For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 12, 2002
Remarks by Governor Ridge at Announcement of Homeland Security Advisory System
Washington, D.C.
GOVERNOR RIDGE: Thank you very much for that kind
introduction. And, Mayor Williams, I know you had to
accommodate a change in your schedule to be with us
today. It's very important to have you join us, and I'm
thankful for your participation, but your
leadership -- the challenges that confront this
magnificent city are those that accompany metropolitan America
generally. Your work is complicated by the fact that it's
also the seat of national government. So having you here is
very important to us, and we thank you for that.
Madam Secretary, I know you're going to speak in a few moments, but
I'd be remiss if I didn't say that we devised the system we're going to
announce today with the input of the Homeland Security Committee, and
one of the most energetic -- in giving us some
very specific direction during the meetings that we had happen to come
from you and your department. So we thank you very much for
that.
Dale Watson, our friend from the FBI, we're glad to have you
participate because your team has been so involved, so very much
involved in this.
And, Mayor McCrory from Charlotte, a good friend, it's great to see
you here, again along with your colleagues representing America's
cities.
First of all, I want to publicly express my appreciation to
Attorney General Ashcroft and his extraordinary team at the Department
of Justice, as well as Bob Mueller and his team at the FBI, as well as
my own Office of Homeland Security. The staffs of these
respective agencies and organizations have been working for months, put
long, long hours in to create this system. And their
extraordinary effort should be acknowledged in a public way.
If you want an example of why collaboration and cooperation and
partnerships are so important in our collective effort against
terrorists and terrorism, look no further. This is a perfect
example of what happens when we cooperate and collaborate and work
together toward a common solution, once we've identified the
problem. So I say to all of you, well done.
Sixty years ago, this building, Constitution Hall, was used by the
American Red Cross to help the war effort. It was a time
when the civilized world fought enemies bent on our destruction, when
civilization itself hung in the balance, when Americans united to
support the war effort and took new measures to guard ourselves from
attack here at home. In short, a time very much like our
own.
We, too, must take new measures to protect our cities, our
resources and people from the threat we face today, the threat of
terrorism. That is why today we announce the Homeland
Security Advisory System. The Homeland Security Advisory
System is designed to measure and evaluate terrorist threats and
communicate them to the public in a timely manner. It is a
national framework; yet it is flexible to apply to threats made against
a city, a state, a sector, or an industry. It provides a
common vocabulary, so officials from all levels of government can
communicate easily with one another and to the public. It
provides clear, easy to understand factors which help measure threat.
And most importantly, it empowers government and citizens to take
actions to address the threat. For every level of threat,
there will be a level of preparedness. It is a system that
is equal to the threat.
Here's how it works. The advisory system is based on
five threat conditions or five different alerts: low,
guarded, elevated, high and severe. They're going to be
represented by five colors: green, blue, yellow, orange and
red -- as you can see by the screen and the
graphic to my right and to my left.
Now, the decision to name a threat condition will rest with the
Attorney General, after consulting with members of the Homeland
Security Council, after consulting with me. He will be
responsible for communicating the threat to law enforcement, state and
local officials, and the public.
Now, a number of factors will be used to analyze the threat
information: Is it credible? Is it a credible
source? Have we been able to corroborate this
threat? Is it specific as to time or place or method of
attack? What are the consequences if the attack is carried
out? Can the attack be deterred? Many factors go
into the value judgment; many factors go into the assessment of the
intelligence.
Now, the American people want to know what is behind these alerts
and, to them, perhaps even more importantly, what shall we do in
response to them. I believe this system, when in full force
and effect, will provide those answers. For the first time,
threat conditions will be coupled with protective measures.
Now, for the moment, for the time being, as we are developing this
system with our state and local partners, these protective measures
will apply solely to the federal government. In time, they
will apply to all levels of government, every community, and hopefully,
with buy-in from the private sector, the companies in the private
sector, as well.
Now, for example, under a guarded or blue
condition -- that's a general risk of terrorist
attack -- federal agencies may review and update
their emergency response procedures. We want them to test
their emergency communication systems. They may also share
with the public any information that would strengthen our response.
The next threat condition is yellow or elevated, a significant risk
of terrorist attacks. Agencies under yellow condition may
increase their surveillance of critical locations, and implement
contingency plans where appropriate. Again, we have a level
of threat, a level of preparedness, and the recommendation that we give
with regard to preparedness is a floor, it's not the
ceiling. And this is the same procedure and the same process
and engagement that we want the state and local communities to deal
with. Take a look at a level of threat, and then assess where your
level of preparedness should be. Now, obviously, we're going
to be working with the state and local communities in that assessment
and in that effort, as well.
Now, presently, the nation currently stands in the yellow
condition, in elevated risk. Chances are we will not be able
to lower the condition to green until, as the President said yesterday,
the terror networks of global reach have been defeated and
dismantled. And we are far from being able to predict that
day.
And again, this is an information-based system. Based on
the information we know -- there may be some
information and some things going on in the world or in this country
that we will know about. But when we get information, and it
is credible information, and corroborated, this system will kick into
effect.
The fourth is the orange condition, which indicates a very high,
high risk of attack. And finally, the red condition, the
highest or most severe risk of attack. Under red you might
see actions similar to the ones taken on 9/11, when we basically
grounded most or all of air traffic for an extended period of time.
We anticipate and hope that businesses and hospitals and schools,
even individuals working with their community leaders to develop the
local plan, will develop their own protective measures for each threat
condition. This system is designed to encourage them to do
just that.
The Homeland Security Advisory System also allows us to designate a
threat condition for the entire nation or a portion of this
country. If we received a credible threat at one of our
national monuments, obviously, the Secretary would be very interested
in that -- it could be designated orange, while
the rest of the country remained at yellow. But that would
simply mean that the Department of Interior, based on that assessment
and the elevation of the risk, would have to elevate or extend the
conditions that she had prepared in advance, in response to the higher
risk. Again, level of risk, level of preparedness.
Because the threat varies, our system must be versatile and
flexible enough to meet it. Now, many states have told us
that they are eager to go ahead with their own threat advisory
system. States encouraged us to act. And now they have a
template to guide their actions. Now, we will not
mandate -- the federal government cannot mandate
the use of this system. As the name implies, it is advisory.
If, for example, governors or mayors choose not to take extra
protective measures in face of a credible and specific
threat -- or conversely, take added measures for
a threat that has passed -- that is their
right. But we are hopeful that with a 45-day review period,
when they can take a look at this advisory system and apply it to their
communities and to their states, and begin working on the measures that
they'll take to protect their communities and states, we will have a
national system.
Finally, I think it is very important to
underscore -- I think the Mayor did it and Jay
Stevens did it, and others will -- the system
will not eliminate risk; no system can. We face an enemy as
ruthless and as cunning and as unpredictable as any we have ever
faced. Our intelligence may not pick up every
threat. And unlike natural disasters, as hurricanes,
terrorists can change their patterns and their plans based on our
response, based on what they see that we're doing. But the
President has certainly pledged to bring every possible human and
technological resource to the task of implementing this advisory
system.
The Homeland Security Advisory System is designed to encourage
partnerships. And this can't be emphasized and reiterated
enough. The system is designed to encourage partnerships
between the public and the private sectors, between all levels of law
enforcement and public safety officials, and
between -- and among all levels of government.
Our emerging national homeland security strategy will rely on the
anti-terrorism plans of all 50 states and the
territories. But there are 3,300 counties and parishes, and
there are about 18,000 cities. So we all need to work
together to coordinate and collaborate our effort to be
prepared. Working together is the only way this system will
work. It's the only way we can have a national system.
The system is the end result of countless conversations with first
responders, local and state officials, business leaders and concerned
citizens. And I certainly express our appreciation for their
input and their participation. And for the next 45 days,
we're going to ask all Americans to comment on this system.
With a Homeland Security Advisory System, we hope to make America
safer and more aware. But we also hope to make America
better and stronger. Attorney General Ashcroft has said that
information is the best friend of protection. But not just
prevention of terrorism, information is also the best friend of crime
prevention, fire prevention and disease prevention. It often
starts with one doctor, one police officer, one
eyewitness. They are America's eyes and ears. And
we must work to get that information from the grass roots to government
in as quick a time as possible.
Six months after September 11th, our resolve is stronger than
ever. Our fight against terrorism is making real progress on both
fronts, thanks to the leadership of our President, the strong
bipartisan support of these initiatives in Congress, and the
extraordinary work that our military has done overseas.
However, we should not expect a V-T day, a victory over terrorism
day anytime soon. But that does not mean Americans are
powerless against the threat. On the contrary, ladies and
gentlemen, we are more powerful than the terrorists. We can
fight them not just with conventional arms, but with information and
expertise and common sense; with freedom and openness and truth; with
partnerships born from our cooperation. If we do, then like
the men and women who fought Nazism and Fascism 60 years ago, our
outcome will be equally certain: victory for America, and
safety for Americans.
But, as I said before, we're asking all federal departments and
agencies make this system work immediately, integrate their plans into
this advisory system, and work with us over the next 135 days to a
final system.
It's certainly now my pleasure to introduce one of those members of
our Homeland Security Council who had so much input in the advisory
system, and who will help us make it happen, both nationally and within
the federal agencies, Secretary Gayle Norton. Madam
Secretary. (Applause.)
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