FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
October 11, 2004
js-2013
Treasury Official Remarks before ISAC Meeting
Remarks of Critical Infrastructure Protection Deputy Assistant Secretary D. Scott Parsons before Information Sharing and Analysis Center Congress Meeting Miami Beach, Florida
I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you this evening on the important role that Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) have in protecting our critical infrastructures.
The President has put into action a comprehensive plan to protect our country from physical and cyber threats. This plan has been instrumental in keeping our citizens safe, and our country is stronger today than ever before. The plan is also flexible and adaptive, allowing us to stay one step ahead of those who
wish to do us harm.
There are many elements to the plan. One of the most important elements is how the President structured the government to carry out its protective mission, starting with creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The President also identified lead agencies for vital, at-risk sectors, designating the Department of the Treasury as the lead agency for the banking and finance sector.
One of the many responsibilities of the Treasury is creating conditions that promote a strong economy and a resilient financial sector. We implement the pro-growth economic policies of the President that lead to job creation and economic growth. For example, over 1.9 million jobs have been created since August of 2003, families have seen their after tax income rise more than 10 percent since the President took office, and national homeownership is at an all time high. In a very real sense, the financial system is the life blood of our economy. Our citizens rely on the sector for many of their daily needs, including purchasing groceries and saving for education and retirement. The Department of the Treasury works to ensure the resiliency of the thousands of financial institutions that comprise the financial sector. One of our most important tools that we use to achieve this mission is an ISAC, in this case the Financial Services ISAC (FS-ISAC).
A unique insight of the President's strategy is that most of the critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector. As the President stated in his National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets, "it is important to remember that protection of our critical infrastructures and key assets is a shared responsibility. Accordingly, the success of our protective efforts will require close cooperation between government and the private sector at all levels."
Homeland Security Presidential Directive - 7 (HSPD-7) spelled out very clearly how the President wants us to organize in order to face the challenges of protecting our critical infrastructures. It mandates that federal departments and agencies work with state and local governments and the private sector. It calls for the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the overall national effort. Recognizing that each sector has its own unique attributes and operating models, it designates "sector specific agencies," or lead agencies, which have the expertise to understand best the needs of their sector.
Long before the 9/11 commission began its work, the President called for better information sharing between the public and private sectors. In the National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets and the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, both published in February of 2003, the President called for a public-private partnership built on the exchange of information. HSPD-7, signed in December of 2003, reinforced this important concept by calling for the establishment of "mechanisms to facilitate sharing of information about physical and cyber threats, vulnerabilities, incidents, potential protective measures, and best practices."
ISACs are the cornerstone for information sharing between the public and private sector. The FS-ISAC is the mechanism we choose to use to communicate with the banking and finance sector. In August, the threat level for several regions of the financial services sector was raised from yellow to orange based on specific and credible threat information. It was the first time that the threat level was raised in such a targeted way. The FS-ISAC was instrumental in providing timely, actionable information and keeping the sector informed. The sector, and especially the affected institutions, did not panic. Rather, they responded in a business like manner, acting responsibly on the information that was provided to them. The FS-ISAC provided insight into the types of information the sector needed, and ensured that information got to the people who needed it most.
It is vitally important that we continue to have sector specific ISACs that understand the characteristics of their sector, the people and institutions that comprise the sector, and the best method to put actionable information in the hands of those who need it.
As our national strategy has evolved, the fundamental objective remains to protect against the incapacitation and destruction of critical sectors, and ensure that each of the sectors is resilient against threats that are man made, or natural. ISACs play a vital role in this mission. I commend you on the work and progress you have made over the past few years. And I wish you a productive and successful meeting during the next few days here in Miami.
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