Homeland Defense Journal - January 2009 - 39

By Michael Chertoff F E D E R A L VO I C E S N AN AVERAGE DAY, the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security will screen more than 2 million air travelers, inspect more than 300,000 vehicles crossing our borders, check more than 70,000 shipping containers for dangerous materials, secure thousands of pieces of critical infrastructure, rescue hundreds of people in danger or distress, naturalize 3,200 new Americans, and conduct more than 135,000 national security background checks. Managing these and other risks to our country is a daunting challenge. We recognize there is no perfect security. Moreover, it is neither possible nor desirable to eliminate all risk. For the past ﬁve years, our goal has been to provide the best possible protection against the most signiﬁcant threats, reduce major vulnerabilities, and mitigate potential consequences, with minimal disruption and inconvenience to the American people. On balance, I believe we have achieved these goals, enacting sensible, necessary reforms while building a solid foundation for future homeland security efforts. Across land, sea, and air, our nation is better equipped to deal with the full compliment of threats we face in the 21st century. In many cases, we have implemented programs and capabilities that did not exist prior to September 11, 2001. Our aviation system now beneﬁts from more than twenty layers of security, from hardened cockpit doors and Federal Air Marshals to 100 percent screening of passengers and their bags and new air cargo security requirements. At our borders, we have built hundreds of miles of pedestrian and vehicle fence, On January 20th, 2009,we doubled the size of the U.S. intend to turn over to our Border Patrol, and added new successors an integrated, technology to prevent the well-functioning Department entry of terrorists, criminals, that has addressed or is on and illegal aliens, as well as a path to addressing drugs and weapons. the most significant risks In the interior, we have facing our nation. arrested record numbers of illegal aliens, including more than 11,000 gang members and 34,000 fugitives. We also have cracked down on employers who violate immigration laws, while giving businesses better tools, such as E-Verify, to maintain a legal workforce. At our ports, we have deployed radiation scanning equipment to check virtually 100 percent of incoming cargo for weapons of mass destruction. Prior to 9/11, no cargo was scanned for such threats. In addition, we have stationed U.S. inspectors overseas to screen cargo before it leaves foreign ports. We have strengthened the security of identiﬁcation documents, requiring passports or other secure documents to enter the United States from within our own hemisphere. This closes a pre-9/11 loophole that left our nation vulnerable. Under US-VISIT, we now capture biometric ﬁngerprints from foreign visitor and check them in real time against terrorist and criminal watch lists – all while maintaining rigorous privacy protections. Before 9/11, we didn’t have this capability. And to prevent the use of fraudulent identiﬁcation, we have implemented new standards for secure driver’s licenses. O To protect the nation’s chemical plants, we now require high risk facilities to develop security plans and harden their assets, and we have implemented new regulations for chemicals traveling by rail. To guard against biological threats, we have deployed early warning surveillance systems to 30 major metropolitan areas under the BioWatch program and built new national facilities for biological threat characterization and response. And to counter emerging threats in cyberspace, we have launched a major, multi-agency initiative to protect national cyber systems and infrastructure. Finally, we have integrated lessons from Hurricane Katrina and other disasters to ensure the federal government is prepared to support our state and local partners and the American people during a major disaster. We have strengthened FEMA, built new capabilities for tracking of commodities, improved emergency communications, and developed stronger connections with our partners at all levels, including the Department of Defense and the private sector. Of course, there is still more work to do, including preparing the new Administration for the upcoming Presidential transition. For more than a year, we have worked aggressively to ensure there will be no gaps in planning or leadership. We have established robust transition plans for each of our agencies and the top leaders in each component include career executives who will preserve continuity. On January 20th, 2009, we intend to turn over to our successors an integrated, well-functioning Department that has addressed or is on a path to addressing the most signiﬁcant risks facing our nation. That’s not to say we always achieved perfection. But we have worked hard to keep the American people safe, and we have a solid record of accomplishments that our 218,000 employees are proud to stand behind. n Michael Chertoff is former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Visit www.homelanddefensejournal.com Homeland Defense Journal | 37

Homeland Defense Journal - January 2009

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