"As a precaution, DHS has taken a number of steps to enhance security. Some of these security measures will be visible while others will not. The public may recognize specific enhancements including heightened cargo screening and additional security at airports. Passengers should continue to expect an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams and pat downs, among others. As always, we remind the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to local law enforcement.”

"The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is aware of and monitoring reports of potentially suspicious items onboard cargo flights that landed safely at Newark Liberty and Philadelphia International airports. Out of an abundance of caution the planes were moved to a remote location where they are being met by law enforcement officials and swept.”

Secretary Napolitano is in Tokyo to attend the Asia/Pacific Ministerial Conference of Aviation Security. The Asia/Pacific region is the world's largest aviation market-with approximately 647 million passengers
traveling in 2009 alone.

While there, she will meet with top officials from the Asia/Pacific region and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to discuss ways to bolster global aviation security-such as strengthening information sharing and enhancing international transportation security agreements.

At these meetings, she will emphasize our ongoing commitment to working with global partners to strengthen the security of the international aviation network and prevent terrorists from boarding commercial aircraft. Yesterday, Secretary Napolitano took a moment during her busy schedule to tour Tokyo's famous Hai Shrine.

We announced the other day that Secretary Napolitano would sit down for live Facebook chat on aviation security. The White House posted the video for those that missed the livestream. Check it out below.

Join Secretary Janet Napolitano TODAY for a live Facebook chat – hosted by the White House – on aviation security. Secretary Napolitano is engaging with leaders around the world as part of a broad initiative to strengthen the international aviation system against the evolving threats posed by terrorists. We realize that the American public has questions about new screening measures and technology, and about how we’re working with our international partners to bolster security on flights coming to the United States from foreign countries.

Secretary Napolitano will answer your questions at 3:00 PM EST via the White House’s facebook chat application.

Watch the chat @ WhiteHouse.gov/live

Watch, discuss, and engage through Facebook

One of the most important realities highlighted by the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack is that in this day and age, aviation security is a responsibility shared among nations. The attempted terrorist had an itinerary that spanned three countries, and citizens of 17 countries were traveling on board that flight.

In light of this attack, we are working with our international partners to bolster global security measures and standards for aviation security. Part of this effort is sharing the kind of information needed to keep terrorists off airplanes. We have a good template for future information-sharing accords in the agreements we already have, which maintain high privacy standards while sharing important security information.

For example, DHS has an agreement with the European Union to allow air carriers to share Passenger Name Record (PNR) data with DHS so we can determine whether people traveling to and from the United States have ties to terrorism. This data protects not only U.S. citizens, but any person traveling to the United States –so the continued partnership of our European allies on this program is vital. Earlier this week, as part of a regular review process, expert representatives of the European Union conducted a review of the effectiveness and privacy protections of this agreement, and even saw the system in action at Dulles International Airport near Washington.

This kind of information sharing is critical to securing the international aviation system. Last month I went to Spain to meet with my European colleagues on how we can improve aviation security, and this week I’m traveling to Mexico to discuss how countries in this hemisphere can work collaboratively toward this goal.

Because the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not conduct screening at foreign airports, I am committed to strengthening coordination with international partners to implement stronger and more effective measures to protect air travel while continuing to protect privacy.

Our efforts will follow the lead of our past actions to improve security, where we have created effective systems, set high standards, and met them.

Janet Napolitano

Secretary Napolitano just posted an entry in the Leadership Journal about her recent trip to Toledo, Spain, and Geneva, Switzerland, where she met with our international partners to discuss strengthening aviation security standards following the attempted terrorist attack against Northwest Flight 253 on December 25th.

We encourage you to give it a read.

Last week, I was in Toledo, Spain, and Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with our European counterparts and aviation industry leaders on one of the Department of Homeland Security's major priorities: working with our international partners to strengthen aviation security standards following the attempted terrorist attack against Northwest Flight 253 on December 25th.

The attempted attack underscores that boarding a plane in one airport can give you access to almost any airport in the world. This means that we need a truly global approach to aviation security. While the failed bombing attempt took place on a U.S. bound flight, it involved at least four airports on three continents, and threatened the lives of citizens from 17 countries.

In Toledo, I found broad consensus on this point and a clear sense of urgency to take immediate action to strengthen security measures. Specifically, my European counterparts and I signed a joint declaration affirming our collective commitment to strengthening information sharing and passenger vetting, deploying additional proven security technologies, and bolstering international aviation security standards.

I found a similarly strong consensus in Geneva where I met with the leaders of the airlines that are part of the International Air Transport Association — which represents approximately 230 airlines and more than 90 percent of the world's air traffic. We agreed that government and the private sector must work collaboratively both to develop enhanced international security standards and–most importantly — to effectively implement them.

These meetings were the first in a series to bring about international agreement on stronger aviation security standards and procedures. Over the next few months, the International Civil Aviation Organization is facilitating several regional aviation security meetings where we will build on the progress we made in Toledo and Geneva.

Together, we can and will strengthen an international aviation system that, for half a century, has served as an extraordinary engine for progress and prosperity for the United States and around the world.

Janet Napolitano

Let’s just say we switched from European Time to Spanish Time, as Interior Minister Rubalcaba himself said.

On Wednesday, Secretary Napolitano spent the day testifying in two major hearings on the Hill—and when these hearings ran a little long, our plane to Spain took off a little behind schedule as well. Departing late is fine under most circumstances—the schedulers build in down time so we have some cushion between meetings and events in case something like this happens.
Not on this trip.

We’re in Europe for two days to discuss aviation security with our international partners – a critically important issue given the attempted attack on Dec.25 – and the Secretary has a packed schedule of meetings, events, interviews and bilateral discussions.

So, we took off at 6 PM from Washington, D.C., got two or three hours of sleep on the flight as the Secretary spent most of her time preparing for the next day’s meetings, and landed at 6:45 AM local time in Spain. I’d say my mood as we deplaned could have generously been described as “groggy,” as we were whisked from the airport to the site, past some incredible local scenery and buildings – including the Cathedral of Toledo – and arrived barely on time.

We had only had 10 minutes before we began our first event. Here's hoping no one noticed we went to our first two bilateral meetings in the clothes we slept in!

Fortunately, next we had a brief break as the Europeans met behind closed doors. Freshly scrubbed we reconvened and went full force into the first full day and evening of scheduled events. Spanish coffee was dark and plentiful to get us past jet lag, though.

On this short trip, we had a lot to accomplish in our conversations with ministers from more than 30 countries about ways we can work together to make the world’s skies safer and more secure for passengers worldwide. The main event today was the Toledo ministerial – at the invitation of Interior Minister Alfred Rubalcaba – with all of the Secretary’s European homeland security counterparts.

We had an incredibly productive session. The attempted attack on Dec. 25 threatened people from 17 foreign countries, including more than 100 citizens of European nations, and Secretary Napolitano stressed the incident’s “international dimensions,” pressing the room for support to strengthen global security and screening standards.

I must say, I was amazed at the unanimity among the European ministers on the need for more international consensus as we take immediate steps to address the security shortfalls that allowed a man – armed with an explosive device – to board a plane headed for the United States. We discussed information collection, information sharing, technological cooperation, international standards, and foreign security assistance.

The ministers discussion was so lively we went overtime, so lunch was a quick bite before more bilateral meetings. Interior Ministers, Justice Ministers -- I think there were eight meetings, not including the press conference and a few press interviews.

In the private bilateral meetings, the sentiments were even more candid and it's clear there is a mandate to move forward on some European and some American ideas -- we put them together in the ministerial statement the Spanish hosts released. We and our European partners will talk more about and refine them in the coming days.

Finally came dinner in the beautiful Museo de Santa Cruz, hosted by the region of Castilla-La Mancha. Not everyday one eats dinner looking at 16th century tapestries. I hope to come back another time to do justice to Toledo, including the museum and the cathedral.

This was the first in a series of top-level meetings that the Secretary expects to hold with her counterparts around the world as she works to build toward more concrete international coordination on aviation security.

We’ll send another update tomorrow, when she has more bilateral meetings here before flying on to Switzerland.

Mark

Mark Koumans is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of International Affairs

Yesterday, I joined White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan to announce recommendations that DHS has made to the President for improving the technology and procedures used to protect air travel from acts of terrorism.

The attempted attack on Northwest Flight 253 is a powerful illustration that terrorists will go to great lengths to try to defeat the security measures that have been put in place since Sept. 11, 2001. The steps I outlined yesterday will strengthen aviation security—at home and abroad—through new partnerships, technology and law enforcement efforts.

These steps include

• Re-evaluating and modifying the criteria and process used to create terrorist watch lists—including adjusting the process by which names are added to the “No-Fly” and “Selectee” lists.
• Establishing a partnership on aviation security between DHS and the Department of Energy and its National Laboratories in order to develop new and more effective technologies to deter and disrupt known threats and protect against new ways by which terrorists could seek to board an aircraft.
• Accelerating deployment of advanced imaging technology to provide greater explosives detection capabilities—and encourage foreign aviation security authorities to do the same—in order to identify materials such as those used in the attempted Dec. 25 attack. The Transportation Security Administration currently has 40 machines deployed throughout the United States, and plans to deploy 300 additional units in 2010.
• Strengthening the presence and capacity of aviation law enforcement—by deploying law enforcement officers from across DHS to serve as Federal Air Marshals to increase security aboard U.S.-bound flights.
• Working with international partners to strengthen international security measures and standards for aviation security.

Additionally, last week I dispatched Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute, Assistant Secretary for Policy David Heyman and other senior Department officials to meet with leaders from major international airports in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and South America to review security procedures and technology being used to screen passengers on U.S.-bound flights and work on ways to collectively bolster our tactics for defeating terrorists

Later this month, I will travel to Spain for the first of a series of global meetings with my international counterparts intended to bring about broad consensus on new international aviation security standards and procedures.

These steps come in addition to the Department’s immediate actions following the attempted attack on Dec. 25, 2009—including enhanced security measures at domestic airports and new international security directives that mandate enhanced screening of every individual flying into the United States from or through nations that are State Sponsors of Terrorism or other countries of interest and threat-based, random enhanced screening for all other passengers traveling on U.S.-bound flights.

I want to thank the Department of Homeland Security personnel who have been working day-in and day-out to implement these security measures since Christmas—as well as the traveling public for their continued patience. The public remains one of our most valuable layers of defense against acts of terrorism.

Janet Napolitano