Our priority and the founding principle of the Department of Homeland Security is preventing and disrupting terrorist attacks on America.  As President Obama makes clear in his recently announced National Security Strategy – the first since the creation of DHS to integrate homeland security and national security – our government has no greater priority than the safety and security of the American people.

Indeed, President Obama has emphasized the need to both build and integrate the capabilities upon which that security depends. Nowhere is that integration more essential than in our efforts to prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks. This mission is not ours alone – everyone has a role to play.

Every day, the men and women of DHS work directly with international, federal, state, local and tribal partners in a unified effort against the evolving threats we face. This kind of coordination is essential to meet the evolving challenges of the world in which we live – one in which the accelerated flow of ideas, goods, and people, while vital to supporting and advancing our interests, also creates security threats that are increasingly borderless and unconventional.

In my time as Secretary, I have also focused on the threats that take place here at home: domestic-based terrorism and violent extremism.  In the last few months, we have seen individuals in our country engaged in plots to kill Americans after interacting with radical individuals online or in terrorist training camps abroad.  The fact that a number of these individuals, like the Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad, are U.S. citizens makes this a uniquely dangerous challenge.

Some of these terrorists have ties to al Qaeda or other terror groups - like David Headley, who pled guilty for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, or Najibullah Zazi, who pled guilty to plotting to bomb the New York subway.  Other suspects have been online followers of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen based in Yemen who is a self-proclaimed member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and who supports the use of violence against America.

Domestic terrorists or extremists can be particularly difficult to detect because they often attempt to exploit the freedoms of our open society in order to plot and carry out acts of violence. That is why we are constantly working to find new ways to counter these threats.

Currently, DHS is working with federal, state, and local law enforcement, and with a range of community groups, to better combat the threats posed by domestic-based terrorism. We do this by ensuring that law enforcement at every level has access to information and intelligence about threats so they are fully equipped to confront them on the frontlines.

The Department of Homeland Security is also working directly with communities to help them combat violent extremists that target vulnerable individuals before they are radicalized.  Just last week, the Homeland Security Advisory Committee issued a series of recommendations on implementing successful community policing practices to confront this new challenge.

This process has been aided by the active involvement of many religious, ethnic and community organizations, including leaders from the Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian communities, who have played critical roles in thwarting violence, and underscoring the enormously positive roles that these communities play in enriching our national life.

As we work together to confront the terrorist challenge, we must acknowledge that keeping our country safe demands trust and cooperation.  Terrorism is a tactic designed not just to kill, but to undermine our freedom.  We must forge strong partnerships between communities and state, local and federal law enforcement, build resilience, and maintain vigilance at all times not only to prevent acts of terrorism, but also to protect the very freedoms that make this country great.

No nation—particularly a free and open society of 300 million Americans—can prevent every single threat to its citizens.  But we will continue to do everything in our power to guard against terrorism and we will remember that America is – and always will be–a strong and a resilient country.  We will never let a violent fringe take that away.

Janet Napolitano

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

Earlier today, I addressed a live web audience to talk about our nation’s shared responsibility for our cybersecurity. President Obama has been speaking regularly on this important issue, and has described the growing number of attacks on our networks as “one of the most serious economic and national security threats our nation faces.”

My remarks today were a chance to speak clearly and candidly about what cybersecurity really means for our nation, and to expand on the shared responsibility we all have for online security. You can view the remarks below.







The full transcript is also available.

As I mention in my remarks, you can read more about our Department’s cyber efforts, and find cyber security job opportunities at DHS.Gov/Cyber. We plan to host more online events like this in the future, and will in the coming days post answers to many of the excellent questions that viewers submitted during the address.

Yours very truly,
Janet Napolitano

Over the past few months I have been laying out the five main areas of responsibility of the Department.

In July, I outlined our approach to our first priority – countering the threat of a terrorist attack. In August, I spoke about the new approach we’re taking to border security.

Today, in remarks at the American Red Cross, I’m speaking about another important mission: readiness and resilience.

Our nation may be better prepared than we were before 9/11. But there is much more we can – and should – do. And to get there, we must treat our nation’s preparedness as a shared responsibility, one where everyone has a role to play.

Civilians are usually the first to arrive in a crisis, and history shows that they are critical in those important first minutes. And these citizen responders can be an even more potent force by:

• Taking CPR training from the Red Cross
• Training with a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
• Knowing when to take shelter or evacuate
• Pre-planning evacuation routes and where to meet after a disaster strikes

If a disaster struck your hometown, that training, those skills, and those plans would free up first responders and emergency personnel to focus on those most in need.

So today, I’m calling on all Americans, across the country, to do two things.

First, take these basic steps:

1. get an emergency kit;
2. make a family reunification plan; and
3. become informed about the types of emergencies your community is most likely to encounter.

Second, I’m asking all of us who are in book clubs, prayer groups, school boards, alumni associations, or other community organizations, simply to raise your hand and ask, “What’s our plan?”

Together, we can build a culture of readiness and resilience, and together we can build a more secure future.

Janet Napolitano

Yesterday I had the honor of addressing more than a thousand of our nation’s veterans at the American Legion Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

Veterans hold a special place in our country, but they also hold a special place at the Department of Homeland Security. Roughly a quarter of our workforce consists of veterans, including more than 2,100 service-disabled veterans. Every day these men and women, who already have sacrificed so much for our nation, are helping achieve our mission to secure the country.

I told veterans gathered at the conference that we are firmly committed to increasing their ranks at DHS. Indeed, we have set a goal of employing 50,000 veterans at the Department by 2012. We are well on our way to achieve that goal – hiring 3,000 veterans since January of this year.

But our efforts aren’t just about numbers. We are also expanding partnerships and outreach to veterans across the United States. For example, we are creating greater opportunities for Veteran Owned Small Businesses and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses to do business with the Department. Last year, veteran-owned small businesses won more than $931 million in prime contracts from DHS.

And our first-ever job fair for veterans drew more than 750 participants this summer.

Through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, we’ve also continued to grant citizenship to tens of thousands of our men and women in uniform who have become American citizens while at the same time serving in our Armed Forces. We will continue to do even more this year and in the future.

In Louisville, I thanked the American Legion, as well as the American Legion Auxiliary, for their strong support for programs like Citizen Corps, which is creating more prepared communities through service and citizen engagement.

I also called on the Legion to continue to support these and other efforts to help build a culture of preparedness and resiliency in America. That includes taking action to boost personal preparedness and spread the word about important resources like Ready.gov. This is especially important as we prepare for the possibility of an H1N1 outbreak this fall.

We must bring a sense of shared responsibility to this effort. Veterans are in a unique position to help us meet this challenge, as they’ve done throughout our nation’s history. We are proud to have them as members of the Department and critical partners in our nation’s homeland security mission.

Janet Napolitano

Earlier today, I was at the Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO), which sustained major damage from Hurricane Katrina nearly four years ago. Today, there are signs of progress across the campus, and I was proud to announce an additional $32 million in funding to continue the rebuilding of SUNO.

Overall, more than $400 million has been obligated under this Administration toward the repair and replacement of educational facilities and projects throughout Louisiana.


Thanks to a concerted effort by FEMA, our Gulf Coast Rebuilding Office, and all the federal agencies involved, Gulf Coast communities have a strong ally in their rebuilding efforts.

Certainly, when we look back on the last four years, there’s much to learn from. But right now:

• We have the right people in place
• We are cutting through bureaucratic red tape and getting decisions made faster, and
• We are addressing the most difficult challenges head-on rather than working around them.

What this all means is that – from the federal perspective – we are keeping the promises that we've made.

Last February, we committed to working to help resolve the lingering problems that many families were having with housing. Since then, we have assisted more than 3,200 Louisiana households move out of FEMA temporary housing and into more suitable, longer-term, functional housing.

Overall, roughly 99 percent of households displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita have found longer-term means of housing.

Back in March, we created two teams to aid in the resolution of disputed projects. The Joint Expediting Team and the Unified Public Assistance Project Decision Team together have since resolved 73 disputed projects. And two weeks ago, we announced an additional avenue for fairly and promptly resolving public assistance projects through independent arbitration panels.

We've made significant progress over the past seven months, but at the same time, we all acknowledge how far we still need to go.

Rebuilding the Gulf Coast, and making it stronger and more resilient, is a long-term project that requires the engagement of federal state and local government, communities, faith groups, and the private sector.

Today, I shared the message that this Administration is committed to rebuilding in the long term. Our expectations are high, and I look forward to coming back to see more signs of progress soon.

Janet Napolitano

Yesterday, I joined Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan in hosting the first-ever H1N1 Flu Summit at the National Institutes of Health. This summit brought together leaders from across government—federal, state, and local—and the public health community to continue our ongoing preparations and response to the H1N1 pandemic.


Experts say that the virus may return in a more virulent strain during this fall’s flu season. This isn’t a cause for panic; rather, it’s a chance to reinvigorate our preparedness efforts across the country.

The most critical steps to containing this virus won’t take place in Washington, they’ll take place in homes, schools, communities and businesses across the country.

Families should consider how they would take care of children if schools close. Businesses should have plans for employees to work from home if needed. State, local, and tribal governments and community organizations should have procedures in place to deal with a future outbreak.

I encourage everyone to visit www.flu.gov to learn more about the steps you can take and make sure you have the most accurate, up-to-date information.

Here at the Department of Homeland Security, we continue to work with President Obama, Congress, governors, mayors, state and local health departments, school districts, private sector partners and other federal agencies to develop a nation-wide plan that incorporates the lessons we learned this spring to prepare for the fall flu season.

H1N1 may return this fall, but with your help, we are doing everything possible to keep the country safe and healthy. Thank you for doing your part.

Janet Napolitano

Yesterday I announced my upcoming trip and some of the initiatives we’ll be advancing with our overseas partners, especially with respect to our counter-terrorism mission.

We recently signed several important agreements with our European allies to improve information sharing and enhance collaboration on the development of science and technology. My trip, which begins this Saturday and will include visits to Ireland, Britain, Portugal, and Spain, with a final stop in Kuwait to visit our Coast Guard operations, will build on these and other efforts.

• In Ireland I will assess preparations for aviation preclearance operations, which are scheduled to begin on July 29.


• In the UK, I’ll be meeting with the new Home Secretary and the new Transport Secretary on a number of issues, including cyber-security, science and technology collaboration, countering violent extremism, and civil aviation security.


• In Portugal, we will discuss ways to improve and increase information sharing to counter threats in both of our countries.


• And in Spain we will discuss enhancing the security of air travel between our two countries, building off of the recent agreements we’ve made to improve criminal information sharing and science and technology cooperation.

In addition to these issues, we will focus on matters of interest to both the United States and European Union as a whole, including the protection of privacy while improving law enforcement and security cooperation, and the Visa Waiver Program and its security enhancements.

We have a strong partnership with Europe when it comes to fighting terrorism and other forms of transnational crime. In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking more about our counter-terrorism efforts both at home and abroad, especially as we approach the 5th anniversary of the release of the 9/11 Commission Report on July 22.

It will be a good opportunity to assess how far we’ve come in our fight against terrorism, our work to secure our country – and what steps remain.

Janet Napolitano

When President-elect Obama nominated me to become our country’s third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, I was warned that the vast Department was too cumbersome to lead; that the 225,000-strong workforce was too big to manage; that the 22 agencies with 22 corresponding missions that were brought together in 2003 were too disparate to meld into a coherent structure with a clear vision.

Yet, nearly five months into my tenure, the purpose of our Department is unambiguous: we must guard against terrorism; we must secure our borders; we must enforce our immigration laws; we must improve our readiness for, response to, and recovery from disasters; and we must unify the Department so that we can even more effectively carry out our mission.

On each of the five fronts, we have already made important strides.

Protecting the American people from terrorist threats is the founding principle of the Department and our highest priority. This is an effort where everyone--families and communities, first responders, the private sector, state and local governments, as well as the Department--must contribute. My approach is simple: direct every resource available towards prevention and preparedness, and ask Americans to live in a constant state of readiness, not a constant state of fear.

Since January, we have forged new partnerships with our international allies to provide more tools in the fight against terrorism. We have dedicated new resources to detect threats at our transportation hubs and protect our critical infrastructure. And, we are strengthening information-sharing efforts, working hand-in-hand with state, local and tribal law enforcement.

Fulfilling our mission also means securing our borders—our Southern border, our Northern border, and our air and sea ports. Every year, we apprehend and deport more than one million illegal immigrants, no doubt deterring countless more from trying to cross the border. Recently, we announced a new initiative to strengthen security on the Southwest border to disrupt the drug, cash and weapon smuggling that is helping to fuel cartel violence in Mexico.

When it comes to immigration, we need to facilitate legal immigration while we crack down on those who violate our nation’s laws. A few weeks ago, we issued new guidance to our agents in the field to focus our efforts on apprehending criminal illegal aliens and prosecuting employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. At the same time, we are committed to providing employers with the most up-to-date and effective resources to maintain a legal workforce. This new focus is drawing widespread praise--from law enforcement to the business community--because it addresses the root cause of illegal immigration.

As a nation, we must develop a more urgent sense of readiness. Hurricanes happen. Tornadoes happen. Floods happen. And as we recently experienced, so do health outbreaks like the H1N1 flu. The Department plays a critical role in helping communities in all stages of a disaster--preparation, response and long term recovery. Since January, we have worked in close coordination with state and local authorities to respond to severe storms in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Missouri and flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota. We have taken bold new steps to accelerate recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast region, streamlining decision making and consolidating offices to eliminate redundancies.

And we took immediate and aggressive steps to lead the federal government’s efforts to confront the H1N1 flu outbreak.

Finally, we must unify and mature our Department. Our goal is simple: one DHS, one enterprise, a shared vision, with integrated results-based operations. Through a consolidated headquarters, we are bringing 35 locations together. We have launched an expansive efficiency initiative that is leveraging the economies of scale in our Department in order to recover hundreds of millions of dollars and create a culture of responsibility and fiscal discipline.

Throughout these five priority areas, we are applying a series of cross-cutting approaches. We are bolstering cooperation with our partners at the local, tribal, state, federal and international levels; we are expanding our capabilities through the deployment of science and technology while developing and maturing new technologies for tomorrow; and we are maximizing efficiency to ensure every security dollar is spent in the most effective way.

We cannot afford to relent on any of these five fronts because together, they amount to our one overarching mission—a mission whose scope is massive, challenging, and humbling, but also a mission so straightforward and clear that it is contained in our name: securing the homeland.

Janet Napolitano

On Monday, I returned from a trip to Germany in which I met with my homeland security counterparts from six European Union countries. This regular meeting – called the “G6 plus 1” (I’m the “plus 1”) – is an important part of our security cooperation. Threats like terrorism, the spread of infectious diseases, and natural disasters know no borders, which makes global partnership an integral part of American security.

We focused on many different elements of this partnership – including information-sharing about terror suspects, bolstering the security of international cyber networks and combating the smuggling of drugs, money, and people.

One outcome from the trip is a new science and technology agreement with the government of Germany. The photo here shows me at the signing ceremony with the German Minister of Science and Education, Annette Schavan.

This partnership will identify science and technology projects where the U.S. and Germany can collaborate on innovations that improve our security. One effort will kick off in just a few months: developing “visual analytics” technologies that can organize and cluster millions of pieces of intelligence data and arrange them visually, allowing intelligence analysts to understand more quickly the patterns contained in enormous amounts of diffuse information.

I’m excited about the doors this will open to scientific understandings not only of threats, but also solutions. Wherever we can partner with our allies to make both our nations safer, we should – and this will be an important priority moving forward, starting with my visits to Mexico and Canada over the next few weeks.

Janet Napolitano

The homeland security risks facing our nation are a complex mix of manmade and naturally occurring hazards, including terrorist attacks, accidents, natural disasters, and other emergencies. National priorities for critical infrastructure and key resources protection include both preventing catastrophic loss of life associated with these risks and minimizing their cascading, disruptive impacts on the U.S. and global economy. Achieving these priorities requires a strategy that appropriately balances building resiliency capabilities with risk-informed prevention and protection activities.

The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) describes the nation’s approach to establishing goals, requirements, and performance measures for infrastructure protection and resiliency efforts. The NIPP also sets forth a comprehensive risk management framework. It clearly defines the roles and responsibilities for the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Sector Specific Agencies, and other federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners within the critical infrastructure and key resources mission area.

The just-released 2009 version of the NIPP captures the evolution and maturation of the processes and programs first outlined in 2006. It was developed collaboratively with critical infrastructure and key resources partners at all levels of government and the private sector. The revised NIPP integrates the concepts of resiliency and protection and broadens the focus of NIPP-related programs and activities to an all-hazards environment.

A major accomplishment of the NIPP is the role it has played in building public-private partnerships. It has facilitated closer cooperation between government and industry across the 18 critical infrastructure and key resources sectors. For example, as the Chemical Sector Specific Agency, the Department partnered with the Chemical Sector Coordinating Council to develop the voluntary Web-based Chemical Security Awareness Training Program based on a need identified within the sector.

Several companies beta tested the training program, and the feedback was incorporated into the final product, which was designed not only for those directly involved in security, but for all facility employees. This partnership effort resulted in a free interactive tool available to chemical facilities nationwide to increase security awareness. The training was launched in July 2008 and as of Feb 24, 2009, 929 people had completed it at 277 companies. This pattern of collaboration is essential to strengthening our critical infrastructure and key resources protection and resiliency efforts.

The 2009 revision of the NIPP is available for download from www.dhs.gov/NIPP.

James Snyder
Acting Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection

Last week I went to New York to honor the men and women who aided the rescue of US Airways #1549.

By now, we all know the heroic tale of the pilot and crew who landed the distressed plane in the middle of the Hudson River against impossible odds.

What is less known is the immense rescue operation that took place immediately afterward and the heroism of dozens of individuals who put their own lives in danger to ensure that everyone on the aircraft made it safely to shore.

Among those responders was Coast Guard Petty Officer Ben Foster, who after seeing a passenger slip and fall from the plane’s icy wing, entered the frigid water to rescue her. In the process, he ruptured an artery in his leg, putting himself in even greater danger. He remained at the scene for hours, seeking medical attention only later that evening.

For his service, the Coast Guard awarded Petty Officer Foster the Meritorious Service Medal. The Coast Guard also awarded a Unit Commendation to its Incident Response Team, and it awarded Petty Officer Brittany Catanzaro – a member of the Coast Guard reserve – with a Meritorious Public Service Award.

Also assisting in the rescue were numerous independent boaters, water taxi operators, and ferry services. These Good Samaritans dropped what they were doing and rushed to the sinking aircraft to see how they could help. They worked side-by-side with first responders and law enforcement to ensure all 155 passengers and crew were safely rescued.

To honor their service, the Coast Guard awarded the Certificate of Merit to New York Water Taxi, Ken’s Marine, Miller’s Launch, World Yacht, and The Staten Island Ferry.

It awarded the Public Service Commendation to Circle Line Sightseeing and issued the Meritorious Public Service Award to Mr. Scott Koen. And it gave the Distinguished Public Service Award to New York Waterway.

Without this support, the triumph we celebrate today could have easily turned tragic.

These efforts remind us that individuals and businesses often have an important role to play during emergencies – even serving as first responders. As Secretary, one of my priorities is to continue to expand our engagement with citizens and businesses who want to be involved in our efforts. We have a lot to gain from their participation.

The rescue also reminds us of the importance of training and exercising before the fact. First responders at all levels must know what to do when it comes time to execute a mission – because seconds count. The successful rescue of Flight #1549 is a case in point

Janet Napolitano

The Coast Guard Public Service Awards Ceremony