Hope Restored

In his remarks at the Jackson Barracks in New Orleans last week, President Bush said that “hope is being restored” throughout the Gulf Coast. As we pause to reflect on the third anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and remember the lives that were lost and the heroism that ensued, I think it’s important to acknowledge the progress that has taken place in the wake of one of our nation’s worst natural disasters.

Of course, it’s also important to apply the lessons we’ve learned along the way, and to that end, we’re working closely with our federal, state, and local partners to prepare for Hurricane Gustav’s potential impact. But I want to take just a moment to share some stories of progress along the Gulf Coast.

The hope that President Bush was referring to can be found in places like Boothville/Venice High School, which endured tremendous damage due to Katrina’s storm surge. But thanks to more than $8 million in repairs made possible by FEMA Public Assistance grants, the school now serves more than 200 students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

Additional signs of progress can be seen at St. Margaret’s Daughters Nursing Home in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, where flood waters rendered the health care facility uninhabitable. With the help of an initial $5.59 million payment for a temporary facility, and an additional $3.7 million, St. Margaret’s was able to reopen in a newly renovated facility last September. All told, FEMA has committed more than $15.9 million in Public Assistance funds for this project.

And to ensure that the city’s law enforcement operations are efficiently coordinated, the New Orleans Police Department moved into its remodeled headquarters earlier this year, thanks in large part to repairs from $6.8 million in FEMA funding. This, of course, is just a portion of the $21.8 million granted to restore the justice complex.

But our goals are not just short-term fixes. We’re focused on rebuilding the region and making structures safer and stronger. For example, just last month FEMA approved the use of more than $96.9 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to elevate nearly 3,000 homes in Louisiana. This was one of the largest single HMGP project obligations to date, and represents successful collaboration at the federal, state, and local levels.

We also recognize that the road to recovery involves flexibility and innovation. To that end, we fully supported President Bush’s decision to grant Governor Bobby Jindal’s request that Louisiana be allowed to pay their share of levee improvement costs over 30 years instead of just three.

These examples are just a fraction of the work that is being done and the decisions that are being made on a daily basis in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast. To be sure, there is much work ahead. But by focusing on priorities such as education, health care, public safety, and housing, we’re helping rebuild lives and communities – and the results are beginning to show. All told, FEMA has provided $11 billion for debris removal, reconstruction, and protective measures, in addition to more than $6 billion in individual assistance grants. (Of course, it is ultimately up to state, parish, and local leaders to decide where and what to rebuild).

But our progress three years after Katrina goes beyond dollars spent and structures restored. We’ve learned invaluable lessons from the storm’s devastation, and as a result, have vastly strengthened our nation’s preparedness and response capabilities. FEMA now is a forward-leaning agency, with 21st century tools capable of handling any type of disaster. Following Katrina, we placed a greater emphasis on building stronger partnerships, preparing for emergencies before they happen, and responding quickly and efficiently when they do occur. As I mentioned, this forward-leaning approach is guiding our preparations for Hurricane Gustav.

So as we mark Katrina’s third anniversary and acknowledge the progress we’ve made (as well as how much work remains), I encourage everyone involved in this endeavor to continue their efforts and recommit themselves to rebuilding this vital region of our country.

The daily work of our Office for Gulf Coast Recovery in Baton Rouge is indicative of our long-term commitment to work side-by-side with the people of the Gulf Coast as they rebuild their homes and communities.

Through the strong partnerships we’ve forged during the past three years, I’m confident that our progress will continue full steam ahead.

General Douglas O’Dell, USMC (Ret.)
Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding

Arabic Speakers Graduate from Innovative Internship

Attracting Arabic speakers is one of the federal government’s most pressing needs. Since 9/11, senior leaders in the Administration, Congressional committees, blue ribbon panels such as the 9/11 Commission and media reports have emphasized that there is an unacceptable shortage of federal employees who speak Arabic. The Department decided to tackle this problem in a very practical way – in partnership with the FBI and the George Washington University, we created the “National Security Internship” program. Today, August 7, we graduate our first class of 21 students.

The National Security Internship program is not just another typical summer program for young people looking to get experience in Washington. It is an intensive, nine week, full-immersion program that combines studies in Arabic, homeland security, and intelligence with on-the-job training at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. The students earned twelve college credits through George Washington University through this demanding program.

To even qualify for the program, students had to pass rigorous language tests and demonstrate a basic proficiency in the language. The National Security Internship was also restricted to applicants who were able to qualify for a top-secret clearance, which was investigated and adjudicated by the FBI.

Every morning, the students took language and security courses at the university. Every afternoon, the students worked at either the FBI’s intelligence division or DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (two students worked at TSA headquarters).

The objective of the program is to create a direct career path for these students, and others like them who will follow in upcoming years, into DHS and the FBI. With their language skills, academic studies, work experience, and security clearances, these students are prepared to make major contributions immediately upon their graduation.

It is important to note that it is not just the language skills that we need – there is also a great need for the cultural competencies that “heritage speakers” bring. This program does not seek to create a cadre of linguists. Rather, it aims to increase the pool of young people entering federal service who are culturally proficient, speak a foreign language, and have a demonstrated interest in public service.

We need more people in the federal workforce who have a deep knowledge of the culture, the history and the traditions of people who speak Arabic. For example, a CBP officer who speaks Arabic and implicitly understands the culture will be more effective in screening travelers who have just arrived on a flight from Riyadh. An ICE officer who speaks Arabic and understands the commercial life in that region of the world will be more effective in investigating the flow of money to terrorist networks.

In future years, we can expand the program to students who will study Farsi, Mandarin, Urdu, and other specialized languages that are in short supply within the federal workforce.

One of the most satisfying elements of the program has been our close partnership with the FBI. Working with Assistant Director John Raucci and his extraordinary team has been a pleasure. By collaborating, we have seen the increased efficiencies that come from pooling our recruiting, community relations, procurement and security clearance efforts. There is no doubt that this joint project has deepened the working relationships between our two agencies.

In addition to their studies, the interns have met with Cong. Darrell Issa, FBI Director Mueller, DHS Undersecretary for Intelligence Charlie Allen, DHS Chief of Staff Chad Sweet, and others who have cast a vision for the need for government professionals with their backgrounds, skills and experiences.

We expect that many of the 21 students who participated this summer will, in the upcoming years, begin careers in the federal government. If we are able to retain even 10 new Arabic speakers each year, we will make a major impact on both DHS and FBI. Within only a few years we will have doubled the size of the entire Arabic speaking workforce in these agencies. Seeing the success of this innovative program will no doubt be a catalyst for other efforts like it.

We are already beginning to recruit for next year, and information on the program is available at www.nationalsecurityinternship.com. We pass along our congratulations to the graduating students for a job well done through a very hectic summer, and look forward to future classes of students who will help make our country more secure.

Daniel W. Sutherland
Office of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

A National Fusion Center Network

The Department and states have made a lot of progress in making the State and Local Fusion Center Program -- a key provision of the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act -- a success in the last three years. Now we are committed to building on that success by supporting the implementation of a National Fusion Center Network.

What do I mean by that? Working with our colleagues in the Department of Justice, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Program Manager-Information Sharing Environment, the National Fusion Center Network strategy will connect more than 50 state and major city fusion centers and the federal government in a partnership to protect America.

I envision a community of state, local and federal intelligence and law enforcement professionals working together – supported by appropriate tools – to achieve a common goal: protection of the nation.

These men and women would leverage federal as well as state and local networks; move relevant information and intelligence quickly; and enable rapid analytic and operational judgments. That is what this National Fusion Center Network is all about.

Our ability to move, analyze and act on information is our greatest strength. We must use the network and the information in that network to push our defensive perimeter outward. That’s what the National Fusion Center Network will do for us.

We in the federal government recognize that state and local authorities have been working at this for years. We, particularly those of us in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the rest of the National Intelligence Community, must aggressively support the states in this endeavor and become a committed partner in creating the National Fusion Center Network.

That is exactly what we are doing.

Intelligence officers equipped with exiting capabilities are helping local authorities as needed and appropriate. In addition, information once only available in cities and states can be shared with the federal government and used to protect the nation as a whole.

This is all very new and different for the Intelligence Community. We are working hard to educate ourselves on the information needs of our state, local and tribal partners, as well as increase our ability to provide them information.

And we all must do this while paying the utmost respect to the civil liberties and privacy of our citizens.

Creating this National Fusion Center Network is a challenging but achievable task. We are doing many things for the first time, and will likely make mistakes. But we will learn from those mistakes, do better, and create what the country should have had before 9/11.

Charlie Allen

Under Secretary for Intelligence & Analysis

ICE and INTERPOL Cooperation Nabs Child Predator

One of the most important lessons for law enforcement in the 21st century is that cooperation in investigations is absolutely essential. As criminals and terrorists become more mobile, more sophisticated and more technologically savvy, it’s critical that law enforcement agencies across the board work together to get the job done.

That spirit of cooperation was on display in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) most recent success yesterday when we arrested a suspect in an international child predator investigation in New Jersey. The arrest stemmed from an alert circulated earlier this week by INTERPOL, the international law enforcement organization that works closely with ICE agents in fighting transnational criminal activity.

It was a tough case: The suspect’s name, nationality and location were a mystery. But his face was known from a series of photographs depicting the sexual abuse of three boys between the ages of six and 10 years old. The pictures, believed to have been taken in Southeast Asia, were originally discovered by police in Norway two years ago. Since then, the photographs have been circulated widely to law enforcement agencies around the world.

INTERPOL, working with ICE investigators, distributed a new alert on the suspect on May 6. Traffic to the INTERPOL Web site exploded, with more than a quarter million hits, as the public and law enforcement officials joined in to help offer information that might identify the suspect. Thanks to these Internet tips, by the morning of May 8, ICE agents arrested 59-year-old Wayne Nelson Corliss of Union City, N.J., who at this time is believed to be the man in the photographs.

This alleged predator is now in custody and will face charges for the exploitation of vulnerable children. It could not have happened without the coordination and cooperation of law enforcement investigators working around the world to keep children safe.

Julie L. Myers

Assistant Secretary

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

In Case You Missed It

While the media dwell on celebrity peccadilloes and microscopic analysis of political comments, sometimes really important news gets overlooked. Right now, buried in the pages of a number of U.S. newspapers is a very significant story that tells us a lot about why we need some of the moderately inconvenient security measures with which we live.

If you fly commercially, you will remember that about 18 months ago new restrictions on hand-carried liquids were imposed at airports here and overseas. As we explained at the time, these actions were the result of a major disrupted plot to detonate liquid explosives on airliners flying from Britain to North America. Because we couldn’t say more without violating British legal rules, some of you may have wondered whether the plot was all that serious.

The trial of a number of the plotters is now underway in a London courtroom. The details being unfolded are riveting – and chilling. Unfortunately, the trial is not getting much play in our domestic news outlets, but the evidence should be required reading for those who travel by air.

As the prosecutor has explained, the plotters intended to smuggle liquid explosives on airplanes in plastic bottles of popular soft drinks. To conceal the liquid explosives, the terrorists injected them into the bottles with a syringe and used food coloring to approximate the appearance of a drink. Blueprints showed in court demonstrated how the explosives could be combined with detonators in mid-air.

The targets: at least half a dozen flights, including aircraft headed for Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Particularly disturbing, the terrorists intended to detonate these bombs only when the aircraft were all midway over the Atlantic Ocean and packed with summer travelers. The sinister idea was that after the first plane exploded, the others would be too far from land to reach safety before the next detonation.

Not much imagination is required to conceive of the horror that would have been experienced when word of the first explosion reached crews and even passengers of other transatlantic flights.

Was the plot real? The courtroom was told that the plot was “almost ready.”

I recommend following this story in the newspapers over the next few weeks (if you can find it). The evidence is powerful proof of the reason that we work 24/7 to avert terrorist plots by devoting time, money, and energy to security.

Michael Chertoff

The National Response Framework

Today Secretary Chertoff and I released a new National Response Framework to guide how our nation plans, prepares for, and responds to disasters and emergencies of all kinds and all sizes.

The National Response Framework builds on the previous National Response Plan. It is designed to give senior elected and appointed officials from federal, tribal, state, and local government, as well as members of the private sector, a clear, straightforward, easy-to-understand system for working together before, during, and after disasters. It can be used to manage everything from the smallest local incident to a major catastrophic event that impacts our entire nation.

The Framework was not written by Washington bureaucrats working in isolation. It reflects extensive coordination and input from state and local officials and emergency managers from across the country – the very people who will be using the plan. As such, the National Response Framework is not a federal plan; it is a national plan that will make sure everyone involved in the response effort is working from the same sheet of music.

The new Framework builds on a set of core principles

• It stresses the need for partnerships across government and the private sector.
• It emphasizes a “bottom up” approach that recognizes most incidents are managed locally and that all incidents should be handled at the lowest jurisdictional level.
• It is designed to be scalable so that it can be expanded or narrowed based on the scope and nature of the incident, and it is flexible and adaptable to different kinds of disasters.
• It recognizes that successful emergency preparedness and response depend on unity of command and a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities among all involved.
• It is always activated and encourages a forward leaning posture by emphasizing preparedness planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising and applying lessons learned. Planning ahead of the disaster is critical to a successful response, and the Framework encourages such coordination.

Today’s release of the National Response Framework marks the culmination of extensive outreach and coordination among the Department, FEMA, and literally thousands of people across the country involved in emergency management. We are grateful for the expertise that so many individuals lent to its creation, and we are pleased to present the Framework today to federal, state, local, and private sector partners and to the American people.

David Paulison
Federal Emergency Management Agency