Remarks By Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at the Special Events Integrated Security Seminar

Release Date: 07/23/04 00:00:00

Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
July 23, 2004
(transcript)

That was a good introduction.  Well done.  Thanks very much.  That’s how we work, a very efficient guy.  Give him a mission and he gets it done, pure and simple.  It’s the mindset.  Thanks, Rich, for that glorious, wonderful, expansive introduction.  And more importantly, thanks for you friendship and your leadership.  I’ve been working with Rich for nearly three years, when I first started at the White House, and he’s been a valuable member of the team.  Thanks.  

Welcome.  We weren’t quite sure what the response would be when we sent out the invitations, and happily -- I’m not saying it’s exceeded our expectations because I hoped everybody would show up, and you have, just about everybody has, and we thank you for that.

Because our mission at the Department of Homeland Security is to prevent, respond to and prepare for any and all hazards, and the most important part of the mission is to prevent another terrorist attack from happening in the United States.

Our view internally within the Department is that it is not just a Washington mission; we cannot secure this magnificent country from inside the beltway.  It’s a national mission.  It’s a mission shared not only by the federal government but also every city, county, town, home and business in America.  

It’s a mission that is shared by those of you that are here today, commissioners and security professionals.  Each one of you has a stake in protecting our freedom and protecting our way of life.  

We are all freedom’s beneficiaries, and therefore I think we all ought to assume upon ourselves some responsibility for protection of that freedom.  President Bush understands this.  He is absolutely committed to ensure that all levels of government work together, and with the private sector, so that communities, companies and citizens are coordinated, integrated and communicated.

Since September 11th, 2001, we’ve had intelligence that al-Qaeda intends to launch more attacks against the homeland.  And although we know not the time and the place and the method, credible reports indicate that al-Qaeda is moving forward with its plans to carry out a large-scale attack against the United States.

September 11th taught us that we needed a new approach in protecting our nation.  We needed a new philosophy of shared responsibility, shared leadership and shared accountability.  This seminar is part of that approach.

It is part of our goal to integrate our country, our great country, our citizens and our resources, because protection is everyone’s job.  And as commissioners and security directors for large, high-profile events, you play a very significant role in keeping our citizens safe.  That is why it is important to meet with you periodically to coordinate and communicate and give you the tools you need to supplement those you’ve developed on your own over the years to do your job and to support us in doing ours.

Your participation in this seminar shows that you understand the philosophy of shared responsibility and you accept it; you’re here.  You all have very busy schedules and you are here because you know that mass public gatherings are a potential target.  And you know that the way to protect your venues from attack is to be prepared.  

The threat we face is real, but we can mitigate it by working together and planning proactively.  Homeland Security offers training exercises, technical assistance and government coordination.  I know you’ve had some conversations about that earlier today and even more this afternoon, and I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities.

I’ll also ask you to talk to your community relations representatives.  We would like to work with them to involve the sports fans in our collective effort to keep our events secure.  Again, everyone is a partner.  The fans at these events can play an important role to enhance and improve security as well.  

The Department of Homeland Security has forged strong partnerships across the federal government and with state and local governments, law enforcement and the private sector.  And I know that you have or will hear from the Secret Service, the FBI, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration and others.  

You have or will learn about ways we are communicating and coordinating within all of these groups, from the Homeland Security Operations Center, which was just stood up about two weeks ago, that provides real-time, interactive connectivity with governors, homeland security advisors, law enforcement partners and critical infrastructure operators in all 50 states and in our 50 largest urban areas; to our Homeland Security Information Network, our National Incident Management System and our National Response Plan.

We are driven by a sense of unprecedented urgency and national importance.  It’s truly a unifying element when you pull together 22 different agencies and 180,000 people.  What is the tie that binds?  And I’ll tell you, we’ve got 180,000 people who understand the importance of the mission and they share that sense of urgency.

We are also driven by the cooperation that we receive from our partners around the country, state and local governments and from the private sector, men and women such as yourselves.  And it is because of that sharing of that sense of urgency and the need to do things better, to do things differently and better in many instances, we are a country that is more secure and better prepared than ever before.

We have permanent protections in place today that simply did not exist a year ago.  Tomorrow we will have protections that do not exist today.  We will continue to work each day to rise to a higher level of security and readiness.

I appreciate your personal commitment and the hard work of your associations and your agencies and your security personnel, everything that you’ve done and will do to make your large sporting events secure and safe for the American public.  And I certainly thank you again for participating in this important seminar.

It goes without saying that as a sports fan and as a governor that was involved with some of you in overseeing the construction of several facilities, and someone who appreciates what athletics and competitive sports mean to us as a culture, it’s really rather unique.  There are many ties that bind:  You go to a community that embraces a particular sports team and there’s no ethnic division or racial division or political divisions; they’re all fans of the same sports team.  

And that’s one of the reasons that these large public venues that you own and in which you host these games attract so many large and substantial crowds on a continuing basis. And that’s why it’s so very, very important to have you here.  That’s why we’re so grateful that you accepted the invitation, why it’s our view that probably at least on an annual basis we get together and do things like this, go over best practices and any adjustments we make in our respective security schemes.  In this effort we need to be a team and I am confident that we can be a very effective team.  

Hall of Fame basketball coach John Wooden used to say to his teams, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”  Working together, we will be prepared and we must not fail, and I am convinced with your commitment and your cooperation we certainly will prevail.  

So it’s a great pleasure to join you.  I think they’ve got plans for us to chat a little bit over lunch.  I’m going to try to stay with you most of the afternoon.  I’ll be in and out a little bit.  I’ve got a couple of appointments with folks that are going to come out and see me here, so I’ll get a chance to chat and to get some personal input from you on a private basis.

So, again, I thank you very much for being here.  It’s great to be working with you.

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