Morning Roundup
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to outline Wednesday the Obama administration's domestic approach to preventing terrorist attacks -- a strategy that will rely in large measure on refining and expanding initiatives launched under President George W. Bush.
How to keep the U.S. safe and foil terrorists are charged issues that took a central role in last year's presidential campaign, when then-Sen. Barack Obama criticized the Bush administration's tactics. But Ms. Napolitano, in an interview this week, signaled that the Obama administration isn't contemplating a wholesale revision of the agencies or programs created under Mr. Bush to further antiterrorism efforts.
One element of Ms. Napolitano's approach, for example, will be the expansion of a pilot program started during the Bush administration to train police to report such suspicious behavior as the theft of keys from a facility that keeps radiological waste.
It is part of a much broader effort to significantly increase cooperation between her agency and state and local governments across the nation. Her aides say this is one area where her efforts will significantly exceed those of her predecessors in the Bush administration.
From Federal News Radio, on the department's new CIO:
The Homeland Security Department is bringing back a familiar face to be its chief information officer.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano today announces the appointment of Richard Spires to be CIO.
Spires is the former CIO and deputy commissioner for operations support at the IRS. He left government in July 2008.
Since Sept. 2008, Spires has owned his own consulting practice, according to his Linked In profile.
"Richard has an impressive record of managing large-scale IT programs and I look forward to working with him to find more efficient and innovative ways to help the department meet its strategic and information resource management goals," Napolitano says in a release.
Spires replaces Richard Mangogna, who left in March 2009. Margie Graves has been acting CIO since Mangonga left.
Spires will be responsible for managing and directing information management support processes, combining the functions of information technology and telecommunications to provide coordinated support strategies for meeting DHS-mission related information needs, DHS says in the release.
Leadership Events
9AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks about homeland security and DHS’ approach to preventing terrorist attacks
Council on Foreign Relations
58 East 68th Street
New York, N.Y.
12 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a media availability following her meeting with counterterrorism experts, first responders and law enforcement leaders
Staten Island Ferry Terminal
Mezzanine Level
4 South Street
New York, N.Y.
1 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will make a transportation security announcement
Grand Central Terminal
Main Concourse
New York, N.Y.
2 PM EDT
Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute will testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security on “Beyond Readiness: An Examination of the Current Status and Future Outlook of the National Response to Pandemic Influenza.”
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.
Public Events
10:30 AM CDT
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) Senior Equal Employment Opportunity Manager Junish Arora will deliver remarks at the Examining Conflicts in Employment Law (EXCEL) conference
New Orleans Marriott Hotel
614 Canal Street
New Orleans, La.
10:45 AM CDT
Terry Adirim, M.D., Senior Advisor in the Office of Health Affairs (OHA), will deliver remarks during a special meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Novel Influenza A (H1N1).
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Building 19, Room 232
1600 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, Ga.
1 PM PDT
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf will lead the Elliot Bay Parade of Ships to start the Seattle SeaFair’s Fleet Week
Bell Harbor Pier 66
Seattle, Wash.
Labels: Events, Morning Roundup, News, Schedule
posted by DHS @ 8:21 AM
4 Comments:
At July 29, 2009 10:15 AM ,
Phil said...
Maybe you could address this: "At a Border Crossing, Security Trumps Openness", by Nicolai Ouroussoff, New York Times, July 26, 2009.
"Four years ago, when the federal General Services Administration unveiled its plans for a new border-crossing station here in northeastern New York State, the design was presented as part of the agency’s campaign to raise the dismal standards of government architecture. Even many in the famously fractious architectural community celebrated the complex — particularly its main building, emblazoned with glossy yellow, 21-foot-high letters spelling “United States' — as a rare project the government could point to with pride.
"The Customs and Border Protection agency of the Department of Homeland Security seemed to like it too. After years of working closely with the architects, the New York firm of Smith-Miller & Hawkinson, the agency signed off on the final version of the project in 2007.
"Yet three weeks ago, less than a month after the station opened, workers began prying the big yellow letters off the building’s facade on orders from Customs and Border Protection. The plan is to dismantle the rest of the sign this week.
"`At the end of the day, I think they were somewhat surprised at how bold and how bright it was,' said Les Shepherd, the chief architect of the General Services Administration, referring to the customs agency’s sudden turnaround.
"`There were security concerns,' said Kelly Ivahnenko, a spokeswoman for the customs agency. `The sign could be a huge target and attract undue attention. Anything that would place our officers at risk we need to avoid.'"
Ridiculous.
At July 29, 2009 10:32 AM ,
Phil said...
Also of interest: "How Air Travel Can Be Made Less Annoying", New York Times, July 28, 2009.
Commercial airline pilot and columnist Patrick Smith writes:
"Let’s begin with an overhaul of airport security. Certainly it’s important to screen for bombs and firearms, but the majority of what goes on at the concourse checkpoint is wasteful, tedious and does nothing to improve security — from the senseless I.D. checking to the three-ounce container rules to the confiscation of butter knives from crew members ( it happened to me). The amount of money and time spent on this absurd theater is stupefying.
"The existing protocols are designed to prevent an attack that already happened and for all intents and purposes cannot happen again. The hijack paradigm changed forever on Sept. 11, 2001, rendering the inflight takeover concept all but unworkable for a potential terrorist. Not to mention, there are limitless ways to smuggle knives and other dangerous materials past guards, and a deadly weapon can be fashioned from just about anything, including no shortage of materials found on an airplane."
At July 31, 2009 8:44 PM ,
Americanwoman said...
Gee, I left a comment. What happened to it?
At July 31, 2009 8:48 PM ,
Americanwoman said...
Let's try again...
The behavior and policies of the government of my once noble, strong and honorable United States of America now seem to fluctuate between the ridiculous and the extreme.
VERY IMPORTANT: Mexico's already weak and questionable government seems to be on the brink of collapsing. THEN WHAT WILL THE USA DO? What will be our reaction to a neighboring rogue nation, separated from us by a line in the sand? How will an understaffed, ill-equipped USBP protect us from a ramped-up invasion and the certain increased violence of drug cartels, as we remain, like sitting ducks, wide open to invasion and physical attacks?
WHAT HAS JANET NAPOLITANO DONE TO PREPARE THE U.S. FOR THIS QUITE PROBABLE SCENARIO?
GOD HELP US!
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