Testimony for Secretary Tom Ridge U.S. Department of Homeland Security Before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Release Date: 06/09/04 00:00:00

Washington, D.C.
June 9, 2004

Good morning Chairman Hatch, Senator Leahy, and Members of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss our progress at the Department of Homeland Security and our continued efforts to help secure our nation.

As all of you know, the tragic attacks of 9/11 required a swift and drastic change to our understanding of what it means to secure America.

The Department of Homeland Security was envisioned as a means to bring together all of our scattered homeland security entities under one central authority to better coordinate and direct our security efforts.

We knew from the outset that our vast scope of protective measures had to build upon our existing strengths but, more importantly, be reconstructed in a way that unified and facilitated speed, openness, and easy access for all those involved in the hard work of securing this country every day.

With that in mind, we have worked to build more integrated and coordinated homeland security, intelligence, and law enforcement communities.

Communities that connect capabilities and people, that share information swiftly and effectively, that add layer upon layer of security to make our nation safer and stronger.

Knowledge is both a fundamental principle and instrumental resource in our efforts to secure our borders and people. The Department has made widespread coordination and information sharing the hallmark of our new approach to homeland security.

Presidential initiatives, like the USA PATRIOT Act and others, have helped tear down the walls that prevented our policy makers from having the benefit of intelligence analyses that were based on all available information.

And we have developed new tools for communication to share that information, tools that reach horizontally across federal departments and agencies and vertically to our partners at the state, local, territorial, and tribal levels.

We see communication as a two-way process. We collect information from the field and listen to what our partners need from us in order to do their jobs better. This means heightened awareness, better intelligence, wiser decisions, and improved coordination at every level.

First, we interface with all components of the Intelligence Community, including the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (or TTIC) -- in which Homeland Security is a full partner -- in order to synthesize, analyze and apply information collected from thousands of sources, from electronic surveillance to human reporting.

Let me be clear, the Department of Homeland Security is not specifically in the traditional intelligence collection business – although many of our components collect significant amounts of information – but we are definitely in the analysis and application business. We turn this information into action and implementation.

That happens primarily under the umbrella of the Homeland Security Advisory System.

This communication tool includes the color-coded Threat Condition, as well as several products such as Information Bulletins and Threat Advisories that allow us to tailor specific information for specific recipients – for instance a part of the country or an individual sector of our economy.

This communications process represents the first ever centralized, integrated, effort of its kind in the Federal government and a vast improvement from the fragmented system that existed before.

It not only outlines threats, but also recommends specific steps that can be taken to heighten readiness or improve physical protections.

This is more than the dissemination of information. This is about achieving the right outcome--supplying the necessary information and recommendations to decision-makers on the ground who can then take appropriate action to protect the citizens of their communities.

To accomplish this we have created several new two-way channels of communication, including the National Infrastructure Coordination Center (or NICC) – created for the private sector – and the Homeland Security Information Network (or HSIN) – created for use by government entities.

The NICC provides a centralized mechanism for the private sector, industry representatives, individual companies and the Information Sharing and Analysis Centers – or ISACs – to share and receive situational information about a threat, event, or crisis.

The Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN) is a real-time collaboration system that allows multiple jurisdictions, disciplines and emergency operation centers to receive and share the same intelligence and tactical information – so that those who need to act on information have the same overall situational awareness.

This year, we are expanding this information network to include senior decision makers such as Governors and Homeland Security Advisors and Emergency Operations Centers in all 50 states, territories, tribal governments and major urban areas.

By the end of the summer, we will achieve real-time nationwide connectivity. More information, more integration, better coordination.

Both of these important communication networks support the Homeland Security Operations Center – a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week nerve center that enables the Department to monitor activity across the country.

The combination of new abilities in information sharing and improved two-way communications has given the Department capabilities that the Federal government has never had before.

Most importantly, it means we can act to prevent terrorist attacks and protect Americans. We have emerged from a static security environment into a dynamic, real-time, action-oriented system of layered protections on air, land, and sea.

Of course, as we build layers of security designed to keep terrorists out, we must not forsake our national character as a country that is both open and welcoming to citizens from all lands. I know this is an issue of particular importance to this Committee, as it should be to all Americans.

Our Homeland Security policies have been designed to keep our borders closed to terrorists but open to legitimate, law-abiding visitors. And programs such as US-VISIT and One Face at the Border are helping us do just that.

And while stopping a terrorist at our border is a critical accomplishment, we want to go even further. We want to stop them before they ever board a plane or ship destined for the United States.

So, we are hard at work with other nations to strengthen visa processes and policies at consular offices abroad. Yet we want to do so in a way that does not place an unfair burden on our allies or inhibit legitimate trade and travel.

An example of this is the Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens of participating ally countries to travel to the U.S. for business or tourism for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.

To strengthen the security of this program, participating countries are now required to issue machine readable passports that incorporate biometric identifiers.

While this will add an important layer of security, we have learned that the deadline originally set for October 2004 will be difficult if not impossible for many of these nations to meet.

And not because of a lack of will but due to the difficult technical issues of putting such a system in place.

Secretary Powell and I support a two-year extension of the deadline to not only give us time to work out technological issues, but also to ensure that the system we build is one that is interoperable for all countries.

By working with our allies and assisting them with time and resources to get this program up and running, we not only can make our nation safer we can also protect the vital flow of travelers to and from our shores.

It is this kind of commitment to cooperation and partnership that has led our homeland security efforts from the start.

By working with communities, citizens, business leaders, state and local government officials, first responders, we have forged a course of protection defined by the integration of our efforts--everyone pledged to freedom’s cause, everyone its protector and everyone its beneficiary.

And as we move forward to secure our land for future generations, we must do so with constant vigilance against our enemies, continued commitment to each other and unwavering support for the protection of our liberties and the preservation of our freedom.

Thank you.

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