THE
HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY
OF TRANSPORTATION
COMMONWEALTH
CLUB OF CALIFORNIA
SAN
FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
MARCH
15, 2002
12:30
PM
Good
afternoon. Thank you, Rod for that
very warm welcome. Rod and I go
back a long way. I am grateful for
the friendship he and his wife, Dr. Gloria Duffy, have given me over these many
years. Gloria and Rod, thank you.
As
always, it’s a pleasure to return to the Bay Area.
Today much of the news is about the war against terrorism and the growth
of our economy. As someone who
represented the South Bay and Silicon Valley for so many years, I want to thank
people in the Bay Area for what they are doing on both those fronts.
Many
in the high tech industry are working with us to fight terrorism abroad and here
at home. And the optimism of
Silicon Valley is ever present as the Bay Area works toward increasing economic
growth and success.
Also,
I am very grateful for this opportunity to share my thoughts with the members
and guests of the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum – the
historic Commonwealth Club of California.
This
afternoon I’d like to tell you some of the things we are doing to fight
terrorism, while we meet the challenge of providing Americans with a secure
transportation system that insures mobility for Americans and helps achieve
economic growth.
This
week we observed the six-month anniversary of September 11th.
At this point on that September afternoon, I was in a small secure
room beneath the White House with Vice President Cheney.
Only two hours earlier, I had asked the FAA to land every aircraft at the
nearest airport.
With
that single call, air traffic controllers and pilots worked together -- and in
an unprecedented achievement -- safely landed hundreds of aircraft and saved
other tragedies from occurring.
Since
that day of tragedy and heroism, every person on President Bush’s team has
been focused on fighting this war abroad and here at home. At the Department of Transportation our mission has included
bringing the air system back up and literally working day and night to develop a
security system that prevents terrorists and other criminals from using our
aviation system again to kill or injure Americans.
In less than six months, we have made airplanes safer, increased our federal air marshal force, restricted flights over high risk areas, established defensive training guidelines for air crews, established an on-line recruitment program, and evaluated over 600 ideas and projects submitted to the Department to improve security.
In
an effort unprecedented since World War II’s “dollar-a-day men”, we have
brought volunteers from American industry – including many from Silicon Valley
corporations -- to help design an aviation security system that provides
world-class security with world-class customer service.
We
brought in executives from Disney Corporation, Federal Express, and Marriott to
help with issues like metrics, process mapping, and customer service.
We brought in other executives from Intel, EDS, and McKinsey, to help us
with systems management and equipment.
One
outstanding executive who has left the Bay Area and come to Washington to help
us is the Vice President of Quality for Solectron Corporation, Tom Kennedy.
I knew Tom when I was Secretary of Commerce, and he was winning not one,
but two, Baldridge Awards for Excellence at Solectron.
We
have Tom working on instilling Baldridge qualities of excellence into the new
agency we are creating at DOT to meet our security needs.
For
the first time, security for all modes of transportation will be the
responsibility of the federal government. To
carry out this critical role, the President selected the Department of
Transportation to run this new agency to oversee the security of our nation’s
transportation system.
President
Bush and I then chose an exceptional person to lead this new security agency --
Under Secretary for Security, John Magaw.
As
a career law enforcement and security professional, John rose to become the
Director of the U.S. Secret Service. He
helped protect eight Presidents. He
was also the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Under
John’s leadership, the Transportation Security Agency will be responsible for
creating a new federal airport security force, an expanded Federal Air Marshal
program, the deployment and creation of new screening technologies,
administrative and support staff, and high-tech researchers, as well as a host
of other new improvements in aviation and transportation security.
To
do this, we will need to hire more than 30,000 federal employees to staff this
new law enforcement agency – an agency that will have more employees than the
FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Border Patrol combined.
It is a huge undertaking, and I am here to assure you that the Department
of Transportation is up to the challenge.
We
are looking for experience, people who are stress-tested — individuals who can
step in right away and take charge. We
are looking for maturity of judgment, steadiness in a crisis, leaders who can in
turn attract top professionals in the field.
This
week, I swore in the first seven Federal Safety Directors -- each of whom will
run security operations at major airports.
They included big-city police chiefs, the captain of an aircraft carrier,
a Marine Corps general, a Coast Guard admiral, and career Secret Service agents.
I
am also pleased to announce that I expect to select a Federal Security Director
for San Francisco International Airport within the next two weeks.
Within
fourteen months of the September 11th’ attack, we will have a
security network of trained law enforcement officers, new detection
technologies, and an unprecedented number of federal air marshals flying in
planes that have been made safer.
We
will deploy the TSA with care, terminal-by-terminal, airport-by-airport.
At the peak this summer, we may well be managing some phase of the
start-up at over 100 airports simultaneously.
Before
the end of this year, we must have completed the transition to a full federal
security screening workforce at all 429 airports.
We
are taking a systems approach to integrating new technologies and procedures at
demonstration airports. It
authorizes several pilot programs to test technologies in at least 20 airports.
Technology is a critical part of the security program we
envision for America’s transportation. And
here in the Bay Area, we are in the cradle of innovation and invention.
I have already mentioned some of the contributions our local technology
executives have made.
I am pleased to announce that this spring, the Department
of Transportation will work with the Silicon Valley Manufacturers Group and
others to conduct a Senior Executive Roundtable to help develop and design
innovative security solutions in such areas as information management.
Kip Hawley, the CEO of Arzoon Corporation located in San
Carlos, has worked full-time for nearly five months in a critical leadership
role helping to start up TSA. I
have asked Kip and John Flaherty, the Department’s chief-of-staff, to work
with Carl Guardino, the President of the Manufacturers Group, to assemble a
group of technology leaders to help find solutions to some of the security
challenges before us.
While
much of the recent media attention has focused on aviation safety, the
Department of Transportation is working to develop heightened security
procedures and awareness across every mode of transportation, including rail,
highways, transit, maritime and pipeline.
In
the week following the September 11th attacks, I established the
National Infrastructure Security Committee to evaluate security in the surface
modes of transportation and to provide recommendations for improvement.
To
reach that goal, the NISC created six “Direct Action Groups” to handle
specific modes of transportation such as maritime, highways, pipelines, transit
and rail.
In
the past several months, the Direct Action Groups extensively interviewed
industry representatives, studied transportation system vulnerabilities,
evaluated security protocols and procedures, and developed recommendations to
improve security across the transportation network.
This
brings me to a key piece of our transportation security effort that has a major
impact on California and especially the Bay Area – securing our nation’s
ports and maritime transportation system.
This
issue is a very high priority for the Bush Administration and for the
Department of Transportation. Maritime
commerce is the most dominant component of our international trade
infrastructure, carrying over 95 percent of the volume of U.S. overseas foreign
trade.
With
more than 25,000 miles of navigable channels and over 300 ports, our Nation’s
maritime system is a vital transportation link and presents one of our greatest
security challenges.
As
Service Secretary of the United States Coast Guard, I could not be more proud of
the performance of the men and women who have stepped up to the challenge of
protecting our nation’s shores and waterways.
The Coast Guard has dramatically increased patrols,
instituted Naval Vessel Protection Zones, and put security zones in place around
sensitive facilities.
Another
new port security measure – the Sea Marshals pilot program – was started by
the Coast Guard right here in San Francisco.
Similar in concept to the Federal Aviation
Administration’s Air Marshal Program, the Sea Marshal program places armed
Coast Guardsmen in the pilothouse, the engine room, and the after steering room
of large commercial vessels to ensure that the local transit pilot maintains
control of the vessel while transiting the port.
The Coast Guard now requires large commercial vessels traveling
from international ports to provide an advanced notice of arrival at least 96
hours prior to entering U.S. ports where previously, only a 24-hour notice was
required.
The
Administration is taking additional steps to identify and meet threats to our
maritime security.
One
of the efforts now underway is a Container Working Group that we have
established jointly with the U.S. Customs Service to develop recommendations to
address the security challenges posed by cargo containers.
Containers
are inherently intermodal –
they arrive by sea and are transferred to truck, rail and air
-- and our border security
efforts require that all the modes of entry be covered.
Every possible threat must be met --
and countered.
So
today, our transportation security system is better than it was yesterday.
Tomorrow it will be better than today.
President Bush has given us a clear mission.
He has asked outstanding individuals to join in fulfilling that mission
and many individuals have answered that call.
American
industry has stepped forward with their talent and resources.
And polls show the majority of Americans know that when it comes to air
travel – patience is patriotism.
Many
of you in the audience have come to know me over the years.
The Bay Area is my home – I was born and raised here.
I’ve had the honor of representing many of you as constituents.
In
all my time of public service – over thirty years – the dangers to our
homeland have never been more clear and present.
I am honored that President Bush has given me the opportunity to fight
these threats.
And
I can promise you, my friends, we are building a transportation security system
that will defeat the efforts of people with evil in their hearts who seek to use
our system against us.
Thank
you for having me here today. It’s
good to be home, and God bless America.
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