Posts Tagged ‘Secretary Napolitano’

June 11, 2012: Beyond the Border Updates

Monday, June 11th, 2012

When President Obama and Prime Minister Harper announced the Beyond the Border Action Plan last December, I said that opportunities for stakeholders to participate in the process and feedback from people who deal with the border every day would be integral to implementation. We need your views, and we expect you to hold our feet to the fire. Success depends on our willingness to hear what you have to say and act on it.

Over the past few weeks, the Action Plan has taken significant steps forward.

In February, I made an announcement at Montreal’s Trudeau Airport for one of the new NEXUS lanes we’ve created at several international airports. This is one of the most tangible achievements. Making it easier for trusted travelers and frequent travelers to cross the border will help reduce wait times and let U.S. and Canadian law enforcement focus resources on transit that needs more scrutiny.

On May 14, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney announced joint consultations with stakeholders on cross-border business. These consultations will gather input and ideas to facilitate cross border business travel. Secretary Napolitano attended the first joint consultation in Washington, and Minister Kenney attended a similar consultation in Toronto. Stakeholders who couldn’t attend either meeting can send comments to the Department of Homeland Security by email until June 15 at BeyondtheBorder@hq.dhs.gov.

On May 31, the U.S. and Canada announced that we have agreed to the mutual recognition of air cargo security. Cargo on passenger aircraft will be screened at the point of origin and will not need to be rescreened at the border or prior to upload in the other country. This will facilitate commerce across the border, improve the efficiency of screening, and reduce burdens on and costs to industry.

We are moving forward. Individual steps may not be flashy, but taken together, they will make a concrete difference in how goods and people move across the border. They will facilitate trade, encourage travel and create jobs in a time when all are very much needed.

More information about the entire Action Plan can be found on the Department of Homeland Security website at www.dhs.gov/beyond-the-border.

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Posted in June 2012 |

July 13, 2010 – Washington, D.C.

Monday, July 19th, 2010

I went to D.C. for a meeting last week with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews, Ambassador Gary Doer and others, to discuss how the United States and Canada can work together to protect North America. I have often said that it is a false choice between security and efficiency. If we’re creative and smart, we can have both. Part of that will require that we view the border as the last line of defense, and not the first.

Today’s meeting was a step in that direction. Minister Toews and Secretary Napolitano meet at least twice a year to discuss common issues. And their staffs work together on a daily basis both in Ottawa and in Washington. A product of that effort was a set of four agreements between the United States and Canada and we will continue to work together on our strategic relationship here in North America.

While I was in D.C., I used the opportunity to meet with several of my friends and colleagues at the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the White House. While it was great to see so many people, one bears special mention. My good friend Norm Eisen is currently Special Counsel to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office. But he is about to move on. He was recently nominated by the President as the next Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

While I am happy for Norm (and the people in the Czech Republic, to say nothing of the American people) his appointment is a particularly poignant one. During World War II Norm’s mother, who now lives on the West Coast, was deported from Czechoslovakia to a Nazi concentration camp in Germany. While she survived, many of her family members and friends did not. After the war, she came to live in the United States.

There is something special about the fact that her son, a brilliant lawyer who was a friend and classmate of the President, is returning to his family’s homeland as the United States Ambassador.
DJ

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Posted in September 09 |