that was not the case, meaning a college student who came here with her parents when she was a child was considered the same priority as a drug smuggler.

This has changed. Last year alone, we removed more than 250,000 criminals from the United States, a record amount. At the same time we have ensured that our immigration officers can use discretion when deciding what cases we prioritize for removal.

For example, we established a process to allow young people brought to the United States illegally as children to request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and, as a result, apply for work authorization. And we have engaged in historic efforts against human traffickers, counterfeiters, and those that violate and steal our intellectual property.

Cybersecurity

There’s perhaps no better example of how DHS has evolved to address new and evolving threats than the issue of cybersecurity. The cyber realm wasn’t even a major focus of the early Department. Now, it is one of our five core mission areas.

Cybersecurity has come to affect almost every aspect of modern life. All of us depend on cyber-controlled systems for energy, communications, transportation, and defense. Over the past four years, we have built and deployed systems to detect intrusions and defend federal cyber networks. We have expanded our 24/7 watch center, the NCCIC. We have comprehensive plans in place to manage cyber incidents.

And to stay ahead of rapidly-evolving threats and technology, we are moving aggressively to recruit, educate and train our cyber workforce for the future, with the skills and talents we need to tackle this problem in the years ahead.

Disaster Preparedness and Response

Just as we have adapted to meet evolving threats to aviation and border security, and cyber networks, we have also transformed our disaster response system to better meet the needs of disaster survivors. Over the past four years, we have led the Federal government’s response and recovery efforts to support state, local and tribal communities in 285 major disasters.

In addition to devastating floods, wildfires, and tornadoes, we have seen other major natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy. And we have dealt with unprecedented, complex events like the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

We have helped to rebuild FEMA into a strong, agile, and capable agency. Likewise, we’ve helped communities build a culture of preparedness … a culture that recognizes that the American people are not a liability to be protected, but a tremendous asset to be leveraged. I am proud of how today’s FEMA, and all of DHS, have dealt with these disasters, like Sandy, and I believe the reforms we’ve made over the past four years have made DHS and FEMA the best disaster response agency in the world.

DHS 3.0

So the obvious question is where do we go from here? How do we move from our “DHS 2.0” accomplishments of countering terrorism and improving border security, from smarter immigration enforcement to stronger cybersecurity and capable disaster response and recovery … to Homeland Security 3.0. What does that look like?

The work we’ve done, I think, provides a stronger foundation than ever to address the inevitable challenges we will face, and an ever-changing threat landscape. And we know that these challenges will evolve, requiring a nimble and flexible response by the Federal government, and by the many partners we engage across the country, and, increasingly, around the world.

They will require that we continue strengthening our nation’s capabilities to prepare for, respond to and recover from threats and events of all sizes, whether from Mother Nature or those seeking to do us harm. And, I think we must do even more to inform and engage the public in this shared responsibility for our safety and security.

Agility and resilience. Engagement and integration. These are some of the key principles that will define Homeland Security 3.0.

We must continue to embed our risk-based approach within everything we do. One key way is by smartly using information and intelligence analysis to allow us to focus our time and energy on people and cargo that pose the greatest risk, and in a manner where we can have the greatest ability to protect these systems. Our goal in supporting a risk-based approach to security is not only to keep our country more secure, but also to facilitate the lawful travel and trade that drives our economic growth.

In other words, if we’re looking for a needle in the haystack, an approach that is risk-based allows us to start looking through a much, much smaller stack while doing away with a cumbersome one-size-fits-all method. The continued development of cutting edge security technologies will certainly aid in this regard.

And we must be able to remain flexible and agile, with the ability to deal with multiple, simultaneous threats or events by leveraging the national capability we have built at all levels – federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial – and with our many international partners, as well as those in the private sector as well. Let me walk you through just a few examples of how we are doing this today, and where our priorities will be.

Trusted Travel and Trade

One area in particular must continue to receive our sustained attention, and that is aviation, where we’ve seen a range of attempted attacks since 9/11. Following the 2009 Christmas Day plot, DHS launched a global initiative to address existing vulnerabilities in international aviation, because as that attack demonstrated, a vulnerability in any part of the international system can put the entire global network at risk.

With international organizations like the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), we worked to improve information sharing, encourage deployment of advanced screening technology, and the development of international security standards. These kinds of steps will not only help us close gaps in aviation, but they will allow us to find new ways to build on the foundation we have laid.

For example, expanding the screening travelers using Advance Passenger Information/Passenger Name Records, what we call API/PNR with more countries, and sharing the results will allow us to identify potential threats earlier and increase our ability to take action before they board an aircraft to come to US.

And by greatly expanding trusted traveler initiatives like Global Entry and TSA Pre-check with an eye toward expediting screening for even more passengers, as we’ve done for children 12 and under and seniors 75 and older, we can focus our efforts on those who we don’t know as much about, and those who pose the greatest risk.

In the coming months, TSA will work to develop additional programs that expand risk-based security initiatives to additional populations. In fact, by the end of 2013 TSA expects that one in four passengers will qualify for expedited screening, up from 1 in 12 last year

Immigration Reform

Another area of great importance for us, and, of course, for the future of our nation is achieving commonsense immigration reform. Our immigration system has been broken for too long, and the time to fix it is now. As the Chair of our Senate Authorizing Committee, Senator Carper, just told me on our recent trip to the Arizona border, it’s time for Congress to stop giving us more buckets and instead, fix the ship.

Our communities, workers, and employers are all frustrated by a system that treats a drug smuggler the same as a high-achieving student, undercuts honest employers, and leaves millions in fear of deportation and vulnerable to fraud and other crimes.

This system makes it harder for law enforcement to focus on the greatest threats in their communities, instead spending time and resources on low-priority cases. Last month, President Obama put forward a set of principles that he believes will address the long-standing problems with our immigration system.

The President’s principles support stronger, sustained border security and immigration enforcement. In fact, the most effective way to achieve greater border security is through common sense immigration reform that strengthens employers’ accountability and that updates our legal immigration system.

The priorities laid out by the President also gives us better tools to focus on employers who hire illegal labor, and by doing so, create the market demand for illegal immigration. They would provide a rigorous pathway to earned citizenship for those already here. And we would significantly improve the legal immigration system.

Common sense reform will help eliminate the main driver of illegal immigration – the desire to find work. As we make it easier for businesses to get the workers they need legally, and more difficult for undocumented workers to find jobs, it will relieve pressure on the border and reduce illegal flows.

And that will enable law enforcement to keep their focus on those who pose national security or public safety threats, including narco-traffickers, human smugglers, and transnational criminal organizations. The time to modernize our immigration laws is long overdue, and we stand ready to work with Congress to achieve this important goal for our country, the American people, and all those seeking to contribute their talents and energy to our great nation.

Cybersecurity

One of the most important areas where we are investing greatly is the future of cybersecurity. We have made it a top priority to help build a 21st century cyber workforce – the next generation of skilled individuals who want to come to DHS, make an impact, and serve their country in this important field.

Beyond that, however, we also need the public and private sector to work more effectively to tackle two key challenges: improving real-time information sharing while protecting individual privacy and civil liberties, and promoting adoption of cybersecurity best practices for our nation’s core critical infrastructure.

We need greater information sharing so that the government can learn from the private sector, where people fight this threat every day. And we need to ensure that the government can use information at various levels of classification to help the private sector protect itself.

The Executive Order President Obama issued earlier this month takes some important steps towards greater cybersecurity. For decades, industry and government have worked together to protect the physical security of critical assets that reside in private hands, from airports and seaports to national broadcast systems and nuclear power plants.

There is no reason we can’t work together in the same way to protect the cyber systems of our critical infrastructure upon which so much of our economic well-being, national security, and daily lives depend.

Engaging the Public

In all areas – whether protecting our aviation sector, cyberspace, or our communities, we recognize that the public has an important role to play in our shared security. It is why we created a national “If You See Something, Say Something,” campaign to encourage citizens to report suspicious activity to local law enforcement.

It’s why we launched Stop.Think.Connect. to raise awareness of cyber security so that good cyber practices become as routine as putting on a seat belt. And it’s why we need to keep updating old systems with modern means of communication.

For example, FEMA’s smartphone apps, and social media tools make it easier than ever to access critical information about what to do before, during, and after a disaster. DHS 3.0 requires us to do more than ever to reach the public we serve by the multiple means of communications they use.

I’ll close by saying that this is a story, I think, of evolution and progress, and of lessons learned. The state of our homeland security is stronger because of these efforts.

In ten years’ time, our operations have become more cohesive, and our workforce better trained. And today, we benefit from the experience of the more than 50,000 veterans who work for the department. Crises and disasters have tested our capabilities, but also provided valuable experience, and, in many ways, proved the mettle of this young Department.

At the same time, we’re inserting the administrative nuts and bolts of a large, new agency. And here too I believe we’ve achieved notable milestones… from creating an acquisition review board and conducting technology portfolio reviews, to a new Honors program, to internal leadership development, and scholarship programs that span our many missions and components.

In 2009, I launched an Efficiency Review to look across the department’s agencies and functions to identify ways that we could reduce expenditures while maximizing our effectiveness.

Driven by employee ideas and executed by cross-component employee teams, ER has led to more than $4 billion in savings and cost avoidances that has been reinvested into our critical missions. All large organizations must continually strive to improve, and we are constantly looking for ways to become more efficient and effective at the same time.

Nonetheless, we will strive to succeed – our nation deserves no less. So on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of men and women … the Coast Guardsman who rescues a sailor; the TSO who keeps a loaded gun off a plane; the cyber expert who prevents harm to our banking system; the FEMA worker who comforts a destitute family; the Border Patrol agent who spends days and weeks in 100 degree plus temperatures patrolling our border; the scientist who figures out a better way to protect a plane; and other example upon example.

We commemorate our beginnings; our maturation; and our future. This is not a day just to look back and pat ourselves on the back. It’s a day to re-commit and to move forward. It’s time for Homeland Security 3.0.

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Review Date:

February 26, 2013

Remarks by Secretary Janet Napolitano at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement

webteam.admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:52:54 +0000

Release Date:

May 16, 2012

New London, Connecticut
U.S. Coast Guard Academy
(Remarks as Prepared)

Introduction

Good afternoon! Thank you, Admiral Papp, for the introduction, and for inviting me to speak today at your graduation, or as I’ve heard, roughly your 12th “culmination” since 2008.

By the way, I was challenged to see whether I could fit the names of all 16 of the Coast Guard’s 210’ cutters in this speech. Listen close: I have confidence you can count them all.

It’s good to be back at the Coast Guard Academy. I thank your Superintendent, Admiral Stosz, and all the members of the faculty who have helped get you to this point.

On behalf of your Commander in Chief, President Obama, congratulations to each of you. And thanks to all who have supported you: your families, your friends, and your (undoubtedly relieved) parents. Please join me in giving all those who have helped you a round of applause.

As the Service Secretary of the Coast Guard, it is my honor to address you as you embark on a career of service to your nation.

After four years of studying with diligence, you enter active duty with the confidence instilled by the finest multi-mission maritime military education in the world.

You have learned about both teamwork and self-reliance, and you have remained resolute in the face of many obstacles. You are well on your way to becoming steadfast leaders.

And that’s critical, because once you leave here, you will be given a lot of responsibility very quickly. I was on the Cutter Kittiwake just a couple weeks ago, and the majority of her crew, including the Commanding Officer, were 25 years old or younger.

Leadership in Uncertain Times

The qualities you have developed over the last four years, that strength of character, are exactly what our nation needs as your careers get underway during uncertain times.

Cadets, we live in a world of evolving threats and unconventional enemies; a world where the battlefield often has no boundaries or uniforms.

You will don many hats as you leave this Academy, because it means a lot to be a member of the Coast Guard – you are rescuers, protectors, first responders, law enforcers, teachers, public servants.

You graduate in a 21st Century anchored in neither the Cold War nor the conventional rules of warfare. In this ever-changing world, the only certainty is that you will be called on to carry out many missions around the globe:

You will help people who are in danger at sea. Last year, the Coast Guard rescued 3,804 men and women.

You will enforce our laws, ensuring that drugs and contraband stay away from our shores, and that our waters are protected from pollution and overfishing. Last year, the Coast Guard accounted for approximately 40% of all U.S., allied nation and partner nation interdictions in the drug transit zone.

You will stop human traffickers and others who are trying to come to our shores illegally, while saving those who have become stranded in crafts not worthy of the sea. Last year, the Coast Guard saved the lives of 2,474 refugees who otherwise would have drowned in their attempt to reach our country’s shores.

You will keep vital shipping lanes half a world away open to commerce – training and patrolling with allies to keep pirates at bay. Last year, the Coast Guard interrupted or defeated four pirate attacks.

You will help ensure the safety of America’s ports, as well as foreign ports that serve as last points of departure to the United States. The Coast Guard operates as the Captains of the Port in 42 locations around our nation.

You will support the defense of our nation during war. Currently, the Coast Guard has men and women in locations like Kuwait, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

And you know that no matter how routine the mission may seem, you must remain vigilant on unforgiving seas. Those in the Coast Guard who gave their lives in the last year bear silent, but eternal witness to the risks of your chosen profession.

But while we know you would give your life – “dearly to an enemy, but freely to rescue those in peril,” as your Creed says, we as your leaders are committed to doing everything we can to ensure that you remain safe and that you have the tools and equipment necessary to succeed in your jobs.

That’s why we invest in you, providing one of the finest educations in the world here at this Academy. And that is why we are investing in new cutters, and helicopters, and other resources to meet your needs.

Our continued investment means that even as the world around us evolves, the Coast Guard will remain a durable and versatile multi-mission force, a force that never rests.

Preparing Future Coast Guard Leaders

But above and beyond equipment and technology, the Coast Guard’s work will continue to require people with a range of talents possibly unmatched anywhere else in public service.

And I have to say, after reviewing the research on your class, I am impressed. You have already distinguished yourselves in so many ways.

Your Distinguished Graduate, Katie Schumacher finished with a 3.97 GPA, despite the major time commitment of serving as regimental Executive Officer.

Your Honor Graduate Justin Daniel finished with the highest GPA at 3.99.

Members of your class including Eric Doherty and Garrick Gillan helped designed and build the "SailBot" autonomous sailboat. Jacob Conrad, Nick Powell, Tom Kane, and Brian Gracey designed and built a “Mobile Biodiesel Batch reactor” that can pull up to a McDonald's, take the fryer oil, and produce diesel fuel on the spot.

As an attorney myself, I was particularly proud to hear that David Rehfuss’ team won a worldwide “Competition on the Law of Armed Conflict for Military Academies,” beating Army, Navy, and Air Force! I hear we also beat Army in Action Pistol.

And your class has excelled athletically as well:

The softball team won three games in one day earlier this month to come from behind, win the conference, and make it to the national tournament.

And Hayley Feindel overcame a lot to become, as the newspaper said, ‘the most accomplished athlete in the venerable history of the Academy.’ Talk about dependable – she was conference Pitcher of the Year – for the third time – she’s a two time All-American, AND she’s the all-time Division III leader in wins and strikeouts.

And it’s only fitting that you’re good at water sports, with women’s Crew ranked 5th in the country, under leaders like All-American Sarah Jane Otey. If you need any help at the upcoming crew championships, I want you to know I’ve been named an Honorary Coast Guard Coxswain by Coast Guard Station Washington, where I had the chance to show off my small boat driving skills last year.

And Trevor Siperek, a two-time All-Conference Cross Country runner, is ranked near the top of the country at steeplechase, and is also competing in the national finals later this month.

The list I have given is only illustrative, not exhaustive. In fact, your class has many other impressive achievements. No parade field rejects here!

After your Academy education, I am confident all of you will be well prepared to excel at whatever comes next, ready to join a long line of leaders in an organization with a rich history.

In short, I believe your extraordinary achievements and valiant service merit special consideration. Therefore, and using the powers vested in me, I hereby absolve all cadets of the restrictions associated with minor conduct offenses!

But as much as you have already accomplished, this is also just the beginning.

One DHS and USCG Role

Remember, the Coast Guard does not carry out its missions alone - you are part of something larger – the homeland security family. More and more, we are working together as one DHS to protect against terrorism, secure our borders, and respond to disasters of all types.

Our components support each other by sharing information, leveraging resources, and conducting joint operations. And while complementary missions bring us together, it is the venturous spirit shared by all who willingly put service over self that bonds us as One DHS.

Embodying Core Values

That spirit shows in the way you will face the overarching challenge of the Coast Guard, and of DHS as a whole: the challenge of leading in an uncertain world.

You are the first class to be born after the end of the Cold War, and to grow up in the Internet age.

You have faced uncertainty and change throughout your lives. And the world around you will continue to change, often in unpredictable ways. You must think about how you will confront these challenges as proud Coast Guard Officers, sworn to uphold the laws and Constitution of the United States.

My advice is to always remember that you are decisive leaders of character, guided by the three Core Values of honor, respect and devotion to duty – three values that you've already made your own.

You’ve lived “honor” through your decision to serve, and the integrity you’ve upheld through your time as cadets. As honorable leaders of character, I encourage you to look to other leaders and learn about how they approached challenges. Understanding their successes – and mistakes – can help guide you through difficult times.

There is no clearer example of an honorable leader of character than George Washington. As much as we know about our first President, each generation finds that it has more to learn.

Today, we have a picture of a complex figure who could have assumed near absolute power after the American Revolution, but who resisted that temptation, voluntarily serving only two terms as president.

It is difficult to overstate how rare it is for anyone in history to refuse absolute power, or how much this selflessness shaped our nation. It is the very definition of honor.

And yet this deeply honorable man also had his flaws and struggles, as his biographers have noted. So let the actions of leaders inspire you, but let them also teach you that no one is perfect, and that our success comes despite our imperfections.

Now, we come to the core value of “respect,” which, in the Coast Guard, is all about treating the people around us with “fairness, dignity, and compassion.” Indeed, you've demonstrated respect in many ways:

Your compassion has shown through in your commemoration of the life of classmate Kenny Link, and the love and support you’ve shown his family since he passed on;

By building a children's home for a small community in Honduras, you have helped those who have next to nothing gain a measure of dignity.

Raising funds to fight leukemia and lymphoma is another example of your compassion; and accruing the most community service hours of any class in the past two years shows your dedication to building a fairer world.

You have lived respect, and I encourage you to continue to live this value. Show it in how you deal with both your colleagues and your superior officers. Show it, as well, in how you deal with those under your command. After all, it is difficult to inspire a crew if they sense you do not respect them.

The third core value is devotion to duty. You have embodied this value by volunteering to serve your nation, persevering through every obstacle of the last four years, and by remaining alert, even on a leisure cruise, noticing and rescuing stranded young boaters off Key West. And you will live it in a thousand other acts, large and small, over the course of your careers.

For devotion to duty, I encourage you to follow the example David Henry Jarvis, first in the cadet class of 1883, and namesake of the Jarvis Inspirational Leadership Award.

As a First Lieutenant, he led his men, dogs and 400 reindeer in one of the greatest displays of devotion to duty in our history - the Overland Expedition. And while I know the graduates know the story, I’ll tell it briefly for everyone else.

In November 1897, a fleet of eight whaling ships with some 300 people aboard had become stranded off the northernmost tip of the United States - Point Barrow, Alaska, high in the Arctic - and courageous rescuers were needed to relieve them.

And so America turned to her Revenue Cutter Service, now known as the Coast Guard.

On the orders of President McKinley himself, the Revenue Cutter Bear headed north, into the frigid Arctic Winter, landing Lieutenant Jarvis and just two other men near Cape Vancouver.

Dauntless in the face of ice, snow, mountains and weather as cold as 60 degrees below zero, they traveled 1,500 miles at breakneck speed across the Alaskan wilds.

Halfway through, with the help of Native Alaskans, they gathered hundreds of reindeer – self-propelled food – and drove them the rest of the way to Point Barrow.

The whalers were saved, the nation was grateful, and the legacy of devotion to duty the Coast Guard would inherit was born.

That legacy lives on, as we were reminded this year. When the harsh winter placed Nome, Alaska, in peril, America turned again to the Coast Guard. With its heating oil supplies close to running out, the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy came to the rescue, clearing the path for an oil tanker, staying close, bringing her along, leading her forward until the cargo was safely delivered.

Conclusion

You can trace an unbroken line of devotion to duty from the valiant feat of First Lieutenant Jarvis's team to the men and women of the Healy.

And I am confident you will extend that line forward for decades to come in your own careers, in every way imaginable.

Because for all its history, the Arctic is still a young frontier that you can explore. For all our success against terrorists, our adversaries will adapt, and you will too.

For all we know about ocean science, there is still so much more to learn. And for all the advances in maritime safety, we still know that no ship is unsinkable, and there will always be tragedies to respond to and lives to be saved.

You are not only heirs to a great tradition in each of these areas, you enter a force that is vibrant and vigorous today. And you represent its future – a future that is undoubtedly and incredibly bright – a future where you will conquer challenges yet undreamed of.

You are ready. You are prepared. Go forward to meet those challenges. Semper Paratus!

Remarks by Secretary Janet Napolitano at the Southern University at New Orleans

webteam.admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:36:43 +0000

Release Date:

May 11, 2012

New Orleans, Louisiana
Southern University at New Orleans
(Remarks as Prepared)

Thank you, Chancellor Ukpolo and Southern University Board of Supervisors. I also want to thank SUNO faculty, staff, students, alumni, family, and friends.

I’m honored to be with you and I’m happy to be back at SUNO. This is my third trip here … and I’m starting to know my way around a bit – even with all the new buildings. Before I say anything more, let me congratulate the Class of 2012.

Today is undoubtedly one of the proudest moments of your lives. It is a day where all of that hard work, those long hours, and late night cram sessions have finally paid off. For the 486 candidates here, you’ve finished your coursework, your tests are done, and – in a few minutes – you can call yourselves “graduates.”

You should cherish this day. You should take pride in your accomplishments. And all of us here should take a moment to thank the many family members and friends who helped our graduates get to where they are.

Role of SUNO

Southern University at New Orleans has prepared you for the challenges ahead, and that’s a testament to the faculty and staff and the hard work they do here. This University is a cornerstone, not just of this community and this great city, but also a leader in many emerging fields, from social work and business entrepreneurship, to health information management systems.

I hear the Knights and the Lady Nights also know a thing or two about winning Track and Field and Basketball championships, as well as producing Olympic athletes. When it comes to halftime shows, I know the Human Jukebox can’t be beat. And, I’ll add, it has the best nickname I’ve heard in a while.

For years, SUNO has welcomed African-American scholars and thinkers to this University, and has provided an opportunity for a higher education to future leaders from many backgrounds. I’ll add that, as an art lover, I was interested to learn about the impressive collection of African and African-American art housed here on campus.

There’s no doubt this academic community, like the broader New Orleans community, still faces challenges. The campus still has buildings to repair. Many challenges highlighted by Hurricane Katrina require long-term solutions.

You have shown, however, as individuals and as a community, that you are an important part of finding those solutions … that you won’t go back. As a local pastor - Dr. C.S. Gordon, pastor of New Zion Baptist Church - said recently, the campus is “an open door we don’t want to see closed.”

Celebration of Individual Resilience

But today is not just a day of celebration for this University, but a day to celebrate you as individuals, and congratulate you on your accomplishments.

Graduating from college is no small matter. It takes a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication. And some of you likely had to balance your studies with other commitments – to work, or to family. For some, you may be the first member of your family – the first generation – to earn a college degree. And I can’t imagine the pride you, and your friends and family, must be feeling right now.

I am especially amazed by the story of one of today’s graduates, Mrs. Estelle Bolden. When asked about her motivation to become a student at SUNO, Estelle said that she was keeping a promise that she had made to her mother before her death.

Now, Estelle – who I understand is here today – is herself the mother of seven children, one of them a SUNO graduate, and thirty-two grandchildren. Estelle entered SUNO in Fall 2007 as a 67-year-old freshman. Since then, she made the Dean’s List. And today, she is graduating at the young age of 72 with a Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies.

So there’s no doubt that you, as graduates and as a SUNO community, have worked hard, and maybe overcome some challenges, or some long odds.

When he was in New Orleans, President Obama said “this city has become a symbol of resilience and of community and of the fundamental responsibility that we have to one another.” And I think the same could be said of you here today. This idea of resilience … it’s something we think a lot about these days.

What is resilience? Simply put, it is the ability for a person or a community or organization, to bounce back quickly after a disaster or a crisis. It’s your capacity to bend … but not to break … and to keep focused on your goals no matter what.

Resilience can be personal. I’m sure many of you have heard the expression that in life, what matters is not that you get knocked down, but that you get back up. What matters is how you deal with challenges and how you prepare yourself to handle whatever life throws at you.

Katrina Impact and Rebuilding

Some of you were probably in high school when Hurricane Katrina made landfall just miles from here in 2005 – and when Hurricane Rita struck just a few weeks later. We all have memories of those terrible days, weeks, and months, whether we experienced Katrina’s wrath firsthand, or watched in disbelief on television, or lived through its aftermath.

Some of you had to suspend your studies in order to care for your families; some of you had to re-locate with your loved ones because your home was lost to the flood waters. Indeed, I’m sure many of you in this auditorium lost a dear friend or loved one, or know someone who did. Everyone in this community was touched in some way, large or small, by this tragedy.

I understand that here on campus, flood waters were 11 feet high in some buildings. In all,
SUNO lost 21 academic programs. Many thought after such a blow, this university would never be able to recover. The projections were bleak, with some predicting that as few as 1,200 students would return to SUNO.

Some questioned whether this campus could be rebuilt and made whole again. Some questioned whether SUNO had resilience. I think you have answered that question. Ladies and Gentlemen, you have proven the doubters wrong.

Not only did more than 2,100 students come back to SUNO immediately after Katrina, but total enrollment has grown every year since. You didn’t give up. SUNO pushed on, moving to other locations, and even holding classes in trailers while rebuilding got underway.

In fact, you came back better than ever. SUNO added new academic programs to better serve the needs of New Orleans’s residents. You are building programs in fields such as public administration, child development, and entrepreneurship – efforts that can have a lasting and positive impact in the community, and beyond.

And a quick look around campus shows new facilities, like the Information Technology Center, the College of Business and Public Administration, and the first-ever student housing facility. If these aren’t examples of resilience, I don’t know what is.

I have been many places hit by disasters … places where we see the terrible effects of storms, fires, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. But I don’t think I can think of many places where the community has faced longer odds, where it was challenged in ways that often seemed too big to surmount, and where people came together like here in New Orleans.

My visit to SUNO in March 2009 was of one of the first trips I took as Homeland Security Secretary. And the reason was simple: from the very start of his Administration, President Obama made Gulf Coast recovery one of his top priorities.

On that visit, I saw a community getting back on its feet and fully committed to rebuilding and recovery. I saw faculty and administrators aware of the challenges ahead, but excited by the prospect of not just rebuilding SUNO, but making it even better than before and even more responsive to the needs and interests of this community.

But I also saw a lot of red tape, backlogs, and barriers that had to be removed. So I am tremendously proud of the support we have brought to the rebuilding effort. Beyond the support, we also made a point to focus on improving collaboration and communication – to help break through logjams. We made sure we had the right people in place so we could make decisions faster and address the most difficult challenges head-on, rather than working around them.

In short, this is a story of promises made and promises kept – to this university, to the people of New Orleans, and to the State of Louisiana. And though we are not done and there is more work to do, we have come so very far and we should all be proud.

Putting Personal Resilience into Practice

Today is not just about the past. It’s about the future … your futures – as graduates, as public citizens, and as members of this great community. You now have a credential within your grasp that can help you accomplish many wonderful things.

But life makes no promises that the path ahead will be free from difficulties or unexpected challenges. Other storms, literal or metaphorical, can always happen. I submit that your time at SUNO has built up your own personal resilience, maybe in ways you don’t yet appreciate.

That’s why we celebrate today. We all face disappointments. We all encounter unexpected challenges. But it’s our own personal resilience that pushes us through. The diploma you receive today demonstrates that you are ready for whatever life brings.

One of the benefits of being commencement speaker is that I get to ask you for something, to issue a challenge. The first part of my challenge to you is to see your education not as something that’s done and behind you, but as a set of tools, tools that you can use not just to succeed, but also to make the world a better place.

There are many ways to do that, but from my experience, I can tell you that a career in public service is an extremely rewarding way to make a positive impact. Across our country, there are communities that are coming together in new and exciting ways … and expanding what it means to serve the public – to collaborate, to solve problems, to make our cities and towns better prepared, and more resilient for whatever might come their way.

I don’t think there is a community with more first-hand experience at this than right here in New Orleans. So the second part of my challenge to you is this: As you think of how you will use your SUNO education – your tools – think about how you might serve the public good as well.

Consider how you can bring your experience and education to the important task of building strong, resilient communities – wherever your work takes you. You have already shown that none of today’s challenges can take away your drive, your spirit, your character, or your determination to succeed. They cannot take away your resilience either.

The evidence of that is everywhere around us – here at SUNO and in each of you. I think the motto I’ve seen here – "Dream, Commit, Succeed" – sums that up pretty well. I’d like you to leave today dreaming of your future; committing to your community; and succeeding in whatever life brings.

Congratulations on this milestone. May it stand you in good stead. Thank you.

Remarks by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano: Achieving Security and Privacy

webteam.admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:36:49 +0000

Release Date:

May 2, 2012

Canberra, Australia
Australian National University
(Remarks as Prepared)

Thank you, Professor Young, for the kind introduction, and for inviting me here to Australian National University. I’m honored to join you today, and also honored to carry a message from President Obama.

As you may know, this week marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea. This battle prevented the invasion of Port Moresby by Japanese forces and helped turn the tide of World War II in favor of the Allies.

It was a moment that not only forged an enduring partnership between Australia and the U.S., but also preserved the freedoms on which that partnership rests.

And it was a great honor for me to meet some of the brave sailors and airmen who were there in May of 1942, and to deliver a message to them from President Obama.

In the decades since that defining battle, our nations have built an even stronger alliance– through mutual friendship, defense, and cooperation.

As President Obama and Prime Minister Gillard announced last November, that includes a stronger security partnership with closer collaboration between the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force and the Australian Defense Force.

Over the next several years, a rotational force of up to 2,500 U.S. Marines will train alongside Australian troops, and live on Australian bases out of the Northern Territory. The first 200 Marines arrived last month.

We will also develop closer cooperation between the U.S. and Australian air forces – initiatives that will bring our militaries, already working together around the world, even closer.

And they will make it easier for our forces to train and conduct exercises with other partners in the region, including strengthening humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities.

And, I’m happy to announce today, that our partnership is growing deeper and stronger in the homeland security arena as well, with the adoption of numerous agreements between our two nations.

In fact, part of the reason for my visit this week is to sign new agreements that will express our intent to: improve information sharing between the United States and Australia; continue to work together to secure the global supply chain; further cooperate to fight terrorism, transnational crime, and violent extremism; and facilitate travel for our citizens.

And in the coming days, I look forward to signing these remaining agreements with my counterparts.

Combating Today’s Threats

These agreements show our deep commitment to a cooperative and global approach to the challenges and threats we all face.

The threats to our security come not only from established terrorist networks, but also from individuals and small groups who are radicalized to violence at home.

They come from international criminal organizations trafficking in human beings, smuggling illicit goods, or proliferating potentially deadly weapons. They can come from pandemic disease.

And, increasingly, they emanate from cyberspace. So as each and every one of our lives becomes more dependent upon systems that are networked, we face a heightened responsibility to act.

Moreover, these threats are evolving rapidly, requiring nimble action, by multiple nations and many partners.

Because today’s threats do not recognize national boundaries, our responses must also transcend borders.

And in a globalized economy, our international responsibilities have become critical not only to our physical security, but our economic security as well.

Today, the very nature of travel, trade, and commerce means that one vulnerability or gap anywhere across the globe can impact security and economies thousands of miles away. And that means our security must be a shared responsibility – among governments, the private sector, individuals and communities.

So today, I would like to talk about some of these security challenges, and specifically, to express my belief that we can, and we will, meet them … while simultaneously protecting civil rights and privacy.

Rejecting the “scale of justice” model

As we work to meet evolving threats, we must protect our values, including the rights, liberties, and privacy of our peoples.

After all, everything we do to combat terrorism and violent extremism is rooted in the fundamental objective to secure for future generations the values and way of life that our countries share.

Privacy has long been one of these core values. In fact, the modern concept of privacy itself was formulated in the United States by Louis Brandeis in a seminal paper he published more than one hundred twenty years ago, in 1890, addressing then-modern technology, and “the right to be left alone.”

Of course, Brandeis went on to become one of America’s preeminent jurists, serving a long tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court. So privacy has been important to the formulation of U.S. laws and policies for some time.

Too often, in my view, however, we view the relationship between security and privacy as similar to a scale. If we emphasize one, we must diminish the other. We talk…mistakenly… about how to “balance” the two.

But I don't like the word "balance" because I think we have to cast aside the notion that our liberty and our security are two opposing values that are on the opposite sides of a seesaw, that when one is up the other necessarily must be down.

The plain fact of the matter is that you cannot live free if you live in fear. Security is a prerequisite if we wish to exercise the rights we cherish. So in this way, our security and our liberty are not mutually exclusive. They are mutually reinforcing.

Of course, our countries have different frameworks for privacy and individual rights. Our constitutional protections work in different ways. But we should remember that our values are more broadly similar than they are different.

Our different systems are largely trying to achieve the same results: justice, security, protection of privacy. The United States and Australia share a common commitment to civil rights and freedoms, including privacy. Together we seek to protect these rights, while securing the systems of travel, trade, and commerce on which our economies rely.

So while our histories, cultures, and government organization differ, as democracies with a common political ancestry, we share certain values which are reflected in our privacy principles. And we must work together to protect these common interests.

Value of Information Sharing

Let me give you an example. We all agree that information, especially actionable intelligence, is one of our most valuable tools for serving the needs of our communities.

But we must collect, use, and share information consistent with constitutional rights and privacy principles, having them embedded into our systems.

Information can be crucial in preventing the kinds of terrorist acts we’ve seen over the past decade, that have taken the lives of many of our citizens and military personnel, and of our partners as well. Acts like the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and in Bali.

Information also helps us secure our borders, administer our immigration system, prevent terrorists and criminals from getting on airplanes, stop terrorist financing and money laundering, and protect children who are the targets of human traffickers.

Much of our respective governments’ ability to use and share information, therefore, stems from a mutual recognition of purpose. In the law enforcement and security context, our agencies need to be able to access information about potential threats and share it with each other.

This cooperation has helped us prevent terrorist incidents and led to criminal arrests and prosecutions. For example, information sharing among nations helped us foil the 2010 air cargo plot in which individuals from Yemen attempted to ship explosives disguised as printer cartridges aboard commercial aircraft.

By sharing immigration-related information, beginning with a data-sharing pilot that began in 2006 between Australia, the U.S. and three other countries, we have also enabled better decision-making about who can enter our countries and receive immigration benefits, in the process thwarting “asylum shoppers” and other bad actors seeking to fraudulently obtain refuge in our countries.

The Five Country Conference under which this information-sharing has taken place gives us a cooperative and cost-effective approach to sharing important security information. And it has done so while upholding stringent safeguards for privacy.

DHS Approach to Privacy

Privacy rights, civil rights, and civil liberties are values that we constantly pursue in these kinds of information sharing arrangements and agreements. They are an important part of how the United States ensures rights and liberties, in addition to the protections offered by our judicial system.

It is why the department I lead has a Congressionally-mandated Chief Privacy Officer who leads the DHS Privacy Office. This office is designed to serve as an integral part – from the earliest stages – of our policy-making process, and to ensure that privacy protections are built into the department's systems and technologies.

Having a Chief Privacy Officer within the department and at the negotiating table ensures privacy concerns are addressed from the very beginning and that we are formulating programs and policies consistent with the law. Concerns like what information is collected, who gets to use it, and how long it is kept.

In the U.S., for example, our laws require federal government agencies to notify the public when we collect or maintain personal information in a system of records. This process is built on transparency, accountability, and security.

We publish Privacy Impact Assessments. The Privacy Impact Assessment process ensures privacy protections are fully considered in the development of our programs. And ongoing Privacy Compliance Reviews confirm that the privacy protections that were proposed in the development of the programs are being implemented.

In addition, through the Freedom of Information Act, all individuals have the right to ask for information held by the government. My agency alone receives more than one hundred seventy-five thousand of these requests annually, responding to individuals around the globe.

These values are shared in Australia. While you have different structures committed to ensuring some of the same privacy goals, together, both of our countries have developed privacy frameworks that implement the globally recognized Fair Information Practice Principles effectively and transparently.

Privacy Office International Engagement

As you may be aware, the United States -- like Australia – has executed a series of Agreements with the European Union related to the collection and use of Passenger Name Record data, or PNR.

Under U.S. law, we require airlines flying to the United States from foreign countries to provide basic information about their passengers, such as name, date of birth, citizenship or nationality, and passport number.

We also require PNR, which includes information that travelers provide to airlines when booking their flights, such as itinerary, address, and check-in information, up to 72 hours prior to departure. I understand Australia has a similar PNR legal requirement.

Analysis of PNR, in particular, has been extremely effective – enabling us to identify both known and unknown individuals that are either a threat to aviation, or the United States, and to prevent them from either flying to, or entering the United States.

In fact, during 2008 and 2009, PNR information helped us identify individuals with potential ties to terrorism in more than 3,000 cases, and in fiscal year 2010, approximately one quarter of those individuals denied entry to the United States for having ties to terrorism were initially identified through analysis of PNR.

Clearly this is a valuable tool. But we have to ensure that PNR is collected, used, stored, and eventually destroyed in a manner that is consistent with privacy laws and protections – not just in the U.S. but for our partner nations as well.

Over the past nine years we have had four agreements with the EU to share PNR, with the most recent – and final – PNR agreement finalized last month in Luxembourg. As with many international information sharing agreements, our Privacy Office was involved in each round of negotiations to make certain that privacy protections were embedded into the Agreement.

In fact, during the most recent negotiations, my Chief Privacy Officer was a key part of the negotiating team. Transparency and collaboration are the cornerstones for international information sharing; and having privacy integrated into the process from the very beginning and throughout implementation is critically important.

It’s also important to note that the overall framework for our approach to assessing threats, managing risk, and separating low risk travelers and cargo from those we need to scrutinize more closely, not only builds on our core values of privacy protection and data and information assurance, but can create new efficiencies for travelers.

For example, with respect to our trusted traveler programs, we basically offer travelers a choice: if you agree to provide us more information about yourself in advance of your trip so that we can make an assessment about your level of risk, we promise to do two things.

We will maintain the information you have given us in confidence and use it only for the purposes of making a risk determination. In return, we will provide you the benefit of expedited clearance through our ports of entry.

This is what I mean by not necessarily viewing security and privacy as opposing forces. In this case, we are able to enhance security AND the privacy of travelers through our use and protection of information.

It is, therefore, no surprise that about 1.3 million people have enrolled in the Department’s various trusted traveler programs, including Global Entry, which provides expedited clearance for pre-approved, low international risk travelers. In fact, this program has reduced wait times for travelers by 70 percent.

One of the agreements I will sign during my visit here allows us to explore participation by our citizens in each other's expedited traveler programs so that as we take steps to protect our shared transportation networks, we will continue to facilitate travel between our countries, for Americans and Australians alike.

And, in addition, in the United States, we have strong administrative redress procedures for travelers. People who feel their privacy or rights may have been violated may file a complaint with a division of the appropriate executive agency.

In the Department of Homeland Security, that redress process is called the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, or TRIP. TRIP provides a single point of contact for travelers who have inquiries or are seeking resolution about difficulties they have experienced in their travel screening. These include watch list issues or instances where travelers believe they have been unfairly delayed or denied boarding.

TRIP is an effective recourse where there is not necessarily the ability for someone to access American courts. And, of course, we have strong, independent Inspectors General across the U.S. government who also look into and investigate instances of violations.

Conclusion

When we talk about security cooperation, we are not just talking about sharing technologies, procedures, investigations, and information. We are talking about our joint national interests and shared values, like privacy. They are not a secondary part of the conversation. They are a fundamental part of the conversation.

Australia and the United States have a strong partnership with respect to security and also with respect to safeguarding human rights and individual liberties. It is a partnership forged over many years and one that will only grow stronger in time, as together we confront our shared challenges. Working together, we will both be stronger than working alone. Thank you.

Remarks by Secretary Janet Napolitano at San Jose State University

webteam.admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:01:57 +0000

Release Date:

April 16, 2012

San Jose State University
San Jose, Calif.
Remarks as Prepared

Introduction

Thank you for the introduction President Qayoumi. I'm happy to be here at San Jose State University, an institution which has produced many of the innovative thinkers and doers of the cyber age. It's no exaggeration to say that Silicon Valley – and indeed our society – would not look the same were it not for this campus. Some of our nation's great tech companies -- including Intel and Oracle – had their origins right here, in the minds of San Jose State students or alumni.

By the way, I am an alumnus of Santa Clara University just down the road. So this is a bit of a homecoming for me, too. So it is entirely fitting that we chose San Jose State to summarize our current efforts to secure the cyber domain, including building a world-class cyber workforce at DHS.

Of course, few of us need to be reminded of the impact that the cyber revolution has had on our lives. From the kitchen table to the classroom, from business transactions to essential government operations and services, cybersecurity is an issue that impacts all of us. Whether you checked your smartphone this morning to read the news or signed-on to your bank account online or used a GPS system to make sure you didn't get lost on your way here … we all rely on these devices and the networks on which they run.

As more and more daily functions rely on digital systems, the importance and necessity of protecting our computers, mobile devices, and networks will only continue to increase.

And this isn't just an issue for consumers. While the vast majority of the nation's cyber infrastructure resides in private hands, the national security and economic risks associated with these assets are so profound that their protection is of national importance. To minimize the risk of a successful cyber attack, we need everyone, including our industry partners, the general public, and yes, our partners in academia, to do their part.

Evolving Threat Landscape

The cyber domain has become inseparable from our daily lives. And while this increased connectivity has led to amazing transformations and global advances across society, it also has increased the importance and complexity of our shared risk. Cyber attacks can be carried out by individuals, criminal and terrorist organizations, and even by nation states. They can exploit vulnerabilities in cyberspace to steal money, intellectual property, or information. In some cases they can disrupt, threaten, or destroy the availability of critical services such as electric power and running water.

Cyber attacks have increased significantly over the last decade. Indeed, they have increased significantly over the three-plus years I've served as DHS Secretary. Threats in the cyber domain encompass a broad range of activities, from targeted spear-phishing attacks, to malware, to denial of service, to intrusions into the control systems of government networks and systems that manage critical infrastructure.

Here is a quick sense of scale. Just last year, DHS's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), which is our 24 hour watch and warning center, responded to more than 106,000 incident reports, and released more than 5,000 actionable cybersecurity alerts and information products to our public and private sector partners.

We should not assume that attacks target only our government or corporate networks either. These crimes can have real-life victims and human consequences. We've all heard of hackers stealing credit card numbers, and other types of banking and financial fraud. But we also face cybercrimes that include the exploitation of children.

Last year, for example, Attorney General Eric Holder and I announced charges against 72 individuals for their participation in an international criminal network dedicated to the sexual abuse of children and the creation and dissemination of graphic images and videos of child sexual abuse. A number of these were children under age 12, some much younger.

The DHS Mission in Cyberspace

So how do we address these threats? Moreover, how do we address them across a distributed network that is largely controlled by the private sector, and yet, touches every single one of us – from large companies to individual users of the Internet?

We do it by fostering a culture of shared responsibility, engaging all levels of society, and working with key stakeholders to make cyberspace as safe and secure as possible.

DHS has some very important responsibilities with respect to cybersecurity. While the Department of Defense has the responsibility to protect the military – or dot.mil – networks, DHS is responsible for securing federal civilian government networks – the dot.gov domain –in partnership with federal agencies.

To protect these networks, we are doing a number of things: We are deploying programs to detect and block intrusions of government networks. The reason is clear: the faster we can detect an intrusion – or even an attempt – the faster we can respond to it and therefore mitigate any potential damage.

But we are planning to do even more. In fact our Fiscal Year 2013 budget includes significant new funding to support federal civilian departments and agencies in developing capabilities that will improve their cybersecurity posture and thwart advanced, persistent cyber threats.In addition, DHS is responsible for coordinating the national response to significant cyber incidents and for creating and maintaining a common operational picture for cyberspace across the government.

This means making sure our nation has a well-conceived, coordinated plan for how we respond to a major cyber attack. Over the past few years we have worked across government and with the private sector to develop the nation's first Cyber Incident Response Plan, which defines roles and responsibilities, and which we have used as the basis for two national exercises.

In addition to protecting civilian government networks, DHS must also work with owners and operators of critical infrastructure to help them secure their own networks by conducting risk assessments and then recommending actions to fill gaps and mitigate risks. "Critical infrastructure" means key systems and assets upon which Americans rely, such as the financial sector, the power grid, water systems, and transportation networks.

As I noted, we share threat information with the private sector through US-CERT to help raise overall awareness of potential cyber threats and the actions we can take to address them. To combat cyber crime, we also leverage the skills and resources of DHS components such as the Secret Service, ICE, and CBP, and we work closely with the FBI on individual cybercrime investigations.

Last year, for example, the Secret Service led an investigation that identified a person who had breached a Federal Reserve Bank computer server as part of a scheme to commit fraud. After analyzing this individual's computer, we found credit card data worth about $200 million. And on Cyber Monday 2011, one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, ICE and our partners shut down 150 websites selling counterfeit goods.

Our work extends internationally as well. In today's high tech security and commercial environments, we have to focus beyond just the physical movement of goods and people across our borders.

We are working with our international law enforcement partners to share expertise and resources to combat electronic crimes such as identity and intellectual property theft, network intrusions, and a range of financial crimes. For example, the Secret Service has Electronic Crimes Task Forces in Rome and London, and, now, a new office in Tallinn, Estonia, to help counter cyber crime originating from Eastern Europe.

Need for Legislation

As much as we are doing, we must do even more. To this end, Congress has before it several pieces of proposed legislation designed to address emerging cyber threats. The proposal the Administration supports is a bipartisan bill sponsored by Senators Lieberman, Collins, Rockefeller, and Feinstein, and is known as the Cyber Security Act of 2012.

Under current law, Congress gave DHS significant cyber authorities, and we inherited a patchwork of others. But we've reached a point where the current threat outpaces our existing amalgam of laws, and so we are working with Congress to make some changes to the law. Specifically, the Cyber Security Act of 2012 would establish baseline performance standards for the nation's critical core infrastructure.

This is infrastructure that all of us – every business, every household, every individual – rely on every day: our utilities, financial institutions and communications systems, to name just a few.

The legislature would leave to the infrastructure owners themselves the decisions as to how to satisfy those performance standards. It removes barriers to information sharing between the federal government, industry, and state, local, tribal and territorial governments in order that we may more quickly respond to and mitigate any cyber threat or intrusion. And, importantly, the legislation would help us attract and retain cybersecurity professionals to execute this complex and challenging mission by adding flexibility to the current personnel laws.

The other approaches don't provide the comprehensive set of tools we need to protect critical networks, and actually undo progress that has already been made. For instance, relying solely on voluntary information sharing without establishing basic standards for core critical infrastructure will simply not be sufficient.

I know that some have argued that the market is adequately adjusting to cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and risks. But the current market incentives for security are simply out of line with the level of cyber risk, and the increasing sophistication of cyber attacks.

Need for a Cybersecurity Workforce

That leads me to my next point, which is how we can more broadly engage each of you – students, educators, researchers, engineers, and the larger academic community – in our nation's cybersecurity efforts. To meet the challenges I've discussed, DHS needs a world-class cybersecurity team – a strong, dependable pipeline for the future.

And I'm here today to tell you how we are building that team. Through our Cybersecurity Workforce Initiative, we are hiring a diverse group of cybersecurity professionals to secure the nation's digital assets, critical infrastructure, and key resources.

That includes computer engineers, scientists, analysts, and IT specialists. In fact, since Fiscal Year 2008, our National Cyber Security Division has grown by more than 600 percent. And President Obama has asked Congress for a 74 percent increase in the DHS cyber budget in Fiscal Year 2013, recognizing the national needs in this arena.

We are also building strong cybersecurity career paths within the Department, and in partnership with other government agencies. To accomplish this critical task, we have created a number of very competitive scholarship, fellowship, and internship programs to attract top talent.

And to retain, and continually train, our top talent, we're moving quickly to create growth opportunities for our cyber staff. Just last month, we launched a pilot program with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey through which a select group of employees can earn a Master's of Science in Cyber Systems and Operations via distance learning.

That's just one example of a robust effort at DHS to engage and partner with colleges and universities, as well as the private sector, across the country. And I'm happy to say we have a great connection to San Jose State University through our sponsorship of the U.S. Cyber Challenge. The U.S. Cyber Challenge is a program that works with academic and private sector partners to identify and develop cybersecurity talent to meet our growing needs. One part of the Cyber Challenge involves intensive summer camp experiences for the best and brightest cyber talent. And San Jose State University will be hosting one of these camps this August for 100 lucky students.

These students will participate in training sessions and exercises on topics ranging from network intrusion detection to forensics. Classes will be taught by leading industry professionals, faculty members from various universities, security practitioners across industries and the U.S. government. The camp will culminate with a "capture the flag" competition in which campers use their newly acquired knowledge to battle live attacks from hackers. Not only exciting, but a lot different from the camps I remember!

DHS is also supporting Centers of Academic Excellence around the country to cultivate a growing number of professionals with expertise in various disciplines, including cybersecurity. We are extending the scope of cyber education beyond the federal workplace through the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education – or NICE - to include the public, as well as students in kindergarten through post-graduate school. And we have launched a DHS Loaned Executive Program designed to attract top professionals in the scientific and cyber fields.

And if I can make a pitch: DHS is a great place to come to work to help move this vision forward. We are a new department. It is a place where all of us – including you have the opportunity to make a positive impact for your country. We see these opportunities not just as promising careers, but as opportunities to contribute to something larger – to contribute to public service. DHS needs more people like you to join a new generation of Americans in the fight against the new generation of threats to our homeland.

Cybersecurity as a Shared Responsibility

All of us, from the most casual internet users to the most highly-trained experts, share in the responsibility to learn about cybersecurity and to do more, individually and collectively. We need industry to redouble its efforts to increase the reliability and quality of the products that enter the global supply chain.

We need primary and secondary schools to teach safe online habits to students from an early age. And we need colleges and universities to make cybersecurity a multidisciplinary pursuit so that we have policymakers who understand technology, and also technologists who understand policymaking. It should not be unusual for a top computer scientist to take leave from academia or the private sector and spend a couple of years in government – hopefully, at DHS – working on solving important technological problems.

Perhaps, most importantly, we need the general public to be more aware of the threats unsafe cyber behavior poses to our way of life, as well as more knowledgeable about where to get information to protect themselves. In 2010, we launched a national campaign – "Stop|Think|Connect" – to cultivate the basic habits and skills that everyone should adopt to keep our cyber networks safe.

Our message begins with a simple concept: to ensure cybersecurity for all of us, each of us must play our part. We know it only takes a single infected computer to potentially infect thousands and perhaps millions of others. Everyone should make basic cybersecurity practices as reflexive as putting on a seatbelt – using antivirus software, being careful which websites you visit, not opening emails or attachments that look suspicious. These basic measures can improve both our individual and our collective safety online.

Conclusion

Our nation has come together to meet great challenges before. During WWII, when our economy was mobilized for war, the American people found a way to feed themselves by growing 40 percent of all the vegetables we needed in 20 million Victory Gardens.

In the early years of the Cold War, Americans all knew where the closest fallout shelter was, and we kept children indoors when polio outbreaks were the biggest threat to public health. In those times, Americans understood what was at stake; they understood that they had to contribute; and they knew that their efforts would make a difference, in ways large and small.

But we're confronting some new realities here and we need some new thinking and new energy. Together, we can – and we will – maintain a cyberspace that is safe and resilient, and that remains a source of tremendous opportunity and growth for years and years to come.

As the Secretary of Homeland Security, I strongly encourage you to join us as we pursue our mission … because it is urgent, it is worthwhile, and it will undoubtedly impact our nation's economic vitality and way of life for generations.

As I look out into an auditorium of students, educators, and professionals, I am encouraged by your enthusiasm for these issues and am convinced that we must draw on your tremendous creativity, energy, and optimism to do something unlike what we've ever done before. These are complex and long-term challenges. That should not be a reason for despair, however. It should motivate us to work and think and collaborate in new ways. Albert Einstein once said, "It's not that I'm so smart. It's just that I stay with problems longer." That hints at the determination we must bring to one of today's hardest challenges.

And I'm proud that DHS is welcoming talented individuals right now with that kind of determination … while offering an opportunity to serve our nation as well. Thank you.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano's 2nd Annual Address on the State of America's Homeland Security: Homeland Security and Economic Security

webteam.admin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:22:04 +0000

Release Date:

January 30, 2012

Washington, D.C.
The National Press Club
(Remarks as Prepared)

For more information, see DHS progress in 2011.

Thank you for the introduction and warm welcome. It’s great to be back at the National Press Club, and I want to thank all of you for coming.

Established nearly nine years ago, the Department of Homeland Security is still a relatively young agency.

Its creation represents one of the most sizable reorganizations within the Federal Government since the Department of War and the Department of the Navy were combined to create the Department of Defense.

Every day, our workforce protects our air, land and sea borders and, increasingly, our cyberspace.

They guard against terrorist attacks from groups like al Qaeda or homegrown extremists. They apprehend human traffickers and other criminals. They protect the President and Vice President; they help thousands of immigrants become new citizens of the United States.

Today, DHS has over 230,000 employees working to ensure the safety and security of the American people, in jobs that range from law enforcement officers and agents to disaster response coordinators, from those who make sure our waterways stay open to those who make sure our skies remain safe.

The men and women of DHS are committed to their mission, and on behalf of the President, I would like to thank every one of them for their service.

As I have said many times, homeland security begins with hometown security.

And as part of our commitment to hometown security, we have worked to get resources out of Washington and into the hands of state and local officials and first responders.

We have made great progress in improving our domestic capabilities to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against our people, our communities and our critical infrastructure.

We have supported our nation’s network of 72 fusion centers, increasing our ability to analyze and distribute threat information across the country.

We have invested in training for local law enforcement and first responders of all types in order to increase expertise and capacity at the local level.

We work with a vast array of partners, from local law enforcement to the private sector to community leaders across the country, all of whom are committed to doing their part to help keep America safe.

And we will continue to build upon those efforts.

At the same time, we have worked to protect Americans from natural disasters. Last year our nation saw remarkable examples of resilience grounded in this work.

We saw communities across the country bounce back from a historic number of disasters, from Hurricane Irene along the East Coast to fires in the Southwest, from flooding along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, to the devastating tornadoes that hit the Midwest and the South.

The tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri last May leveled countless houses and businesses, destroyed most of the schools, and killed more people than any tornado since 1953.

Yet within days, the school superintendent announced that school would start on time this fall - and it did.

Local health officials announced that the hospital would be rebuilt—and it will be.

And the city manager was drawing up plans to rebuild the city’s downtown—which is currently underway.

I could relate similar stories from Alabama to Connecticut, from New England to North Dakota.

As we have seen time and again, Americans are by nature a resilient people. Our role is to be part of the team that fosters that resilience and to strive to continue doing our jobs better and more efficiently.

Our experience over the past several years has made us smarter about the terrorist threats we face and how best to deal with them.

We have learned that we can apply different protocols in different cases, depending on the information we possess about both the individual situation and the threat environment as a whole.

For instance, not every traveler or piece of cargo poses the same level of risk to our security.

The key to evaluating potential risk is information—by sharing and leveraging information we can make informed decisions about how to best mitigate risk.

And the more we know, the better we become at providing security that is seamless and efficient.

We can also free up more time and resources to spend on those threats or individuals we are bound to encounter but may not know much about—the “known unknown.”

Think of it this way--if we have to look for a needle in a haystack, it makes sense to use all of the information we have about the pieces of hay to make the haystack smaller.

This approach not only makes us safer, but it also creates efficiencies within the system for travelers and for businesses. Good, thoughtful, sensible security by its very nature facilitates lawful travel and legitimate commerce.

Simply put, our homeland security and our economic security go hand-in-hand.

Accordingly, security measures should, to the greatest extent possible, be designed to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of people and goods while securing our critical infrastructure.

The movement of people, goods, and ideas has always driven the development of nations and provided opportunities for economic growth and prosperity.

In recent years globalization has brought more diversity to world trade.

Within the American economy, trade with our international partners accounts for roughly one quarter of our GDP.

So, in other words, our economy is dependent on our ability to secure and facilitate the flow of people and goods to and from our shores.

And a crisis or vulnerability in any part of the world has the ability to impact the flow of goods and people thousands of miles away.

A passenger originating in Ghana, or a piece of cargo from Yemen, can threaten a plane bound for the United States.

And massive flooding in Thailand can drive up the global price of computer hard drives, just as an earthquake and tsunami in Japan can grind assembly lines at American auto plants to a halt.

We must therefore continue to look both within and beyond our physical borders and develop strategies that keep America safe from threats that can originate both here at home or on the other side of the world.

As the federal department charged with regulating the flow of people and goods in and out of the country, DHS has been transforming how we approach the relationship between security and trade.

This transition will be a key, ongoing focus for the Department in 2012 as we continue our drive toward a risk-based, information-driven approach to security, where what we know about a piece of cargo or a passenger allows us to better assess its risk, and identify threats at the earliest point possible.

We must recognize that security and efficiency are not mutually exclusive. We can enhance security while decreasing wait times, expediting travel and keeping costs down. And we know we can because we are doing so already.

This year alone, DHS will help facilitate about $2 trillion in legitimate trade, while enforcing U.S. trade laws that protect the economy, the health, and the safety of the American people.

So how are we strengthening security while expediting trade and travel?

One key way is through trusted traveler and trusted shipper programs.

These programs rely on mutually-agreed upon information sharing which allows us to know more about a traveler or piece of cargo before it begins its journey.

At the same time, these programs provide an economic benefit for the individuals, countries and companies involved by expediting the movement of the goods and people that are critical to their business.

For example, Global Entry is a program that allows us to expedite entry into the U.S. for pre-approved, low-risk air travelers.

More than one million passengers have already joined Global Entry, and President Obama recently announced that we will be expanding the program in 2012 as part of the Administration’s efforts to foster travel and tourism.

We have also been expanding TSA Pre√™, a domestic trusted traveler initiative that enhances security by allowing us to focus on passengers we know less about and those who are considered high-risk, while providing expedited screening for travelers who volunteer information about themselves prior to flying.

TSA Pre√™ is currently available to U.S. citizens who are members of existing CBP Trusted Traveler programs as well as eligible airline frequent flyers.

TSA Pre√™ passengers may be referred to a lane where they will undergo expedited screening, which could include no longer having to remove shoes, laptops, jackets, or belts.

Efforts like TSA Pre√™ represent an important evolution in the way we handle airline security, as we shift away from the one-size-fits-all model of passenger screening to one that is risk based.

And what’s critical is that both of these initiatives strengthen security while expediting travel for those travelers we know the most about.

We are applying these same concepts in the area of cargo security.

As part of a broader cargo security initiative, we now allow participating shippers to screen air cargo, following strict standards to support the 100 percent screening requirements of the 9/11 Act for cargo transported on passenger aircrafts.

We are also reviewing our foreign partners’ cargo screening to determine whether their programs provide a level of security commensurate with U.S. air cargo security standards.

Those who meet these requirements are officially recognized to conduct screening for cargo traveling to the U.S.

We are working with more than 80 countries to prevent the illegal theft or diversion of precursor chemicals that can be used to make Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs.

Through these efforts we have already seized more than 62 metric tons of these deadly materials.

We are partnering directly with the international trade community to provide expedited cargo processing for companies that undergo extensive vetting and meet strict security criteria.

And just last week, I announced an administration-wide effort on Global Supply Chain Security that builds off these existing programs.

This new strategy represents a whole-of-nation approach to global supply chain systems, with two explicit goals: promoting the efficient and secure movement of goods and fostering resilient supply chain systems.

Our efforts will be guided by three key principles:

We will find smarter and more cost effective ways to address security threats and maximize resources and expertise from across the United States Government;

We will foster an all-of-nation approach to leverage the critical roles played by state, local, tribal and territorial governments, and private sector partners in strengthening supply chains; and

We will enhance our coordination with the international community and international stakeholders who also have key supply chain roles and responsibilities.

Like the aviation system, our physical borders, both land and sea, serve not only as a crucial line of defense when it comes to our security, but also as a critical intersection of international commerce.

The Obama administration has undertaken the most serious and sustained actions to secure our borders in our nation’s history. And it is clear from every measure we currently have that this approach is working.

On the Southwest border, illegal immigration attempts, as measured by Border Patrol apprehensions, have decreased 53 percent in the past three years, and are less than 20 percent of what they were at their peak, while seizures of illegal drugs, currency, and weapons are all up.

We have increased the number of Border Patrol agents to more than 21,000, which is more than double the size of the Border Patrol in 2004.

And as we have worked to combat illegal crossings, violent crime in U.S. border communities has remained flat or fallen in the past decade.

We are using technology in new ways – including license plate readers to detect suspicious vehicles, aerial surveillance, and cameras and sensors along the land borders.

These kinds of technologies, combined with increased manpower and infrastructure, give our personnel better awareness of the border environment, so they can more quickly act to resolve potential threats or illegal activity.

We’ve also invested heavily in infrastructure improvements at our ports of entry, including over $400 million in Recovery Act funds to modernize older facilities along our Northern border to meet post-9/11 security standards.

We’ve also expanded our busiest ports along our Southwest border, like San Ysidro and Nogales.

And we are working with our partners across the border. Last year we stepped up coordination with Canada through the Beyond the Border Action Plan to speed inspection of goods like car parts so that factories on both sides of the border can operate more efficiently.

We have continued to work closely with our Mexican counterparts to protect shared critical infrastructure and expand trusted traveler and shipper programs as part of a declaration signed jointly by President Obama and President Calderon.

These efforts are not only speeding legitimate trade, but they are also stopping illegal goods from entering the country—goods that can undermine domestic businesses that play by the rules.

In Fiscal Year 2011, we interdicted goods representing more than $1.1 billion in Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. Further, the value of consumer safety seizures including pharmaceuticals totaled more than $60 million, representing a 41 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2010.

When it comes to the movement of people, our efforts are not just focused on promoting tourist and business travel to the United States.

We are also enforcing our immigration laws in smart, effective ways designed to protect communities while, to the greatest extent possible under current law, fostering legitimate employment and foreign investment.

The bottom line is that our nation’s current immigration laws are sorely outdated and in need of revision.

President Obama views such a revision as both a matter of fairness and as an economic necessity.

While we continue to urge Congress to take up immigration reform, we have acted on clear and common sense priorities when it comes to immigration enforcement under the existing laws.

We have reduced bureaucratic inefficiencies in visa programs - streamlining the path for entrepreneurs who wish to bring their business to America.

We have improved and automated the process for identifying individuals applying for or in possession of a visa who may pose a national security or public safety risk.

We are ending practices that break up American families by shortening how long the spouses and children of American citizens must wait abroad for a US visa that we know they will obtain.

For the first time, we have prioritized our enforcement resources so that we can concentrate first on those individuals who are in our country illegally and who are also committing other crimes.

We are also focusing on the removal of repeat immigration violators and recent border crossers before they enter our country’s interior.

This year, we began reviewing the hundreds of thousands of cases languishing on the immigration court docket to speed the removal of criminal aliens while administratively closing cases of those with no criminal record who pose no risk – such as students who were brought here through no fault of their own, or members of the military.

We’ve also focused on employers who hire illegal labor and, by doing so, unfairly compete with employers who play by the rules.

None of these actions substitute for statutory reforms. But we can, we have, and we will seek to enforce the law in a way that best meets our needs and our ideals.

In today’s high tech security and commercial environments, we must also focus beyond just the physical movement of goods and people across our borders.

That is why, in the area of cybersecurity, we are moving to create a secure environment for the flow of cyber commerce and helping support a secure marketplace for the exchange of goods and ideas.

We are deploying the latest tools across the federal government to protect critical systems while sharing timely and actionable security information with public and private sector partners to help them protect their own operations.

Beyond protecting the computer networks of the civilian side of our government, we are leading the effort to protect our nation’s critical information infrastructure – the systems and networks that support the financial services industry, the electric power industry, and the telecommunications industry, to name a few.

And we now have dedicated representatives from these and other key economic sectors working at DHS alongside our own cybersecurity experts to prevent, identify, and address cyber incidents.

We continue to work with the private sector, other government national security and law enforcement agencies and the international community to mitigate the risks and reduce the potential for a malicious actor to be successful.

Last year, our Computer Emergency Readiness Team responded to more than 100,000 incident reports, and released more than 5,000 actionable cybersecurity alerts to our federal, state, and private sector partners.

And we are working with our international law enforcement partners to share expertise and resources to combat electronic crimes such as identity and intellectual property theft, network intrusions, and a range of financial crimes.

These efforts are showing results. In the last year alone, the U.S. Secret Service prevented $5.6 billion in potential losses through financial crime investigations and $1.5 billion through cyber crime investigations.

At the same time, ICE also disrupted or dismantled more than 140 transnational criminal organizations capable of laundering over $1 billion in illegal proceeds and illegally exporting 50,000 pieces of controlled technology.

No one understands the need for security more than the business community, where one break in the supply chain can put an entire company at risk.

And in today’s world, it is not just big businesses that feel the impact of the global security network. Small businesses are inextricably linked to the larger commercial world—and in many cases are serving as the engines of security innovation.

We want to encourage this innovation. In Fiscal Year 2011, DHS awarded almost 30 percent of our total contracting dollars to small businesses, resulting in more than $4.2 billion in prime small business contracts.

Our investment in businesses of all sizes is paying off in the development of new security tools.

For example, our new “Commercial First” approach leverages the innovations and development done by industry to support the Department’s nuclear and radiological detection equipment needs.

This initiative facilitates interaction among industry, stakeholders, and researchers to develop technology that is better and more cost-effective.

Businesses are also central to rebuilding a community after a disaster or other tragedy strikes. That is why, led by FEMA, we have changed how we work with businesses before, during, and after a catastrophic event.

We have seen that the more we do to make sure we’re prepared for a disaster, the faster we will rebound. And that has immense economic consequences.

Last year, we supported 99 major disaster declarations. These included the response to Hurricane Irene that impacted 14 states, record fires in the Southwest, flooding across the central United States, and devastating tornadoes that hit the Midwest and South.

In all of these instances we have shown that we are dedicated to helping communities rebuild after disaster strikes.

One of the many new ways we do this is by awarding contracts to local small businesses and adhering to the principle: hire local, buy local, and help communities get back on their feet.

Last year, I had the honor of attending the opening of the new 9/11 memorial in New York City. That memorial, like the one at the Pentagon and in the fields outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, stands as a reminder of those we lost and will never forget.

But these memorials must serve another purpose. They must stand as reminders of our need for vigilance in a dangerous world, and as a symbol of our resilience as a nation—a nation that has proven time and again that we will always come back stronger from tragedy and adversity.

We have come a long way over the past year, and over the past ten years since 9/11. We have learned a great deal about how to better secure our country, but we remain aware of how a successful terrorist attack or natural disaster can inflict economic damage beyond its human toll.

Threats against our nation, whether by terrorism or otherwise, continue to exist and evolve. And DHS must continue to evolve as well.

While we resolve to remain ever vigilant against another 9/11 style attack, we also commit ourselves to deploying security measures that promote the movement of goods and people and that build upon our national resilience.

Today, we’re bringing new strategies to this effort, not only to confront an ever evolving set of threats, but also to protect and support the economic engine that makes our Nation great.

We will do even more in 2012 and beyond. I want to thank you for your interest and for your continued engagement.

###

Remarks by Secretary Janet Napolitano

webteam.admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:37:24 +0000

Release Date:

December 30, 2011

Washington, DC
CBP Change of Leadership Ceremony
(Remarks as Prepared)

Good morning. I’m pleased to join Commissioner Bersin, Deputy Commissioner Aguilar, Assistant Commissioner Winkowski, and the men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

You have one of the most challenging – and important – missions of any agency within DHS, and in fact, across the federal government.

The work you do is not only critical to the security of our land, sea and air borders, and the health and safety of the American people, but is also crucial to the health of our economy:

This year alone, you screened more than 340 million travelers and nearly 25 million containers, accounting for $2.3 trillion in trade.

You secured our nearly 6,000 miles of land borders and provided nearly 1,500 hours of unmanned aerial surveillance along our borders.

At the same time, you processed more than 15 million travelers at 15 international pre-clearance locations overseas, helping to identify threats earlier while expediting legal travel.

You undertook these and other challenging, often dangerous, missions every day, and your accomplishments over the past year speak to the immense commitment, talent, and dedication of every CBP employee, and the creed by which you do your jobs: vigilance, service, integrity.

But as much as your work is a team effort, your achievements also speak to the tremendous dedication, talent, and leadership of your Commissioner. Since day one, Commissioner Bersin has set clear priorities for CBP, implemented innovative policies and strategies to meet them, and achieved remarkable results.

Under his tenure, Commissioner Bersin has overseen the most significant and successful expansion of border security in United States history, and I say that having served as a border state governor for over six years.

Today, our borders are more secure than ever before. Border Patrol apprehensions are down 50 percent over the past three years and are less than 20 percent of what they were at their peak.

At the same time, over the past three years, you and your DHS colleagues have seized more illegal currency, drugs, and weapons along the Southwest border, and those seizures continue to increase.

Under Commissioner Bersin, we have made critical investments in our ports of entry to strengthen security, trade, and travel.

Commissioner Bersin helped forge even stronger international partnerships across the globe, fostering an unprecedented level of cooperation with Mexico and developing new and important initiatives with Canada while also leading the expansion of CBP trusted traveler programs to expedite screening for low-risk travelers.

For these and many other reasons, CBP is now a stronger, more capable agency. Commissioner Bersin – today, we pay tribute to your service, your commitment, and the lasting difference you have made, and we thank you as you prepare to leave CBP.

Of course, the silver lining in Commissioner Bersin’s departure is that he is leaving CBP in the extremely capable hands of another remarkable public servant: Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar.

Deputy Commissioner Aguilar is certainly no stranger here. Indeed, he has spent the bulk of his remarkable professional life serving the United States, beginning his CBP career as a Border Patrol agent in 1978.

With the Border Patrol, Deputy Commissioner Aguilar served as Patrol Agent in Charge of three Border Patrol stations in Texas, two of which received the Commissioner’s award for group achievement while under his command.

He also served as Chief Patrol Agent of the Tucson Sector, leading implementation of the department’s Arizona Border Control Initiative

Deputy Commissioner Aguilar became Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol in 2004, where he presided over the largest expansion of the Border Patrol in its history, forged strong partnerships with the Department of Defense and the National Guard to secure the border, and helped implement the department’s Southwest Border Initiative, among many other efforts. He became Deputy Commissioner in April, 2010.

For his work and his career of service, Deputy Commissioner Aguilar received the Presidential Rank Award in 2008.

He is a familiar face around these halls, a well-respected member of the law enforcement community, and a proven leader. Congratulations on your new appointment. We all look forward to continuing to work with you.

We are also pleased to be welcoming Assistant Commissioner Winkowski to his new position as Acting Deputy Commissioner.

He, too, has devoted his life to public service, joining the U.S Customs service in 1975 and serving in many critical positions throughout his career, including Port Director of the Los Angeles International Airport, Area Port Director of Miami and Director of Field Operations there, and since 2007, as Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Field Operations.

He brings immense customs experience to this position, having directed the activities of more than 28,000 CBP employees as well as overseeing operations at 20 major field offices, 330 ports of entry, 58 CSI ports, and 15 preclearance stations.

We are grateful for your continued service in this new role. We are also very pleased to have two long-time CBP veterans now serving at the helm of this agency and bringing their broad range of experience to your daily mission.

I’m also happy to say that even though Commissioner Bersin is leaving CBP, he won’t be going far.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that President Obama has appointed Commissioner Bersin to serve a new role within DHS – that of Assistant Secretary of International Affairs.

DHS could not succeed in its mission without strong international partnerships and engagement. We have personnel working in more than 75 countries, including many of your CBP colleagues.

Our international responsibilities extend to the full range of threats we face, including countering:

Terrorism and organized violent crime; Narcotics smuggling and human trafficking;
Proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons; and
Emerging threats from cyberspace

In his new position, Assistant Secretary Bersin will oversee the department’s international engagement, leading the strategic development and execution of DHS international plans and policies and forging new partnerships with foreign governments and international organizations.

As the Department’s chief diplomatic officer, these are responsibilities that I know Assistant Secretary Bersin will assume with the same level of dedication that defined his tenure at CBP as well as his long career in public service, which included roles as California’s Secretary of Education, Superintendent of Public Education in San Diego, and as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California.

We are grateful for your continued service to our country and to DHS in this new capacity.

I want to personally thank you for taking on this important job. And I want to thank all of you for your service.

I wish all of you a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season, especially our men and women in the field who will be working over New Year’s to keep all of us safe. Thank you.

Secretary Napolitano's Remarks on "The Importance of International Policing and Security Partnerships"

webteam.admin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:00:21 +0000

Release Date:

December 5, 2011

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Gulf States Global Police Symposium
(Remarks as Prepared)

Thank you for the introduction. It's great to join you today for this conference, and I want to take a moment to thank: Sheriff Baca and conference organizers and ICE Director Morton.

The Abu Dhabi Police and Los Angeles County Sheriff have been at the leading edge of law enforcement cooperation, both here in the Emirates and across the globe, and I want to thank you for your leadership and your continued partnership.

I'm confident this conference will build on the work done at the inaugural symposium LA County hosted in 2009, in partnership with Qatar and the French National Police, and we certainly look forward to many more in the future.

Conferences like this one are extremely important, because we know that in today's interconnected world, criminal activity can be international in scope, origin, and impact.

This has significant implications not only for how we do our jobs and work together, but also how we ensure the safety of the citizens and communities that we all serve.

Indeed, I would venture to say that what we have seen over the past ten years is a major transformation in terms of the kinds of evolving threats that local police forces must now confront in their communities.

Many of you know this well, having served on the frontlines in your own cities and communities for years. Today's threats are not the same as they were ten years ago, or even five years ago.

Whether in the U.S., Europe, Asia or here in the Middle East, we face a threat environment where violent extremism is no longer defined or contained by international borders.

We face an environment where transnational criminal organizations are aggressively seeking to exploit gaps and vulnerabilities in our shared systems of trade, travel, and communication, while attempting to hide behind international jurisdictions.

And we face a threat environment where we have to address threats that are homegrown, those that originate abroad, and those that may be a hybrid of the two.

As you know, in many instances, local police must now confront criminal activity that not only originates within your communities, but also sophisticated transnational global threats – whether from cybercriminals, human smuggling and trafficking organizations, terrorists, or international fugitives.

In short, local police must deal with global issues that may very well begin thousands of miles away, but can have direct and serious consequences at home. And this, really, is a new kind of challenge for all of us.

It compels us to work together in new and more effective ways. It means that we must build and sustain new tools and capabilities that empower local police to combat threats that in many cases extend well beyond established law enforcement jurisdictions.

And it requires us to build and strengthen global partnerships so that we are able to constrain the ability of criminals and terrorists to operate within the global sphere.

Simply put, in our increasingly interconnected world, we can't be secure at home without strong partnerships abroad, and vice versa. This is a shared responsibility that we must address together—and we are.

Working closely with our partners across the United States and around the world, we are taking a new approach at the Department of Homeland Security and across the U.S. government to confront this challenge.

Our approach is centered around building the capacity and capabilities of frontline law enforcement to protect against and respond to a range of threats within their communities.

And the reason is clear: state and local law enforcement partners are often in the best position to recognize warning signs and indicators of potential terrorist or criminal activity. And they must have information, tools, training, and resources to effectively address those threats.

Of course, as we support law enforcement, we are also engaging our international partners in a number of important ways that I believe will help all of us address threats at the earliest point possible.

Today, I'd like to start there, by discussing some of the advances we have made – and continue to make – working together on a number of joint international efforts and initiatives that have improved our ability to share information, combat the activities of criminal organizations, prevent terrorist travel, and strengthen the security of the global supply chain.

As many of you know, DHS is deeply engaged overseas. We work in more than 75 countries worldwide and have the third largest international footprint of any U.S. civilian government agency, with more than 1,500 personnel deployed.

Here in the United Arab Emirates, for example, we have permanent personnel stationed here from two DHS agencies: Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

Our personnel work with the UAE government to support DHS investigations back in the U.S.; to conduct visa security checks to prevent terrorists and other criminals from exploiting the visa process; and to help interdict contraband on U.S.-bound ships, among other activities.

Through this work, here and at other international locations, we have helped our counterparts identify common threats to global security such as child pornographers, smugglers and human traffickers, as well as identify shipments of counterfeit goods.

We're also providing training to UAE customs and immigration agencies, sharing our expertise and lessons learned to help combat the illegal movement of people and goods across borders.

If this work sounds familiar to some of you, it is because we do similar work in many other countries. And without a doubt, these joint efforts have led to some significant successes in past years. Successes that have benefited both partners.

Working together, we have disrupted major global human trafficking rings, arrested leaders of drug trafficking organizations, shut down websites violating intellectual property rights laws, arrested fugitives and war criminals, and stopped major identity theft rings as well as cybercriminals.

Because of strong information sharing partnerships, we also successfully interdicted the air cargo threat originating in Yemen in October 2010 involving the shipment of explosives hidden in toner cartridges.

These kinds of activities underscore the importance of strong information sharing mechanisms between our nations so that we can identify potential threats and act swiftly to address them.

It is why, for example, DHS has signed 20 “Preventing and Combating Serious Crime” Agreements with countries to exchange biometric and biographic data to catch criminals who move from one country to another.

Over the past two years, we also have worked with international partners on two major global initiatives that I'll briefly mention because they illustrate the kind of impact we can achieve internationally when we all collaborate and share knowledge and experience.

After the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight #253 in December of 2009, we held a number of international summits across the world, including here in Abu Dhabi, to discuss the need for collaborative international action to prevent terrorists from boarding commercial aircraft.

As a result of this effort, 190 countries adopted a historic Declaration on Aviation Security at the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, Triennial Assembly. This agreement is the foundation for a new, truly global aviation security system that will help strengthen international travel for all nations.

For more than a year now, we also have joined our international partners around the world on a Global Supply Chain Security Initiative to protect the vast amount of goods and commerce that move across the world every day - and that drive our global economy.

As part of this effort, more than 80 countries now participate in Program Global Shield, sharing information about the export of 14 precursor chemicals that can be used in Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs.

Program Global Shield has already led to the seizure of more than 33 metric tons of chemicals, primarily ammonium nitrate, which, in the wrong hands, could be used to build hundreds, even thousands, of IEDs. It is a great example of how customs agencies are joining together to address a common threat that affects us all.

As we have undertaken these efforts, we also have focused on strengthening and empowering frontline law enforcement in the United States.

Our goal is likely one that you share – to get resources and information into their hands so they can do their jobs more effectively.

When I became Secretary of Homeland Security three years ago, one of the first priorities I set was to deepen our partnership with law enforcement. This has meant: Improving how we communicate and share information; Enhancing the kind of federal resources and support we provide through grants, training, and other means; Strengthening our analytic capabilities so we have better awareness of new and emerging threats; and Strengthening how we work together before, during, and after incidents and emergencies.

To achieve these goals, we have worked with law enforcement to implement a number of programs that I'd like to mention– because I believe they can serve to inform the discussions taking place at this conference, and at future conferences.

First and foremost, we have recognized that information is one of our best tools for identifying threats in our cities and communities. That information needs to be properly collected, analyzed, and shared wherever appropriate.

Within the United States we have supported the creation of 72 state and local fusion centers that serve as focal points where information about threats can be gathered, analyzed, and shared among federal, state, local, tribal, territorial and private sector partners.

Fusion centers give us greater analytic capability to understand threats, and we have deployed our own DHS personnel to these centers to work side by side with their state and local counterparts to share information, knowledge, and expertise.

With the U.S. Department of Justice and in partnership with law enforcement across the U.S., we also have launched the Suspicious Activity Reporting, or SAR Initiative, which trains frontline law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism, crime and other threats.

The SAR initiative standardizes how those observations are documented and analyzed; and expands and enhances the sharing of those reports, improving our awareness of threats at all levels.

More than 180,000 law enforcement officers have now received SAR training, and more are getting trained every week.

Efforts like this complement the kind of training that our DHS personnel provide the law enforcement community across the world, helping our international partners understand the kind of threats and trends we are seeing in the United States and any lessons that may apply in an international context.

In addition, we have embarked on an extensive public awareness initiative – the “If You See Something, Say Something,” campaign, which originated in New York City with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

We have several recent examples where the public has played a key role in preventing potentially deadly attacks in New York City, on America's West Coast, and near one of our large military bases, all because concerned citizens reported suspicious activity to law enforcement.

Finally, we are working with law enforcement agencies as well as communities across the U.S. to counter the threat of violent extremism through improved training and partnerships.

For example, we are implementing a Countering Violent Extremism curriculum for state and local law enforcement that is focused on community-oriented policing, which will help frontline personnel identify activities that are indicators of potential terrorist activity and violence.

With local communities and the U. S. Department of Justice, we have published guidance on best practices for community partnerships to prevent and mitigate homegrown threats.

And we have issued, and continue to release, unclassified case studies that examine recent incidents involving terrorism so all of us can better understand the warning signs that could indicate a developing terrorist attack.

What I have just described to you is a new approach – one in which many of you are involved and one that is helping us confront evolving threats in our communities as well as those originating beyond our shores.

This approach recognizes that international partnerships are the key to fighting international crime, and that we must continue to work together, learn from each other, and build on our already strong collaboration.

Ten or fifteen years ago, a conference like this probably wouldn't have taken place because local police from different countries most likely didn't see the need to directly engage each other.

That has now changed. My challenge to all of us today is to continue to talk about these issues and engage in regular conversation, dialogue and information sharing, because the threats we face are rapidly evolving.

We have made significant progress to change how we work together – how we share information, how we train together and build new capabilities, and how we identify and address threats.

We're proud of this work and grateful for your partnership – and I understand that there are already commitments to host the next three years of this conference, which will continue to strengthen our ties.

So I thank you for your continued commitment to this effort, and thank you for inviting me to speak today. We look forward to continuing to work with you.

###

Secretary Napolitano's Remarks on "Our Shared Responsibility: The Importance of Strong International Homeland Security Partnerships"

webteam.admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:10:06 +0000

Release Date:

December 2, 2011

Paris, France
Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale
(Remarks as Prepared)

For more information, see these fact sheets on DHS' International Engagement and International Footprint.

Thank you, Vice Admiral Laborde, for that warm welcome. I’m happy to be here today. I want to thank the Institute for Higher National Defence Studies for inviting me to address this prestigious forum, and for the opportunity to speak in Paris, given the strong partnership between our two nations.

The United States and France have a history as old as our republics of cooperation to protect the security and rights of our citizens.

Today, we live in a globalized world, connected by myriad complex networks; a world in which the movement of people, goods, and ideas never stops.

This openness and movement fuel the tremendous opportunities of our networked age. But, they also bring additional security challenges, requiring increased international partnerships and collaboration.

These challenges – from terrorism and violent crime, to trafficking of humans and the smuggling of illicit goods, to cyber threats, violent extremism and new pandemic diseases – are evolving rapidly. They require nimble action by multiple nations and many partners.

“Homeland security” is where we address these kinds of threats with preparation and prevention, and with quick, informed responses.

Though the mission of the agency I lead— the Department of Homeland Security— is domestic security, achieving that requires efforts that extend beyond our borders. Because today’s threats do not recognize national boundaries, our responses must also transcend borders.

In a globalized economy, our international responsibilities have become critical not only to our physical security, but our economic security as well.

Today, the very nature of travel, trade, and commerce means that one vulnerability or gap anywhere across the globe can impact security thousands of miles away. That means our security must be a shared responsibility – among governments, the private sector, individuals and communities.

That is why I believe that this global homeland security enterprise—comprising strong international engagement, and cooperative partnerships among our nations and international organizations— is, more than ever, absolutely essential to the security of all.

Today, I would like to discuss how DHS views the role of international security partnerships in countering the threats we face.

I also want to note some of the remarkable progress that – together with partners like France and the G6 nations – we have helped to achieve.

And I want to lay out what I see as the major challenges we may face together in coming years.

When the military academies of our respective nations were formed, they trained generals and admirals to lead armies and navies against those of other nations.

Today, homeland security professionals work under very different conditions, confronting different threats with different tools and responses.

We recognize that a terrorist attack, pandemic disease, or major disruption to our supply chain can exact large economic consequences beyond simply physical damage, not to mention the tremendous impact on our citizens.

And we know that helping communities – people, businesses, local governments and law enforcement – be better prepared for a crisis and better able to bounce back from one – pays large dividends as well.

Today, we are even more interconnected. Our homeland security – like yours – is inextricably linked to the rest of the world. We simply cannot be secure at home without thoughtful engagement abroad.

This applies not just to the prevention of terrorism, but to enhancing the security of international travel and to protecting the free and secure flow of commerce.

DHS has personnel stationed in 75 different countries, the third-largest civilian footprint of any U.S. agency working overseas.

We work bilaterally with nations, as well as with major multilateral bodies and organizations to strengthen the security of the networks of global trade and travel upon which our nations’ economies and communities rely.

I am particularly grateful that we have established strong partnerships and regular communications with the interior ministers and home ministers of our neighbors to the North and South, across Europe, and in other corners of the world.

Given the complex and evolving range of threats to nations in this international community, these homeland security and justice partnerships have become an essential element in the success of our shared security.

Let me say a few words about some of these international efforts and partnerships that my Department is engaged in.

Our responsibilities extend to the full range of threats, including: terrorism and organized violent crime; narcotics smuggling and human trafficking; proliferation of chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons; and emerging threats from cyberspace.

We have personnel who work with their international counterparts to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations engaged in money laundering, child exploitation, intellectual property rights violations, and human trafficking.

We have officers stationed abroad who work in coordination with the governments of our international partners to identify known or suspected terrorists and other high risk travelers.

We have personnel who inspect airports overseas with flights to the United States to ensure they’re in compliance with international security standards.

We have personnel who enforce sanctions and investigate illicit networks involved in nuclear and other weapons proliferation.

And in all of these areas, that includes DHS personnel here in France.

We also have Coast Guard personnel who assess seaports and shipping companies that trade with the United States, and interdict drugs and human smuggling near our shores.

In each case, this work is done in cooperation with our international counterparts—we are constantly learning from the expertise and experience of our partners.

So for example, DHS has officers stationed in Afghanistan as part of the “civilian surge” lead by the U.S. Department of State.

These professionals are mentoring Afghan border guards, providing training at the Customs Academy we helped establish, and using cash-counting machines at Kabul airport to help detect money laundering.

In Europe, the U.S. Secret Service is working with our international partners to combat computer-based threats to our financial payment systems and critical infrastructures, with Electronic Crimes Task Forces in Rome and London.

To learn more and share information about best practices for countering violent extremism, we are working with our counterparts in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and with the EU.

And we are also now working with Europol on sharing ways for frontline law enforcement to recognize behaviors associated with violent extremism.

In all these efforts, in addition to our international partners, we work closely with our U.S. Federal partners from the Departments of State, Justice, Defense, and others; and with the FBI.

It is important to understand that this kind of international cooperation and coordination – the global homeland security enterprise – has become absolutely essential to dealing with the complexity and interconnectedness of our networks for finance, travel, trade, and communications, among others.

And, of course, it is the reliability, security and accessibility of these networks upon which our global economy stands.

Let me offer an example of these international partnerships in a bit more detail. This week, my counterpart, French Interior Minister Claude Guéant, and I reiterated our support for a critical agreement between the U.S. and EU on information sharing and aviation security.

Under U.S. law, DHS requires airlines flying to the United States from other countries to provide basic information on all passengers, such as name, date of birth, citizenship or nationality, and passport number, and also information we call Passenger Name Record, or PNR.

We have used this and other information to identify and target both known and unknown individuals that are either a threat to aviation, or the United States.

In fact, during 2008 and 2009, PNR information helped the United States identify high-risk individuals in more than 3,000 cases.

In fiscal year 2010, approximately one quarter of those individuals denied entry to the United States who appeared high-risk were initially identified through analysis of PNR.

PNR analysis has also played a critical role in recent terrorism investigations, including those of: Najibullah Zazi, who pled guilty to plotting to bomb New York subways; David Coleman Headley, who pled guilty for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks and was suspected of planning attacks in Europe; and Faisal Shahzad, who pled guilty in the 2010 bombing attempt against Times Square in New York.

Right now, DHS and the European Union are completing a new U.S.-EU PNR agreement that improves the privacy protection and security benefits of the 2007 U.S.-EU PNR Agreement currently in effect.

The new PNR Agreement includes a number of innovative solutions to protect the civil liberties and privacy of the traveling public. These include: a tiered retention system that limits access to most travelers’ PNR to 6 months, while ensuring historical data remains available to fight crime and terrorism, thus protecting both privacy and security; a roadmap for travelers to access and correct their data and seek redress, including their entitlement to petition U.S. courts; and improved reciprocity between U.S. and European law enforcement agencies to collaborate on investigations and threats to public safety.

The agreement requires approval by the Council of the European Union and ratification by the European Parliament. We are calling on Member States of the European Union and the European Parliament to approve the agreement as expeditiously as possible.

So what’s on the horizon, and how do we build on our progress?

I believe that two areas present themselves: the first is working together to enhance protection of cyberspace and the cyber systems and networks that are central to global trade, travel, and communication. The second is protecting the global supply chain from exploitation and disruption.

Without a secure cyberspace, many aspects of modern life – our economies, our health care systems, our transportation and communications networks – would grind to a complete halt.

An increasing number of cyber threats encompass a broad range of activity, from denial of service attacks to attempts to steal intellectual property to intrusions against government networks and systems that control critical infrastructure.

We also face a range of cybercrimes, including the exploitation of children online and banking and financial fraud.

This past April, I was in Budapest during the European Cybercrime Forum to discuss our partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice and the EU under the auspices of the U.S.-EU Working Group on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime.

This group focuses on managing cybersecurity incidents, enhancing public-private partnerships, raising awareness about cyber threats, and combating cybercrime.

And most recently – in November – we held the first ever joint transatlantic tabletop exercise with our EU counterparts to evaluate joint responses to cyber incidents and examine ways to enhance international collaboration.

My department has two specific roles in this effort. The first is protecting U.S. federal civilian government agencies’ cyber networks. The second is leading the protection of critical infrastructure and its connections to cyberspace.

This requires a full range of partners – including other U.S. government agencies, the private sector, individual users of the Internet, and international partners like France and EU countries.

This past May, the United States released a new International Strategy for Cyberspace to provide a blueprint for building an international framework to make cyberspace secure and reliable.

This strategy is not just a U.S. initiative. It is an invitation to other countries, organizations and people to join us in building global networks that are open to new innovations, interoperable, secure, and reliable.

At the same time, it prioritizes the protection of fundamental freedoms as well as privacy in cyberspace.

And finally – through a public education campaign called, “Stop. Think. Connect.” – we have been reiterating a call to action for all sectors of society to play their part in making cyberspace more secure. The goal is to make basic cybersecurity practices as reflexive as putting on a seatbelt.

This involves working with the private sector to increase its efforts to improve the reliability and resiliency of its products, and also with the academic community to continue to teach students of all ages the importance of safety in cyberspace.

In addition to our efforts to secure cyberspace, we are working closely with our EU partners on a Global Supply Chain Security Initiative to protect the vast amounts of goods and commerce that move across the world every day, driving the global economy.

In June of this year, the U.S. and EU signed a joint statement on supply chain security expressing our commitment to enhancing protection of our global systems of trade and commerce.

Since that time, there has been rapid progress. DHS and the EU are nearing conclusion of a mutual recognition agreement between trade partnership programs, so that trusted traders will have expedited treatment on both sides of the Atlantic; we have agreed that the World Customs Organization should determine what advance information for cargo should be provided, so that countries can analyze the data and determine what needs extra scrutiny before it is loaded on an aircraft; and we have begun jointly testing radiological and nuclear detection technologies to international standards to determine whether current standards need to be changed.

As part of this effort, with the World Customs Organization, we launched Program Global Shield, an initiative to protect the supply chain by preventing the theft or illegal diversion of precursor chemicals that can be used to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

More than 80 countries now participate and the program already has led to the seizure of more than 33 metric tons of chemicals, primarily ammonium nitrate, which, in the wrong hands, could be used to build hundreds, even thousands, of IEDs.

And through my department’s Science and Technology Directorate, we have signed research and technology sharing agreements with the European Union, France, Germany, Sweden, and the UK to collaborate on joint technology research and development.

We also have engaged in a number of successful homeland security research projects with our European partners, including efforts to improve the detection of explosives and the identification of biological and chemical threats.

Early in his administration, President Obama took action to better align our policy apparatus to the realities of our interconnected world.

The Administration’s National Security Strategy made explicit the need to better coordinate and integrate the full scope of efforts to keep America secure, stating:

“We are now moving beyond traditional distinctions between homeland and national security. National security draws on the strength and resilience of our citizens, communities, and economy.”

At the heart of this is a firm commitment – to continue to build a more secure and resilient nation, while also maintaining the open flows of commerce, travel, and ideas.

We are moving this still new field forward, and will continue to work closely with allies and partners who face shared threats, as well as the desire for open societies, freedom of movement, and the protection of individual rights and liberties.

We will never be able to seal our nations under a glass dome to prevent future terrorist attacks or disasters.

But we can continue to do everything possible to minimize the possibility that such an attack will succeed, and maximize our ability to respond effectively should an attack be attempted.

This is a shared responsibility in which we all have an important role to play. We all benefit from our joint efforts! Thank you for your partnership, today and in the future.

###

Secretary Janet Napolitano Remarks on "Keeping the Promise to Those who Serve"

webteam.admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:46:39 +0000

Release Date:

November 8, 2011

Washington, D.C.
Remarks As Prepared

Fact Sheet: Engaging Veterans in Fulfilling Our Missions

Thank you, Chris, for the introduction.

I want to thank GSA for hosting us today. And I want to thank our invited speakers who will be sharing some of their personal stories about their service to the United States, both as military veterans and as DHS employees.

We are here today to recognize the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans, including many we are fortunate to count as colleagues at the department.

America is a stronger nation not only because of what our veterans have given, but also because of what they continue to contribute.

Military service members are on the frontlines at home and abroad, working tirelessly to protect our nation.

Today we honor all of those who have worn the uniform and all those who are currently wearing the uniform of our Armed Services.

To our veterans and to our servicemen and women, I salute you, DHS salutes you, and President Obama salutes you. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your service.

In 2009, I joined President Obama as he signed an Executive Order on the Employment of Veterans in the Federal Government.

This executive order advances a number of important goals:

It makes recruiting and training veterans for employment at federal agencies a top priority.

It emphasizes the importance of increasing the veteran workforce within the executive branch; and

It emphasizes assisting recently hired veterans in making the adjustment to service in a civilian capacity.

This week, President Obama also announced three executive actions that will make it easier for veterans to find jobs.

As the President said on Monday, “We ask our men and women in uniform to leave their families and their jobs and risk their lives to fight for our country, and the last thing they should have to do is fight for a job when they come home.”

The new executive actions include:

A Veteran Gold Card which gives eligible veterans up to six months of personalized job search services at career centers across the country;

An easy-to-use online tool – called “My Next Move for Veterans” – that allows veterans to enter information about their skills, and match it with civilian careers so that they can put their experience to use; and

A new, online Veterans Job Bank, where employers can “tag” job postings for veterans to help identify job openings.

This week, the President also reiterated his support for the American Jobs Act, which contains two important provisions that support veteran hiring.

The Returning Heroes Tax Credit would give businesses a tax break for each unemployed veteran that they hire; and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit would give businesses an even larger tax break for hiring an unemployed veteran with a disability related to their service in uniform.

The President’s message to veterans is clear: America values your service, we stand with you, and we will continue to be there for you. And I want to reiterate that we are here for you as well at DHS.

Given the vital role veterans play advancing our mission, I set a goal for the Department to employ 50,000 veterans by the end of 2012.

Today, I am pleased to announce that due to the hard work and dedication of people across the Department, that goal has now been accomplished one year early.

Veterans now comprise 25 percent of all DHS civilian employees, in addition to the 49,000 active duty and reserve members of our U.S. Coast Guard. These men and women bring their talent and dedication to every corner of the department.

We have veterans serving as Transportation Security Officers, Border Patrol agents, and throughout headquarters. Many of our Department’s leaders are veterans, including Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute and Under Secretary Rand Beers.

I would like to take a moment to share the stories of two of the remarkable veterans in the DHS family who are here with us today.

Staff Sergeant Jeffrey Buchalter of FLETC served over six years as a member of the U.S. Army Military Police Corps. During his active duty, his assignments included three deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Staff Sergeant Buchalter sustained serious injuries in 2007 when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath his vehicle. He began his two-year road to recovery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which included numerous surgeries, hospitalizations and rehabilitation. It was there that he met James Bryant, a 21-year United States Marine veteran and Human Resources Specialist from FLETC, as part of the Wounded Warrior Project, which I’ll highlight in just a moment. Jim is also the Veterans Employment Council Representative for FLETC.

Through the Wounded Warrior Project, Staff Sergeant Buchalter joined FLETC, where he now serves as a driving instructor and trains officers and agents in the proper techniques for driving law enforcement vehicles. We’re pleased to have him with us today. Thank you for your service to our country and to the department.

Also joining us today is Mr. Joe Arata, a distinguished DHS employee who has been with the Department since our very beginning.

Mr. Arata’s military service began in 1983 in the Army Reserves. He served in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, participating in Operation Just Cause in Panama. He also was a member of the first unit deployed during Operation Desert Storm. He retired from the Army Reserves in 2008.

He began his career at DHS as a Federal Air Marshal in 2002. In 2006, he transferred to CBP to be the Assistant Director of Recruiting, focused on U.S. Border Patrol recruitment at a time of significant expansion. He was selected to be CBP’s Veterans Program Manager and also serves on the DHS Veterans Employment Council.

Recently, Mr. Arata became Chief of Strategic Recruitment within ICE. He will continue to work in recruiting top veteran talent, helping to sustain ICE’s outstanding veterans new hire rate of over 47 percent for Fiscal Year 2011. Thank you for your service and everything you do for ICE and DHS.

In addition to employing Veterans at the Department, we also set robust goals for contracting with Veteran Owned Businesses, who play an essential role in providing services and products to the department.

I am pleased to announce that for the second year in a row, our components have met the goal of doing a billion dollars of business with veteran-owned businesses.

Beyond these opportunities, the Department is also opening our doors to veterans through expanded outreach.

Last week, as part of our DHS for a Day series, we hosted a group of representatives from veteran service organizations to talk about how their members can find jobs and contracting opportunities at DHS and get involved in community-based efforts, like FEMA’s Citizen Corps.

We also continue to participate in Operation Warfighter, a program that provides service members recovering from injury temporary assignments at federal agencies so they can learn valuable skills and help build their careers as they begin to transition back to the military or civilian workforce.

And as I noted earlier, many DHS components have participated in hiring events across the country sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Project, a non-profit organization that is providing a range of direct programs and services to severely injured service men and women.

While we can all be proud of these milestones met and progress made, we are committed to doing even more to support veterans in 2012 and in the years to come.

I want to thank all DHS employees – veterans and non-veterans alike – for your hard work to help us achieve our goals and for helping continue to serve as a model across the federal government for veteran employment and business contracting.

And I want to again thank the veterans and servicemen and women who are here today. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice, your dedication, and the many ways you contribute to the Department’s mission every single day.