News and Events Roundup - November 18th

From Computerworld, on H-1B Enforcement:

U.S. immigration officials are taking H-1B enforcement from the desk to the field with a plan to conduct 25,000 on-site inspections of companies hiring foreign workers over this fiscal year.

The move marks a nearly five-fold increase in inspections over last fiscal year, when the agency conducted 5,191 site visits under a new site inspection program. The new federal fiscal year began Oct. 1.

Tougher enforcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services comes in response to a study conducted by the agency last year that found fraud and other violations in one-in-five H-1B applications.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the agency began a site visit and verification program in July to check on the validity of H-1B applications. Mayorkas' letter was released on Tuesday by Grassley.

"[The inspection program determines] whether the location of employment actually exists and if a beneficiary is employed at the location specified, performing the duties as described, and paid the salary as identified in the petition," said Mayorkas in his letter to Grassley.

Mayorkas is a former federal prosecutor who was recently appointed by President Barack Obama. He was sworn in August and said since then, "I have worked tirelessly to learn of the condition of our anti-fraud efforts and other critical programs in our agency."

From the Associated Press, on a huge drug bust in Arizona:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say two Scottsdale men are in custody after allegedly trying to smuggle nearly 2,000 pounds of marijuana across the border into Arizona.

Authorities say the marijuana worth an estimated $4.7 million was found hidden in a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck that was stopped Monday at the Lukeville port of entry.

A drug-sniffing dog alerted customs inspectors to the presence of narcotics near
the floor area of the trailer.

When inspectors searched the trailer, they discovered 1,968 pounds of marijuana in 128 bundles concealed inside the flooring.

The truck and trailer were seized and the two men - whose names were not released - were arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Public Events
10 AM EST
NPPD Under Secretary Rand Beers and Federal Protective Service (FPS) Director Gary Schenkel will testify about the transition of FPS from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to NPPD before the House Committee on Homeland Security
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

2 PM EST
Bruce McConnell, Counselor to NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger, will participate in a panel discussion about critical infrastructure protection as part of Aviation Week’s Cybersecurity Webinar

2 PM EST
Transportation Security Administration Assistant Administrator for Global Strategies Cindy Farkus will testify about protecting the flying public and security at foreign repair stations before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - November 17th

From the Savannah Morning News, on a panel discussion including Craig Fugate:

It takes teamwork to react effectively to disasters, Federal Emergency Management Administrator Craig Fugate said Monday. Participating on a panel at Savannah State University, Fugate warned against "government-centric" responses to calamities.

He said various emergency responder agencies should work more closely with the private sector and the public.

"A government-centered approach can't get to everybody fast enough," Fugate told more than 100 people at the event.

The FEMA chief suggested that agencies recruit grocery stores and faith-based private groups to help distribute food and water.

That would provide more resources and let people focus on the things they do best, Fugate said.

"Ask police or emergency people what they would rather do," he said. "Provide security or hand out stuff?"

All too often, he added, emergency responders treat the general public as a problem rather than a potential resource.

"The first responder is oftentimes you and me, a bystander or a neighbor," Fugate said.

From USA Today, on proposed inspections for airplane maintenence shops:

Thousands of airplane maintenance shops in the U.S. and abroad would get increased scrutiny to make sure they are not easy prey for terrorists looking to sabotage U.S. jets during routine repairs, a government proposal says.

Some experts and lawmakers have warned for years about potential terrorist saboteurs infiltrating airplane repair shops, and have urged security oversight. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says the greatest danger is posed by repair shops that are on or next to airports because a terrorist could take control of an airplane.

A TSA regulation proposed Monday would for the first time enable the agency to inspect airplane repair shops. If the TSA found a problematic repair shop, the agency would tell the Federal Aviation Administration to suspend the shop's operating license.

TSA Assistant Administrator Lee Kair said the new requirement "guards against the potential threat of an aircraft being destroyed or used as a weapon." The agency is soliciting public comments on the proposal and could finalize it later this year.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on counterfeit cash:

Consumers and businesses should expect to see more bogus bills this time of year, said Jeffrey T. Gilbert, special agent in charge of the United States Secret Service Atlanta.

WSB-TV reports that two Atlanta-area residents received counterfeit $20 bills from an ATM in DeKalb County.

The station says the man and woman tried to use the bills for purchases. It says no charges were filed against them and the counterfeit currency was confiscated.

"We cannot reiterate enough how important it is to look at your money," said Gilbert. "Counterfeiting is a crime of opportunity.

And it can be devastating on a business, a family, even our economy."

With the advancements in color copiers, counterfeiters are getting more creative. By bleaching the notes of $5 bills they are able to reprint them as $100 bills.

These bills, printed on official U.S. Treasury paper, are passing the counterfeit pen test.

Public Events
10 AM PST
TSA Public Affairs Manager Dwayne Baird will host a media event to highlight Holiday Travel Tips with the Federal Security Director at Portland Oregon International Airport (PDX).
Portland Oregon International Airport
7000 NE Airport Way
Portland, Ore.

10 AM PST
TSA Public Affairs Manager Andrea McCauley will conduct a joint media event with Continental Airlines and TSA to launch the paperless boarding pass program at Dallas/Ft.Worth International Airport (DFW)
Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport
Terminal E Continental ticket counter and checkpoint

1 PM EST
Domestic Nuclear Detection Office Acting Deputy Director Dr. William Hagen and CBP Cargo and Conveyance Security Executive Director Todd Owen will testify about the operations of advanced radiation monitors before the House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight
2318 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

2:30 PM EST
Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alexander Garza will testify about H1N1 vaccine distribution before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
342 Dirksen House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

4 PM EST
Chief Privacy Officer Mary Ellen Callahan will deliver remarks about the Department’s approach to new technologies from a privacy perspective at Kelley Drye’s Second Annual Privacy Law Seminar
Washington Harbour
3050 K Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - November 16th

From the Los Angeles Times, on the Secretary's speech on immigration:

The government has beefed up border security and workplace immigration enforcement, and now should begin the work of overhauling immigration laws, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday.

"The hope is that when we get into the first part of 2010, that we will see legislation begin to move," Napolitano said. The legislation should not only give law enforcement
officials more tools to fight illegal immigration but create a "tough pathway" for undocumented workers to gain legal status, she said.

Napolitano said the government's progress in shoring up the border with Mexico and enforcing laws at the workplace meant that more Americans and more lawmakers would support an overhaul of laws than during the last effort, in 2007.

"I've been dealing hands-on with immigration issues since 1993, so trust me, I know a major shift when I see one. And what I have seen makes reform far more attainable," Napolitano told the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington.

From the Dallas Morning News, on Secure Communities:

More than 22,000 illegal immigrants with criminal charges or convictions have been arrested in Texas through a 1-year-old program that links FBI and federal immigration databases, Homeland Security officials said Thursday.

Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Irving, Mesquite and Dallas and Denton counties are among the jurisdictions using Secure Communities processes, the feds said.

Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary, said the entire Southwest border now uses the Secure Communities program. But its national scope is limited to 95 jurisdictions across 11 states.

"By 2013, assuming Congress continues to fund our effort, Secure Communities plans to be available to every law enforcement agency in the country," Napolitano said.

In Dallas, Nuria Prendes, ICE's head of detention and removal, said the costs for counties and cities to use the program was minimal and accuracy in catching dangerous criminals was enhanced.

With other ICE programs, the agency checks on persons after they receive a call from the law enforcement agency because they believe someone may be in the country illegally.

"This doesn't depend on them calling us," Prendes said.

"With Secure Communities, we get a hit back or we don't. It is biometric, and fingerprints don't lie."

Public Events
8:15 AM EST
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Detroit Field Operations Director Chris Perry will participate in a panel discussion about balancing trade goals with security needs at the U.S.-Canada border
Union Club Hotel
Purdue University
Memorial Union
101 North Grant Street
West Lafayette, Ind.

1 PM EST
TSA Public Affairs Manager Jim Fotenos will participate in an event to mark the opening of a new Terminal 3 checkpoint
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
2939 Terminal Drive
Hebron, Ky.

2 PM EST
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will deliver remarks about emergency preparedness
Savannah State University
Mary C. Torian Auditorium, Howard Jordan Building
3219 College Street
Savannah, Ga.

Morning Roundup - November 13th

From the New York Times, on Secure Communities:

Federal authorities have identified more than 111,000 immigrants with criminal records being held in local jails, during the first year of a program that seeks to deport immigrants who have committed serious crimes.

Among the immigrants identified through the program, known as Secure Communities, more than 11,000 had been charged with or convicted of the most serious crimes, including murder and rape, domestic security officials said Thursday.

About 1,900 of those have been deported.

At a news conference in Washington, John Morton, the top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, called the program "the future of immigration enforcement," because, he said, it "focuses our resources on identifying and removing the most serious criminal offenders first and foremost."

About 100,000 of the detained immigrants identified through the system had been convicted of less serious crimes, ranging from burglary to traffic offenses, the officials said. Of those, more than 14,000 have been deported.

Obama administration officials have worked to distinguish their immigration enforcement strategy from the Bush administration's, which centered on high-profile factory raids and searches in communities for immigration fugitives.

The Bush operations drew an outcry from immigrant advocates, who said they led to racial profiling, especially of Latinos, and ensnared many immigrants who lacked legal status but had not committed crimes.

From the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and no word on whether the submarine was yellow or not:

The Coast Guard cutter Jarvis returns home today after seizing 5 tons of narcotics last month from a small submarine off the coast of Central America.

The Coast Guard said the drug seizure occurred Oct. 21 after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection maritime patrol aircraft detected the submersible in international waters in the Eastern Pacific off the coast of Central America.

The Jarvis, already patrolling in the area, intercepted the submersible, boarded the vessel, and found that it was loaded with 5 tons of narcotics. The crew of the Jarvis seized the vessel and detained the four crewmembers.

The seized vessel, cargo and crew were taken to Guatemala. Initial field tests indicated the presence of cocaine, heroin and possibly other substances.

From Government Executive, on veterans hiring:

Senior Obama administration officials on Thursday offered details on how agencies will follow up on the president's new directive to boost employment of veterans.

Implementation of the Nov. 9 executive order will begin at Cabinet-level and large independent agencies, said Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, during a press conference in Washington. But eventually every agency likely will designate a veterans employment liaison, he said.

These officials and OPM will educate former service members on job opportunities, help them determine which openings are the best match for their skills and career goals, and mentor them to help them adjust to the differences between military and civilian culture, said Scott Gould, deputy secretary at the Veterans Affairs Department.

Targeting veterans makes sense, since service members already have demonstrated the talents that make good civil service employees, he noted.

Leadership Events
9 AM EST
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks about the Obama administration’s efforts to reform the U.S. immigration system
1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C.

1:30 PM EST
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks highlighting the importance of protecting privacy and civil liberties when sharing information with international and domestic partners
Renaissance Washington Hotel
Renaissance Ballroom, Ballroom Level
999 9th Street NW
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
8 AM EST
NPPD Director of Critical Infrastructure Cyber Protection and Awareness Jenny Menna will participate in a panel discussion about government and private sector collaboration on national cybersecurity initiatives at the 10th Annual Security Conference and Exhibition
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.

11:30 AM CST
USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas will participate in a media availability about his vision for the agency and current initiatives
USCIS District Office
126 Northpoint
Houston, Texas

3:30 PM EST
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will participate in a panel discussion about cybersecurity and cyber warfare at the 19th Annual Review of the Field of National Security Law Conference
Renaissance Washington
Renaissance Ballroom 999 9th Street, NW
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - November 12th

From the Washington Times, on Veterans Day:

President Obama visited Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday as part of Veterans Day events across the country honoring U.S. service members who have sacrificed to preserve America's freedom.

"We honor your service. We are forever grateful," Mr. Obama said while standing in a cold drizzle with the cemetery's Tomb of the Unknowns in the background. "To our veterans, to the fallen and to their families - there is no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice."

The president, dressed in a dark suit and overcoat, also participated in the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery in Arlington, across the Potomac River from Washington.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama began the day by hosting a Veterans Day breakfast in the East Room of the White House.

The Obamas joined Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and wife Jill, whose son Beau recently returned from Iraq, at the cemetery. The first couple concluded their visit by going to a section of the cemetery reserved for those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While Memorial Day commemorates those military members who are deceased, Veterans Day provides an opportunity to thank America's 23 million living veterans for their service.

The Bidens later hosted a lunch at the Naval Observatory for veterans, active duty service members and their families, and Mrs. Obama spoke at an event at George Washington University, where she hailed military members' commitment to service:

"They don't just want to serve for a certain number of years of deployment - they want to make their entire life a tour of duty."

From Homeland Security Today, on the new veterans page at dhs.gov:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) marked Veterans Day with a new Web portal to inform veterans of job and business opportunities with DHS components.

The Web site, located at www.dhs.gov/veterans, informs veterans of hiring opportunities to become a civilian employee of the department, which employ roughly 47,000 veterans, or 25 percent of its civilian workforce.

"This new website reflects the shared commitment across the department to hiring American veterans," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. "Veterans play a vital role in the Department of Homeland Security's mission to protect the nation, and this website will help us build our veteran workforce to more than 50,000 department-wide by 2012."

The Web site also links to overviews of veteran contracting and to opportunities for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs). Federal law requires DHS and other agencies to award 3 percent of its annual contracts to SDVOSBs--a mark that many federal agencies regularly miss.

From the Miami Herald, on "Hidden in Plain Sight":

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is spearheading a campaign in Miami and 13 other U.S. cities to enlist the public's help in identifying possible victims and suspects involved in human trafficking.

Known as a form of modern-day slavery, human trafficking involves people -- usually women -- being forced or lured into unpaid labor as servants, agricultural workers or prostitutes.

Victims generally come from poor countries and are smuggled into the United States and other rich nations to serve as veritable indentured servants.

Several harrowing human trafficking cases have been discovered in South Florida in recent years. Local cases involved a Peruvian woman found working long hours for little pay in Key Biscayne and a 14-year-old forced to work as a prostitute by a Fort Lauderdale man who operated an escort service.

The campaign -- with the slogan ``Hidden in Plain Sight'' -- will feature billboards and ads that include a toll-free number (866-DHS-2-ICE or 866-347-2423) that people can call to report cases to law-enforcement authorities.

Leadership Events
11 AM EST
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks and join ICE Assistant Secretary Morton for a media availability to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Secure Communities initiative
ICE Headquarters
500 12th Street SW
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
9 AM EST
NPPD Director for Software Assurance Joe Jarzombek will deliver keynote remarks at the Open Web Application Security Project AppSec 2009 Conference
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW
Washington, D.C.

9:40 AM EST
NPPD Under Secretary Rand Beers will deliver keynote remarks about the role of broadband in public safety and emergency response communications at the Federal Communications Commission Broadband Field Hearing
Georgetown University, Leavey Center
3900 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, D.C.

11:15 AM EST
NPPD Cyber Security Evaluation Program Director Patrick Beggs will participate in a panel discussion about information technology sector risk management at the 10th Annual Security Conference
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.

11:30 AM CST
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas will participate in a media availability about his vision for the agency and current initiatives
USCIS District Office
8940 Fourwinds Drive
San Antonio, Texas

1:45 PM EST
DHS Director of Privacy Policy Toby Levin will participate in a panel discussion about federal enterprise architecture security and privacy at the 10th Annual Security Conference
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
Hemisphere A
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.

1 PM CST
USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas will deliver remarks about immigrant integration and USCIS’ coordination with local partners at the National League of Cities’ Congress of Cities and Exposition
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
555 South Alamo Street
San Antonio, Texas

Morning Roundup - November 9th

From The National, on the Secretary's visit to the UAE and her comments on the tragedy at Fort Hood:

The killing of 13 people by a Muslim psychiatrist at an American army base must not lead to the victimisation of Muslim Americans, the US secretary of homeland security has said.

On a visit to the capital, Janet Napolitano said grassroots efforts were vital to preserving relations between Muslim Americans and the wider community after Friday's shootings at Fort Hood in Texas.

"We object to, and do not believe, that anti-Muslim sentiment should emanate from this," she said. "This was an individual who does not represent the Muslim faith."

Describing the killings as "a terrible tragedy", Ms Napolitano said a civil rights and civil liberties directorate in her department aimed to "prevent everybody being painted with a broad brush"."That work is ongoing and is part and parcel of how we view security," she said. "One of the things we'll do is make sure that we're reaching out to the state and local authorities within the US, because they often have better outreach to members of the Muslim community than we do." Ms Napolitano was speaking to female students at Zayed University, and took part in a private question-and-answer session with them.

From CNN, on a weakened Ida:

Hurricane Ida weakened to a tropical storm Monday morning as it neared the U.S. Gulf Coast, where it could come ashore in the next 24 hours.

Ida's top winds fell to 70 mph (110 kph), the National Hurricane Center said in its 10 a.m. ET update.

Coastal communities between Grand Isle, Louisiana, and the Aucilla River in Florida are under a tropical storm warning.

Ida is expected to dump up to eight inches of rain in some parts of the affected area. It will begin drenching the area hours before its expected landfall Tuesday morning.

The hurricane center also warned of "large and destructive waves" caused by the storm, as it heads northwest near 16 mph (26 kph).

From the Associated Press, on a new cutter for the Coast Guard:

The U.S. Coast Guard has taken delivery of the second in a new class of
cutters built by Northrop Grumman Corp.

The first was delivered in May 2008; the latest, Friday, at the company's
Pascagoula shipyard. Eight Legend-class cutters are planned.

Bob Merchent, Northrop's vice president of surface combatants and U.S. Coast
Guard programs, called the cutters flagships of the Coast Guard fleet.

While the Waesche is only the second in her class, Merchent said she's "far
ahead" of her predecessor, the Bertholf, in fit, finish and mission
readiness.

The ship, which includes two aircraft hangars and a flight deck capable of
handling rotary wing and manned and unmanned aircraft, can accommodate a crew of up to 148.

Commissioning is planned for May.

Public Events
9 AM EST
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials will conduct a demonstration of CBP’s Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator vessel
Comachee Cove Yacht Harbor
3070 Harbor Drive

10 AM CST
Science and Technology Directorate and Army Corps of Engineers officials will demonstrate the latest Portable Lightweight Ubiquitous Gasket (PLUG) concepts for closing levee breaches
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service
Hydraulic Engineering Research Unit
9501 W Lakeview Rd
Stillwater, Okla.

9:15 MST
Acting Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Bart R. Johnson will deliver remarks about the homeland security intelligence role and information sharing with state, local and tribal governments through fusion centers at the National Homeland Defense Foundation’s Symposium VII
Broadmoor (Boeing Conference) Hall
Broadmoor Hotel
Colorado Springs, Colo.
St. Augustine, Fla.

Morning Roundup - November 5th

From Congress Daily, on the newly confirmed Under Secretary for the department's Science and Technology Directorate:

The Senate late Wednesday confirmed by voice vote Tara O'Toole as undersecretary of the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate.

Her nomination had been held up by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., over concerns about past lobbying work. But an aide to McCain said he would allow the nomination to go forward after she responded to questions.

"Dr. O'Toole is assuming her role at a critical time, as the H1N1 flu pandemic is spreading across the nation at an alarming rate," Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman said in a statement. "Dr. O'Toole brings a remarkable breadth of experience to this job that is so crucial to our nation's security. She is an inspired choice and I congratulate her on her confirmation."

From Information Week, on IdeaFactory:

The Department of Homeland Security is latching onto one of the Transportation Security Administration's most innovative IT initiatives, a Web 2.0 crowd-sourcing portal called IdeaFactory. Like TSA, Homeland Security will use the platform to encourage its employees to come forward with new ideas on how to do things.

IdeaFactory is a custom-built, .NET Web application that lets employees submit ideas for new programs and rule changes. Other users can rate the ideas, comment on them, pick favorites, and forward them to others. When a proposal gets enough attention, it's sent to an "idea committee" that reviews it and decides what steps to take. It's essentially a digital, and transparent, ideas box.

From Homeland Security Today, on the first public meeting of the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Working Group:

The departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) hosted the first public meeting of their Long-Term Disaster Recovery Working Group Wednesday in New Orleans, La., to begin the development of a national disaster recovery framework.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, along with representatives from about 20 federal offices, joined the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Louisiana Recovery Authority, and the City of New Orleans at the University of New Orleans to discuss 16 specific topic areas.

Questions debated by the government officials at the form ranged from the roles of federal, state and local governments in disaster recovery to unmet needs in recovery to best practices for incorporating public input into recovery efforts.

Napolitano called the public forum a useful means of strengthening the ongoing recovery of the Gulf Coast region, which is still rebuilding more than four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

Public Events
1:40 PM Local
NPPD Cyber Protection and Awareness Director of Critical Infrastructure Jenny Menna will deliver remarks about the Cyberstorm exercise at the Swedish EU- Presidency International Conference on Resilience-Resilient Electronic Communications
Folkets Hus at the Stockholm City Conference Centre
Barnhusgartan 12-14
Stockholm, Sweden

3 PM Local
NPPD United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team Acting Director Randy Vickers will deliver remarks about the Government Forum of Incidence Response and Security Teams at the Swedish EU- Presidency International Conference on Resilience-Resilient Electronic Communications
Folkets Hus at the Stockholm City Conference Centre
Barnhusgartan 12-14
Stockholm, Sweden

10 AM EST
ICE Office of Investigations Deputy Assistant Director Janice Ayala will testify about organized retail crime before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
2141 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

2:15 PM EST
NPPD Counselor Bruce McConnell will deliver remarks about DHS’ cybersecurity initiatives at the INPUT Fed Focus Conference
Tyson’s Corner Ritz Carlton
1700 Tyson’s Blvd
McLean, Va.

2:30 PM EST
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver closing remarks about the importance of integrity, security, and reliability in software and the DHS’ perspective on software security progress at the 11th Annual Software Assurance Forum
Crystal Gateway Marriott 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, Va.

Morning Roundup - November 2nd

From the Louisville Courier Journal, on 172 new U.S. citizens:

"Let it never be said that people like you have done nothing in the past for this country," he said. "This country is grateful for the service you provided before you were citizens."

Participants also heard from retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert S. Silverthorn Jr., who told them he was proud of the courage they showed by leaving their homes behind and coming to America to begin a new life. Stephen A. Leishman, registrar general with The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, also welcomed the new citizens, and encouraged them to get involved in their communities.

The society has hosted a naturalization ceremony for each of the past three years. Prior to Friday's ceremony, Leishman said he thought the event fit nicely with the society's mission.

"All our patriotic ancestors came to this country," he said. "They were immigrants 250 years ago."

From Homeland Security Today, on an interview with Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen:

Q: What changes if any there have been under the new administration and under Secretary Napolitano for the Coast Guard. How has it affected the mission, has it changed it at all?

A: If I were to give you a general observation, having a governor as a secretary has brought a focus on what I would call integrated concepts of homeland security related to all the different levels of government and what federalism really means, if you will. She has a very good understanding of the responsibilities of being a governor, the governor of a state on the southwest border. While they don't have hurricanes they certainly have wildfires and other things that require them to interact with FEMA.

Q: You're from that area.

A: I'm from Tucson, yes. She was my governor.

So what I think that you see is a pretty comprehensive view of the roles of government and the responsibilities of different levels of government clear down to what citizens ought to be doing in terms of preparedness and things like that. And I think that a hallmark of her tenure so far has been a sense of collaboration with governors in trying to understand the local implications of federal decisions. If I were to give you an overarching theme it is probably that.

Q. When you came in, you had this vision of independent commands; innovating, taking initiative, and carrying out the mission. Has it changed your vision, the vision you had of the Coast Guard, under this new administration?

A. No, in fact, some of the roles and missions of the Coast Guard are going to be more finely described or described with greater accuracy.

Public Events
8:30 AM EST
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will deliver remarks at the 57th Annual International Association of Emergency Managers Annual Conference
Rosen Centre Hotel & Orange County Convention Center
9840 International Drive
Orlando, Fla.

9 AM EST
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver remarks about the importance of integrity, security, and reliability in software and the DHS’ perspective on software security progress at the 11th Annual Software Assurance Forum
Crystal Gateway Marriott
1700 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, Va.

11 AM EST
DHS Office of Health Affairs Assistant Secretary and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Alexander Garza will deliver remarks about the 2009 H1N1 Influenza during the International Association of Emergency Managers Annual Conference
Orange County Convention Center
9860 Universal Boulevard
Orlando, Fla.

2 PM EST
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver remarks on cybersecurity at the Homeland Security Policy Institute/Intelligence and National Security Alliance Cyber Deterrence Symposium
The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs
Seventh Floor, State Room
1957 E Street NW
Washington, D.C.

3 PM EST
TSA Public Affairs Manager Sari Koshetz will participate in a media availability about Operation Transit Shield
Tri-Rail station
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Morning Roundup - October 21st

From SC Magazine, on the Secretary's cyber address:

In a live web address Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said cybersecurity is a shared responsibility among consumers, the private sector and government, but a cabinet-level position dedicated to technology and cybersecurity is not needed.

During her speech, Napolitano reiterated statements made by President Obama in May, that the nation's digital networks are a strategic asset and that "cyberspace is real and so are the risks that come with it."

Addressing and mitigating cyberthreats is an urgent national security priority, she said. But cybersecurity is not the responsibility of one person or group since no one person is in charge of the internet. Cybersecurity, rather, is a responsibility that everyone must take on.

"Just as with our nation's preparedness for natural disasters or terrorist attacks, our nation's cybersecurity is a shared responsibility," Napolitano said.

During a short question-and-answer session during her web address, Napolitano was asked whether she thinks technology and cybersecurity should have a place in the president's cabinet.

From GovInfoSecurity, on the Secretary's remarks regarding the department's new hiring authority:

Sounding a lot like Uncle Sam recruiting soldiers for the Army, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in a webcast Tuesday pitched a career as a cyber professional at DHS, with the call "your nation needs you."

Napolitano, the highest ranking and most visible champion of cybersecurity in the Obama administration, reminded her web audience that DHS has been given expedited hiring authority to bring aboard 1,000 skilled IT security experts over the next three years. "And here is our message to those professionals and future-professionals: Not only does DHS want you, your nation needs you. We need our best and brightest, our finest computer scientists and engineers, mathematicians and innovative thinkers."

From the Corpus Christi Caller Times, on Texas-size pot bust:

More than 11,700 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of more than $9.3 million was seized by border patrol in eight unrelated cases.

The most significant was Saturday morning at the checkpoint south of Falfurrias, where agents discovered 366 bundles of marijuana weighing 8,451 pounds hidden inside a vacuum tanker.Thursday, agents found 117 bundles, with a total weight of 2,972 pounds, inside moving boxes in a tractor-trailer.

Leadership Events
9:30 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will testify about monitoring the nation’s response to H1N1 before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

4 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks about her broad agenda and major responsibilities for DHS
The George Washington University Law School
Room LL101
2000 H Street NW
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
8 AM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will deliver remarks about the importance of social media for effective governance at the Military Communications Conference 2009
Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center
1 Seaport Lane
Boston Mass.

11 AM Local
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver keynote remarks at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Conference
RUSI
Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET

12:45 PM EDT
NPPD Under Secretary Rand Beers will deliver the keynote address at the Homeland Security Investor Conference
Ritz-Carlton Hotel
1150 22nd Street NW
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - October 19th

From PC World, on a message from President Obama on cybersecurity:

U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Americans to help guard against cyberattacks in a first-of-its-kind video published on the White House Web site.

"Our digital networks are critical to our national security, our military superiority and public safety. But that dependence also makes us vulnerable to cyberattack from those who would do us harm," Obama said in the video.

He called the threat of cyberattacks one of the most serious economic and national security challenges faced by the U.S., and urged businesses and individuals to take greater care online.

Obama said he will "soon" appoint a cybersecurity coordinator to lead a new government office responsible for making sure that defending the country's networks becomes a national security priority.

From the Long Beach Press-Telegram, on a big marijuana seizure in Mission Viejo:

More than $500,000 worth of marijuana was seized on Interstate 5 in Mission Viejo and a driver from Mexico was arrested, the U.S. Border Patrol announced today.

The 839.52 pounds of marijuana affected the way the 2002 Toyota Sequoia sport utility vehicle was handling, drawing the attention of Border Patrol agents, an agency official said.

Agents first spotted the vehicle northbound on the freeway near San Clemente, the official said.

The agents stopped the vehicle about 2 p.m. in Mission Viejo near the Oso Parkway exit. The agents could see large bundles of marijuana as they approached the car, the official said.

From the Associated Press, on a new cyber-crime task force in Missouri:

The Secret Service launched a new task force Friday aimed at bolstering efforts to stop cyber-crime in St. Louis and eastern Missouri.

More than 100 people, mostly law enforcement officials, attended a meeting to launch the Gateway Electronic Crimes Task Force.

The Secret Service office in St. Louis will oversee the task force, one of nearly 30 around the country.

John Large of the Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division said cyber-crime has grown far beyond the days when teenage hackers would break into a system just to see if they could do it. Today, organized criminal groups are breaking into financial systems. And many of the criminals are based overseas.

Public Events
10:30 AM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will swear in Richard Serino as FEMA Deputy Administrator
The Great Hall
2nd Floor, Faneuil Hall
Congress Street at North Street
Boston, Mass.

11:00 AM CDT
Acting Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Bart R. Johnson will participate in a panel discussion about information and intelligence sharing at the GEOINT 2009 Symposium
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
Ballroom A
200 East Market Street
San Antonio, Texas

3:30 PM CDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will participate in a public meeting of the Ocean Policy Task Force
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas & Entergy IMAX Theater
1 Canal Street
New Orleans, La.

Morning Roundup - October 13th

From NPR, on an interview with ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton:

The way this country detains illegal immigrants is about to change dramatically - at least if the Obama administration follows through on a proposed overhaul unveiled this week. The man responsible for making it happen: John Morton, the assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security. He tells host Guy Raz that the system has exploded in size and become too dependent on private contractors.

GUY RAZ, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Guy Raz. This hour, stories of immigrants and the debate over how those who come in illegally are treated when they're caught.

This week, the Obama administration announced its intention to overhaul the way illegal immigrants are detained in our nation's prison system. About 400,000 people are detained each year for violating immigration law; many of them nonviolent offenders. The Department of Homeland Security released a report this week that describes a costly and wasteful penal system filled with people who pose little or no risk to the general population.

Well, the man charged with fixing that system is John Morton. He is assistant secretary for immigration and customs enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security.

Secretary Morton, welcome.

From the Los Angeles Times, on a visit to the Transportation Security Laboratory:

Eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the front line in America's war on terrorism runs through a little-known federal laboratory where engineer Nelson

Carey holds what appears to be a bratwurst in a bun.

"This is a Semtex sausage," said Carey, as he pinched the pink plastic explosive long favored by terrorist groups.

On his table lies a green Teletubby doll stuffed with C-4 military explosives, a leather sandal with a high-explosive shoe insert, an Entenmann's cake covered in an explosive compound that looks like white frosting, and other deadly devices Carey and his colleagues have built. None have detonators, so they are safe.

"We let our imaginations go wild," Carey said. "The types of improvised explosive devices are endless."So are possible solutions, at least in theory. That's where the Transportation Security Laboratory comes in. Scientists here dream up ways an enemy might slip a weapon or a bomb onto a plane, and then try to build defenses to detect or counter the danger.

The work is part cutting-edge science, part Maxwell Smart.

Staffers have experimented by exploding more than 200 bombs on junked jetliners. They also have filled a warehouse with nearly 10,000 lost or abandoned suitcases and other packed luggage.

From the Los Angeles Times, on the challenges faced by the Coast Guard in the arctic:

Most days in Nome, you're not likely to run into anybody you didn't see at the Breakers Bar on Friday night. More than 500 roadless miles from Anchorage, rugged tundra and frigid Bering Sea waters have a way of discouraging visitors.

So it was a big deal when the World, a 644-foot residential cruise ship with condos costing several million dollars apiece, dropped anchor during the summer for a two-day look-see.

"We never had a ship anywhere near this size before," Chamber of Commerce director Mitch Erickson said. "My guess is they've probably been everywhere else in the world, and now they're going to the places most people haven't seen yet."

That's about to change.

The record shrinking of the polar ice cap is turning the forbidding waters at the top of the world into important new shipping routes.

Four other cruise ships also docked in Nome recently. The Coast Guard deployed its first small Arctic patrol vessels last year. Fleets of research vessels steamed north all summer, while ships surveying the vast oil and gas deposits under the Arctic seabed have talked of using Nome as a base.

Public Events
1:30 PM EDT
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) National Communications System Regional Communications Coordinator Stephen Weinert will deliver remarks at the Michigan Emergency Management Conference
100 Grand Traverse Village Boulevard
Acme, Mich.

Morning Roundup - October 8th

From the Brownsville Herald, on a thwarted smuggling attempt:

U. S Border Patrol agents have arrested a man and a juvenile accused of smuggling a group of 12 undocumented immigrants across the Rio Grande.

Antonio Davila Garcia, a Mexican national, was arrested early Sunday morning near the levee by Impala Road in the Southmost area, court records show.

On Monday morning Davila went before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Morgan, who set his bond at $25,000 cash and remanded him to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The arrest took place after Border Patrol camera operators alerted field agents to a group of 14 individuals crossing the river in an area near Veteran's International Bridge, records show.

Agents responded to the area and caught up with the group north of the river levee a few yards from Impala Road, USBP said.

From WBOY-TV, on a DHS effort to coordinate training at the local level:

In this scenerio, a terror suspect has anthrax that could be released at the Charleston Civic Center during an event. Charleston Police and the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department are working together to get rid of the threat. These types of exercises are a sobering reminder that thousands of lives hang in the balance during terrorist acts.

"Even our first day of training this week it was a wake-up call for a lot of us. We know without a doubt if something happens here, even our life ur lives are going to be on the line," says Lieutenant Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

"It's a scary thing, but it's something we have to deal with to protect the public," says Lieutenant Preston Hickman of the Charleston Police Department.Organizers hope the training keeps law enforcement on their toes at all times regarding potential terrorist threats, because they point out it could happen anywhere and at any time.

"When people don't see something like that on a regular scale, you tend to get complacent and don't think it's going to come," says Christian Fernley, the training coordinator fo the Department of Homeland Security.

No public events scheduled today

Morning Roundup - October 7th

From the Los Angeles Times, on yesterday's detention reforms announcement:

Nonviolent immigrant detainees could be held in converted hotels, nursing homes or placed in electronic ankle bracelets for monitoring as part of a series of reforms planned for the nation's detention system, Department of Homeland Security officials said Tuesday.

The moves would help overhaul a system that houses an average of 32,000 detainees every day across the country and has been criticized as having unsafe and inhumane conditions. Some of the detainees include women and children.

"This is a system that encompasses many different types of detainees, not all of whom need to be held in prison-like circumstances or jail-like circumstances, which not only may be unnecessary but more expensive," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.

The department plans to build two detention centers, including one in California. Napolitano said some detainees had violent pasts and needed to be securely detained, but others were asylum-seekers with no records and should be held at facilities "commensurate with the risks that they present."

From Bloomberg News, on the President's remarks yesterday at the National Counterterrorism Center:

President Barack Obama said the U.S. is making "real progress" in the battle against al-Qaeda and other extremists as he addressed workers at the National Counterterrorism Center today in suburban Washington.

"Few Americans know about the work you do, and this is how it should be," Obama said at the center in McLean, Virginia. "Today I want every American to know about the difference you've made."

Obama said counterintelligence efforts by the center helped lead to the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan man who lived in New York and Denver and is charged with plotting to detonate explosives in the U.S. He received bomb-making instructions while in Pakistan, where he attended an al-Qaeda training camp, according to a federal indictment.

Al-Qaeda continues to target the U.S. from Pakistan, Africa and Southeast Asia, Obama said. The coordination of anti- terrorism efforts at the center is critical to blunting that threat, he said.

"Every agency, every department, every branch, every level - one team, one mission, that's how we're going to prevail in this fight and that's how were going to protect this country that we all love," Obama said.

From the Chicago Daily Herald, on a new baggage system for O'Hare International Airport:

O'Hare International Airport has been awarded a $13.6 million grant by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for security improvements.

The funding will be dedicated to the construction of a new inline baggage handling system designed to strengthen security at the bustling airport.

"Bringing in new equipment will help improve the safety and efficiency of traveling through our nation's airports," U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Springfield Democrat, said in announcing the funding.

According to DHS, inline baggage handling systems use state-of-the-art technology to screen baggage for explosives quickly while streamlining the ticketing and boarding process.

Public Events
9 AM EDT
National Protection and Programs Directorate Control Systems Security Program Director Sean McGurk will deliver remarks about security issues facing critical infrastructure control systems at the International Society of Automation Expo
Reliant Center
One Reliant Park
Houston, Texas

2 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Kevin Cook and Captain David Stalfort will testify about the National Maritime Center and maritime credentialing before the House Committee on Transportation, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
2167 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - October 6th

From the New York Times, on an interview with the Secretary about detention reforms:

The Obama administration is looking to convert hotels and nursing homes into immigration detention centers and to build two model detention centers from scratch as it tries to transform the way the government holds people it is seeking to deport.

These and other initiatives, described in an interview on Monday by Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, are part of the administration's effort to revamp the much-criticized detention system, even as it expands the enforcement programs that send most people accused of immigration violations to jails and private prisons. The cost, she said, would be covered by greater efficiencies in the detention and removal system, which costs $2.4 billion annually to operate and holds about 380,000 people a year.

"The paradigm was wrong," Ms. Napolitano said of the nation's patchwork of rented jail space, which has more than tripled in size since 1995, largely through Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts for cells more restrictive, and expensive, than required for a population that is largely not dangerous. Among those in detention on Sept. 1, 51 percent were considered felons, and of those, 11 percent had committed violent crimes.

"Serious felons deserve to be in the prison model," Ms. Napolitano said, "but there are others. There are women. There are children."

These and other nonviolent people should be sorted and detained or supervised in ways appropriate to their level of danger or flight risk, she said. Her goal, she said, is "to make immigration detention more cohesive, accountable and relevant to the entire spectrum of detainees we are dealing with."

From KUSA-TV, on a new terrorism prevention video:

A new video released Monday teaches Coloradans how to recognize eight signs of terrorism, including suspects testing security, acquiring supplies and rehearsing terrorism plots.

The video was co-produced by the nonprofit Center for Empowered Living and Learning (the CELL) in Denver and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security.

They created it over the last four months using a $30,000 federal grant.

It is narrated by former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and 9NEWS Anchor Kim Christiansen.

"Eight years after 9/11, it's important to remember that the United States is not immune from terror attacks," Governor Bill Ritter said.

"The video will help empower citizens with the knowledge they need to protect our communities, our state, our nation."

Ritter and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano released the new video after touring the CELL Monday afternoon.

"Unfortunately, the world we live in today, everyone has to assume the threat of terrorism is anywhere," Napolitano said. "It's New York City, it could also be Denver."

Napolitano says attacks across the world show the battle against terrorism is a shared responsibility.

From KNXV-TV, on the Deputy Secretary's meeting with Mexican officials on H1N1:

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute joined her Mexican and Canadian counterparts in Mexico City Monday to discuss continued coordination in dealing with the spread of the H1N1 flu.

According to a DHS press release issued Monday, the meetings focused on the further development of efforts to inform and educate the public in preparation for the fall H1N1 season.

"The shared responsibility to respond to the H1N1 pandemic requires close coordination with our Mexican and Canadian allies," said Deputy Secretary Lute.

The Mexican delegation was led by Health Ministry Deputy Secretary of Prevention and Promotion of Health Mauricio Hern?ndez, while Canada's delegation was headed by Deputy Minister of Health Morris Rosenberg.

Leadership Events
Secretary Napolitano and ICE Assistant Secretary Morton will announce new immigration detention reforms and participate in a media availability
ICE Headquarters
Myers Conference Room
500 12th Street SW
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
10 AM EDT
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton will testify about human rights violators before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
226 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - October 5th

From the Associated Press, on cybersecurity:

When swine flu broke out, the government revved up a massive information campaign centered on three words: Wash your hands. The Obama administration now wants to convey similarly clear and concise guidance about one of the biggest national security threats in your home and office - the computer.

Think before you click. Know who's on the other side of that instant message. What you say or do in cyberspace stays in cyberspace - for many to see, steal and use against you or your government.

The Internet, said former national intelligence director Michael McConnell, "is the soft underbelly" of the U.S. today. Speaking at a new cybersecurity exhibit at the International Spy Museum in Washington, McConnell said the Internet has "introduced a level of vulnerability that is unprecedented."

The Pentagon's computer systems are probed 360 million times a day, and one prominent power company has acknowledged that its networks see up to 70,000 scans a day, according to cybersecurity expert James Lewis.

From CNN, on continued relief and recovery efforts in American Samoa:

Five days after a deadly earthquake and tsunami slammed into the Samoan Islands, burying parts of the islands under a sea of mud and debris, U.S. agencies continued Saturday helping residents dig out and providing relief to disaster victims.

About 300 responders are on the ground in American Samoa, including personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the American

Red Cross, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Health and Human Services, according to those agencies. The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy are continuing transport of supplies to the territory, including meals, water, blankets, tents and medical supplies.

"In addition to our efforts in support of the governor of American Samoa, we recognize the significant impact of current disasters in other Pacific regions, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan," said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate in a press release Saturday from FEMA's Washington headquarters.

More than 165 people were killed in the powerful 8.0-magnitude quake and deadly tsunami that struck the Samoan Islands -- including the independent nation of Samoa and the U.S. territory of American Samoa -- on Tuesday. The death toll in American Samoa stood at 22.

From Bloomberg News, on the H1N1 vaccine:

The first doses of swine flu vaccine will reach U.S. doctors next week as the country's biggest influenza prevention program seeks to curb the earliest flu season in at least four decades.

About 600,000 tubes of AstraZeneca Plc's nasal spray vaccine will arrive Oct. 6, with shots coming later in the week totaling 6 to 7 million doses, said Bill Hall, spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department, in an interview yesterday. About 40 to 50 million vaccines will be ready to ship in the following week.

The yearly flu season officially starts tomorrow, though the new pandemic virus already is spreading widely in most U.S. states, according to data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first vaccines will be aimed at health-care workers, children, pregnant women and people with chronic conditions that put them at risk for complications. Most adults, including the elderly, should wait until additional supplies arrive, the CDC said.

Leadership Events
10:30 AM MDT
Secretary Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Mueller will each deliver remarks
International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference
Colorado Convention Center
700 14th Street
Denver, Colo.

Public Events
11:15 AM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will deliver remarks about streamlining management in a crisis at the Excellence in Government Conference
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
Atrium Hall
1300 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C.

12:30 PM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate will join National Commission on Children and Disasters Chairman and Save the Children Vice President Mark K. Shriver to preview a report to President Barack Obama and Congress that proposes new strategies to meet the unique needs of children affected by disasters
National Press Club
529 14th Street NW
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - October 2nd

From the Associated Press, on the department’s new authority to hire more cybersecurity experts :

The Obama administration has given a green light to the Homeland Security Department to be more competitive and choosey as it hires up to 1,000 new cyber experts over the next three years, the first major personnel move to fulfill its vow to bolster security of the nation's computer networks.

The announcement follows a wave of cyber attacks on federal agencies, including a July assault that knocked government Web sites off the Internet and earlier intrusions into the country's electrical grid.Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who made the announcement on Thursday, said the hiring plan reflects the Obama administration's commitment to improving cyber security. The move gives DHS officials far greater flexibility to hire whom they want, outside of more stringent federal guidelines. And it will also allow more latitude in pay.

As a result, Napolitano told an audience of cyber industry professionals, the new rules "will allow us to be competitive with you all" in luring quality applicants.

From USA Today, on the H1N1 vaccine:

Vaccine for the H1N1 flu will begin arriving in the nation's hospitals, clinics and schools as early as Tuesday, the start of an effort to protect Americans against a swine flu virus that emerged this past spring and quickly circled the globe.

Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the effort ushers in a "challenging few weeks" for health officials.

That's an understatement.

In a task worthy of a deadly serious video game, state health departments have to organize thousands of workers at 90,000 sites nationwide to administer as many as 250 million doses in three to four months, making sure the people at greatest risk from swine flu - such as pregnant women, young children and health care workers - are first in line.

On top of the logistics, health officials have to convince a somewhat skeptical public that swine flu vaccinations are necessary.

And they've got it do it in the midst of vaccinating the public for seasonal flu, which by itself claims 36,000 lives across the USA each year.

"We're looking at vaccinating as many people as we can in as short a period as we can," Frieden says. "There are enormous logistical challenges."

From AFP, on US aid teams to American Samoa:

US disaster assistance teams helping in the recovery effort on tsunami-devastated American Samoa were providing critically needed aid including emergency power and medical supplies, a top aid official said Thursday.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Craig Fugate said two disaster recovery teams arrived Wednesday and that initial assistance carried on through the night into Thursday on the small South Pacific island.

"We have over 140 people on the ground... coordinating and supporting the government's emergency response," including members of the US Coast Guard, the Hawaii National Guard and FEMA, Fugate told reporters on a conference call.

He said the US agencies had begun distributing food and water, power generators, medical supplies and other emergency aid.

Public Events
10:15 AM EDT
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver remarks about cyber security threats at the launch of the "Weapons of Mass Disruption Gallery Exhibit"
International Spy MuseumUltra Room – 2nd Floor of Museum Complex
800 F Street NW
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - September 28th

From the Los Angeles Times, on an ICE gang sweep:

Nine members and associates of a Bell Gardens street gang, including a suspected hit man for a Mexican drug cartel, have been arrested on drug trafficking and weapons charges, federal officials said Friday.

The suspects -- six U.S. citizens and three illegal Mexican immigrants -- were arrested Thursday as agents served search warrants in Bell Gardens and Los Angeles, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. Their arrests culminated a nine-month investigation by the agency of the Barrio Evil 13 street gang.

Several assault weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle, a Tec-9 submachine gun, a MAC-11 submachine gun and a sawed-off shotgun, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition also were recovered.

"This is a relatively small and newer gang that has been operating with impunity for the last several years," said Kevin Kozak, deputy special agent in charge of ICE's Los Angeles office of investigations. "They have access to significant weapons . . . and claims they can have access to military-grade weapons through a 'friend' in the military."

From IDG News, on the department's privacy report:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's annual privacy report card revealed more details on the agency's controversial policy involving searches of electronic devices at U.S. borders.

The 99-page report, which was released Thursday, also offered details on the agency's efforts to address privacy risks in social media and the use of imaging technologies that produce whole-body scans at airport security checkpoints.

The report is the first DHS privacy assessment released to Congress since the new administration took office. It covers the activities of the DHS Privacy Office between July 2008 and June 2009.

For the most part, the report is a compilation of privacy-related activities across the DHS during this period. However, it also offered lesser-known details about some DHS programs. For instance, numbers released in the report indicate that warrantless searches of electronic devices at U.S. borders are occurring less frequently than some privacy and civil rights advocates might have feared.

Public Events
11:30 AM EDT
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton will participate in a media availability with representatives from the Colombian and Mexican governments to announce the seizure of more than $41 million in U.S. currency discovered during a joint investigation.
ICE Headquarters Potomac Center North500 12th Street SW
Washington, D.C.

12 PM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will deliver remarks about preparedness at the Temple University Annual Preparedness Fair
Temple University1101 West Montgomery AvenuePhiladelphia, Penn.

12 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will deliver remarks about current Coast Guard activities at the National Cargo Bureau luncheon
Georgetown Club
1530 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - September 21st

From the Associated Press, on the First Family's preparation for H1N1:

President Barack Obama says the first family will follow the rules like every one else on the swine flu vaccine.

Obama says he's probably "fairly far down" the pecking order for being vaccinated.

He tells CNN's "State of the Union" that even though he's president, "We will stand in line like everybody else. And when folks say it's our turn, that's when we'll get it."

Federal guidelines call for the new vaccine to be given first to pregnant women; people who live with or care for kids 6 months or younger; health care workers; people age 6 months through 24; and people with chronic health problems or compromised immune systems.

Only after shots are offered to those groups will the vaccine be available to healthy adults 64 and younger -- that's where the president and first lady come in. Eleven-year-old Malia and 8-year-old Sasha are in one those earlier groups.

Obama says he'll call up his health secretary and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and "whatever they tell me to do, I will do."

From the Sierra Vista Herald, on the Coast Guard's role in combating the flow of illegal drugs into the United States:

When it comes to the country's border security issues, Arizona faces tough challenges. Arizona's porous border with Mexico has created a security crisis for our state, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said.

On Friday, Giffords hosted a multi-agency briefing that featured Adm. Thad Allen, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and head of the Drug Interdiction Committee, before they visited Bowie schoolkids on a more social note.

The briefing was held at the University of Arizona National Center for Border Security and Immigration in Tucson and included representatives from all levels of law enforcement.

Organized as a follow-up to a border violence summit Giffords convened in April, the meeting was intended to promote collaboration and communication across federal, state and county agencies.

Adm. Thad Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, visits with Bowie Superintendent Patrick O'Donnell on Friday. With deep family ties to Cochise County, Allen stopped by the school after a border security briefing in Tucson hosted by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. (Carol Broeder, Arizona Range News)

"At that summit, more than 60 participants came together to discuss how we could improve coordination and the effectiveness of our work to combat the drug cartels," Giffords said during an opening address, according to her press secretary. "We all know that we have challenges here in Southern Arizona unlike any other part of the country."

From the San Antonio Business Journal, on ARRA funding for a new baggage handling system at San Antonio's airport:

The City of San Antonio Aviation Department has received a federal stimulus grant totaling just under $14.4 million from the Transportation Security Administration.

The grant is part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is for eligible costs associated with the design, engineering and construction of the Terminal 1/B Consolidated Baggage Handling System (BHS) project at San Antonio International Airport.

The BHS is currently part of the City's airport expansion program, which includes a new passenger terminal building, a new parking facility and a new bi-level roadway system.

City officials say the BHS project will free up lobby space and improve passenger circulation in Terminal 1 and accommodate the baggage screening process at multiple terminals.

Public Events
4PM CDT
ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton and the Colombian Ambassador to the United States will participate in a press event with the Colombian National Police (CNP), announcing the CNP participation in ICE led BEST in four US ports.
Policia Nacional de Colombia
Carreera 59 N 26-21, CAN, Bogota DC

Morning Roundup - September 18th

From the Reno Gazette-Journal, on one of yesterday's naturalization ceremonies:

Diane Gray was beaming and full of pride Thursday morning as she waived a miniature American flag.

"I got it!," she said to a crowded room in a University of Nevada, Reno auditorium. "I got it!"

Gray, along with 32 others from 13 nations, was presented a certificate of naturalization, marking years of work to gain U.S. citizenship.

"I'm going to be here the rest of my life and I want to vote," the 53-year-old Canadian-born grandmother said. "I like the United States and I want to be a part of the processes and vote. I want to make a difference.

"I'm just like y'all now," she said and raised her arms in triumph. "This is really something that no words can describe. It's awesome."

Now, Gray said she is going to register to vote and apply for her passport.

The day was special for another reason. It was Citizenship Day, marked for the remembrance of the signing of the Constitution in 1787. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Reno Field Office Director Monica Toro said naturalization ceremonies on Citizenship Day has become a new tradition across the nation, 2009 being the second year.

From the Associated Press, on yesterday's citizenship grants announcement:

Federal Immigration officials on Thursday awarded a Dallas group and 12 other organizations around the country $1.2 million in grants to help legal residents become U.S. citizens.

Citizenship and Immigration Services awarded $100,000 to Catholic Charities Immigration and Legal Services. It wasn't immediately clear how much money was awarded to the other groups, but the agency said they could apply for up to $100,000.

The announcement coincided with Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.

The agency said the money goes to increase the number of people served by programs that help green card holders improve their English skills, learn about U.S. history and government, and prepare for the naturalization process.

The funds can only be used to provide direct services to immigrants with legal status in the country.

From the Associated Press, on a new CBP commander in Grand Forks:

The Border Patrol sector in Grand Forks has a new commander.Rosa Nelly
Hernandez will supervise 180 people who help protect the U.S.-Canadian border.

Border Patrol officials say Hernandez is the first woman to command the Grand Forks sector and third woman chief in the history of the Border Patrol.

Hernandez, who's a San Antonio native, was installed at a Wednesday airport ceremony that included members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a bagpipe and drum corps.

She asked for help from border agents and the community, saying, "Whether you are a farmer or in law enforcement, help us secure our homeland."

Hernandez said the Border Patrol will become more intelligence-based. She said officials plant to put three agents in each of five communities in North Dakota, six communities in Minnesota and one in Ashland, Wis.

No public events today

Morning Roundup - September 17th

From the Associated Press, on the Secretary's speech at the Domenici Public Policy Conference in Las Cruces yesterday:

The U.S. and Mexico are making headway in the ongoing struggle to curb the flow of illegal drugs, cash and weapons across the border, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday.

Napolitano, who spoke at a public policy conference at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, said "historic" agreements with Mexican President Felipe Calderon's government and increases in enforcement are helping with security issues in the U.S., and curbing the flow of drugs into the U.S. and weapons and cash into Mexico.

"We stand at a historic moment," she said. "We have the opportunity to work with the government of Mexico to make significant advancements in the safety and security of the border area and the safety and security of Mexico in the very courageous battle President Calderon is fighting there."

Calderon launched a nationwide offensive against violent and powerful drug cartels shortly after taking office in 2006. Since then, more than 13,000 people have been killed. In Ciudad Juarez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, federal police and Mexican troops have been deployed to curb the near-daily killings.
Napolitano said successes are coming slowly but steadily, and can't fully be measured by the number of arrests made or the amount of cash and weapons seized. "It will be a marathon, but progress is being made, again because of the historic relationship we have," she said.

From the Kentucky Post, on a US-VISIT success:

Customs and Border Protection's use of advanced technology, US-VISIT recently resulted in the detection, apprehension and incarceration of an arriving international passenger at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indication Technology) records biographic and biometric information to conduct security checks and verify the identities of international travelers applying for admission into the United States. By linking a person's biometric information to his or her travel documents reduces the risk that a traveler's identity or documents could be intentionally misused by someone attempting to gain entry into the United States.

A case in point occurred on March 6, when Moussa Doucoure, 29, and a citizen of the country of Mali, arrived via an international flight from Paris, France at CVG. He presented himself for admission to CBP as a returning Asylee using a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Travel Document.

Upon his primary inspection by a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer and enrollment into US-VISIT, his fingerprints came up as a mismatch which resulted in a secondary inspection. It was during this secondary inspection that Doucoure was found to be an imposter to the travel document he presented. His fingerprint and photograph did not match the fingerprint and photograph that was on file for the genuine recipient of the travel document.

"US-VISIT biometric screening continues to prevent fraudulent document use and has enabled DHS to stop wanted criminals and immigration violators from entering this country. It is because of this state of the art technology and the fine work of our CBP officers and the U.S. Attorney's Office that this person was brought to justice."

From the Washington Post, on a D.C. school's preparation for H1N1:

Should the swine flu appear at Spark M. Matsunaga Elementary School in Germantown, a veritable arsenal of weaponry awaits.

There's a double-barreled blast of Germ-X hand sanitizer at the front desk in the main office. The antibacterial soap dispensers in the bathrooms. And in the Room 103, better known as Kristy Halvorsen's first-grade class, the virus faces a triple threat from more Germ-X, Purell soap and Kleenex tissues.

In their quest to fortify themselves against the H1N1 virus, known as swine flu, Matsunaga and other schools across the Washington region are building up chemical stockpiles and barraging students with lessons on how to wash their hands and cough into their elbows. There haven't been any cases of H1N1 at Matsunaga, the largest elementary school in Montgomery County, and Judy K. Brubaker, its principal, would like to keep it that way.

"When I buy it, I buy it at 400 bucks a pop," Brubaker said recently while giving a tour of her school's defenses. At least twice now, she has purchased 70 40-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer.

Each classroom has multiple defenses. In Philip D'Agnese's second-grade class in a temporary trailer, there were no fewer than six bottles of soap, one at each of the classroom's hotspots -- the computers, the pencil sharpener, the homework baskets -- and that wasn't counting the box of "antiviral" tissues.

Public Events
10 AM EDT
CBP Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar and CBP Secure Border Initiative Executive Director Mark Borkowski will testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism about progress on the Secure Border Initiative
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

11:30 AM EDT
ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton will participate in a media availability announcing the indictment of a well known New Haven-area philanthropist for child sex tourism.
Financial Center, 11th Floor conference room
157 Church Street
New Haven, Conn.

1:30 PM EDT
USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas will administer the Oath of Allegiance and deliver remarks during a special “Citizenship Day” naturalization ceremony
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (Flag Hall)
14th St. and Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C.

2:30 PM PDT
USCG Admiral Sally Brice-O’Hara will participate in a public meeting for the President’s Ocean Policy Task Force
Hyatt Regency San Francisco Embarcadero Center Ballroom A 5
San Francisco, Calif.

Morning Roundup - September 15th

From the Associated Press, on yesterday's H1N1 small business guidance:

Federal officials said Monday small business owners should be prepared to operate with fewer employees this fall as swine flu spreads across the country.

The Department of Homeland Security is issuing guidelines on combating swine flu to small businesses, which employ about half the workers in the U.S. private sector.

"They play a key role in protecting the health and safety of the country but also their own employees and also helping us limit impact of an H1N1 pandemic on our economy and our country," Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano told reporters.

A guidebook released by the Department of Homeland Security recommends small businesses identify their essential operations and have plans for operating with reduced staffing. The government also says businesses should consider letting employees work from home if they get sick.

Napolitano said small businesses could be particularly vulnerable to a pandemic because they often "have fewer resources, they work with leaner staffs and absenteeism can be a particular issue."

From the Federal Computer Week, on yesterday's "pen and pad" session with USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas:

The new director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said today he wants to emphasize public engagement, transparency and information technology modernization of the immigration agency during his term.
To meet those goals, Alejandro Mayorkas said he has created a new Office of Public Engagement and is debuting a new, interactive Web site Sept. 22 that will allow for public feedback on agency policy and proposals. The updated Web site also will allow for greater ease of use and more access to information about pending requests and applications.

USCIS’ involvement with community stakeholders “should be more of a collaborative effort, engaged and interactive,” Mayorkas said. “We want to have the community involved at a level where we can understand what we are doing well -- and what we are doing wrong.”

Another high priority is moving forward on implementing the next stages of the USCIS’ information technology transformation project, which will digitize the agency’s paper-based records systems, Mayorkas said. The project was started in 2005 and is expected to cost more than $500 million.

“We are currently a paper-based agency, and we have to move into the electronic age,” Mayorkas said. “The modernization is already under way. It is of critical importance to the future of this agency, and critically important to me.”

From Xinhua News Agency, on a long overdue return home:

The U.S. government Monday returned some priceless pre-historic fossils to China as a result of two countries' cooperation on fight against transnational crimes.

At a ceremony at the Chinese Embassy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) returned the fossils seized during routine inspections of goods coming into the country.

Deputy Chief of Mission Xie Feng of the Chinese Embassy expressed the heartfelt gratitude to the U.S. government for its efforts to return the fossils to China.

"In recent years, China and the U.S. have developed close cooperation in law enforcement and made steady progress and prominent achievements, particularly in the fields as counter-terrorism, drug enforcement as well as combating other transnational crimes," said Xie.

"Such law enforcement cooperation will benefit the safety of our countries and the protection of our people's lives and property," he said, adding that the fossils would be well placed and preserved in the Geological Museum of China for scientific research.

Public Events
8:30 AM CDT
NPPD Cyber Exercises Program Director Brett Lambo will deliver remarks about current cyber threats at the Minnesota Federal Executive Board (FEB) Cyber Security Exercise
Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building
1 Federal Drive, Suite 510
Saint Paul, Minn.

9:30 AM EDT
Under Secretary for Management Elaine Duke will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement about investment management and acquisition challenges at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
2154 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - September 14th

From the Wall Street Journal, on testing that could help TSA more efficiently screen for harmful liquids and powders:

The Transportation Security Administration has been testing technology that will allow X-ray machines to detect whether a liquid is a threat or not, and once deployed, restrictions on liquids in carry-on baggage could be dropped.

Last October, Kip Hawley, the TSA administrator in the previous administration, had said he thought that would happen in 2009. But now TSA says you'll likely have to keep putting 3.4 ounce bottles in quart-sized bags at least for another year.

"Aggressive testing continues with industry and at the national labs in working towards a solution," TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne says. One issue: TSA says it anticipates having contracts in place by the end of fiscal year 2010 to purchase enough upgraded machines to cover every federalized airport in the U.S.

That means Sept. 30, 2010.

One new technology that is being rolled out is a test for powders to determine if a particular powder could be used in an explosive. TSA X-ray machines can now, apparently, flag powders for secondary screening while distinguishing common powders, which are all permitted.

"Officers will use X-ray technology to determine which substances may require additional screening'' with a powder test kit, Ms. Payne says. For security reasons, she declined to say how that happens.

From the Associated Press, on a year after Hurricane Ike:

Anne Willis, a lifelong resident of Bolivar Peninsula, moved back to her hometown of Crystal Beach nearly three months after Hurricane Ike.

The storm had shattered homes, leaving only concrete slabs and splintered wooden beams. Electricity had just returned, but at night it was so dark that paper bags floating in the sea breezes resembled ghosts. Services at one church were held for six months under a white tent along a highway.

"There were only 100 people here. Our grocery store had been reopened in an RV," said Willis, a real estate agent. "I thought it was terrible. How are we going to get through this?"

But a year after the devastation, Willis and other southeast Texas residents are surprised and grateful for the progress they've made in coming back from Ike, the costliest natural disaster in Texas history. Ike's powerful storm surge, as high as 20 feet, and its 110 mph winds caused more than $29 billion in damage, destroying thousands of homes and fouling farmland and ranches with saltwater from the Gulf Coast through Houston, 50 miles inland.

Ike made landfall near the island city of Galveston in the early morning hours of Sept. 13, 2008. While power outages temporarily crippled Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city and the center of the U.S. energy industry, it wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast.

From the San Diego Union Tribune, on increased inspections at the southwest border:

Stepped-up inspections of vehicles heading to Mexico from the United States have yielded more than $40 million in seizures of bulk cash since April, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Alan Bersin told reporters yesterday.

The searches were ordered border-wide by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to cut down on weapons and large sums of cash smuggled from the United States to Mexico to support activities of drug cartels.

Bersin met with reporters before addressing the Institute of the Americas at UC San Diego. During his talk, Bersin touched on a broad range of subjects relevant to the U.S.-Mexico relationship, including immigration reform, drug cartels and travel safety in Mexico.

Leadership Events
1:15 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano, Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Influenza Division Deputy Director Dr. Daniel Jernigan will participate in a conference call to discuss a new flu guide issued to small businesses on decreasing exposure to regular seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu

Public Events
9:30 AM EDT
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Office of Infrastructure Protection Sector-Specific Agency Executive Management Office Director Craig Conklin will testify at a field hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology about federal and local efforts to secure radiological sourcesThe State University of New York (SUNY)
Downstate Alumni Auditorium
395 Lenox Road
Brooklyn, N.Y.

10 AM EDT
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Phil Reitinger and U.S. Secret Service Office of Investigations Assistant Director Mike Merritt will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about protecting industry against the growing threat of cyber attacks
324 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

1 PM CDT
NPPD Infrastructure Visualization Branch Chief Mike Clements, will deliver remarks at the GIS for Oil and Gas Conference 2009
Marriott Westchase Hotel
2900 Briarpark Drive
Houston, Texas

3 PM CDT
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Assistant Commissioner of International Affairs Allen Gina will participate in a signing ceremony with Chinese Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Xie Feng to repatriate pre-historic fossils back to China.
Chinese Embassy
3505 International Place NW
Washington D.C.

Morning Roundup - September 10th

From the Washington Post, on an interview with the Secretary:

On the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, here's what keeps the secretary of homeland security up at night:

"Complacency," Janet Napolitano says without missing a beat. "The fact that it has been eight years since 9/11, and people just assume the government is going to take care of that. . . . Safety, security is a shared responsibility. It doesn't take much for everybody just to take a deep breath and say, 'Okay, what would I need to do to be prepared?' "

Emergency preparedness is just a sliver of Napolitano's vast portfolio, which covers issues from counterterrorism to swine flu to cybersecurity. The former Arizona governor oversees a relatively new agency that is still ironing out some kinks, and she must also face more than 100 congressional committees that oversee various parts of her operation.

From CNN, on yesterday's groundbreaking at St. Elizabeths:

Washington notables broke ground on the future home of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, symbolically starting construction on the biggest federal building project in the Washington area since the Pentagon 68 years ago.

The project will bring together more than 15,000 employees now scattered in 35 offices in the region, placing them on a 176-acre campus strewn with historic buildings in a long-neglected corner of Washington, five miles from the Capitol building.

Department leaders hope the $3.4 billion consolidation will help the department fulfill its core mission -- protecting the homeland -- in ways big and small.

"It will help us hold meetings," Secretary Janet Napolitano said. "It will help us build that culture of 'One DHS.'"

At the groundbreaking, political leaders shoveled dirt with care, but pitched historical references and metaphors with abandon.

From the Jacksonville Daily News, on today's naturalization service at the Pentagon:

Two Camp Lejeune Marines will be participating in a naturalization ceremony Thursday at the Pentagon.

Sgt. Tikonblah Dargbeh, with Headquarters Company, 2nd Marine Regiment and 2nd Marine Division, and Cpl. Elizabeth Covarrubias-Ruiz, with Headquarters Support Battalion, Installation Personnel Administration Center, will become citizens during the ceremony.

Both Marines have deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Dargbeh received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained while in Iraq.

The all-service naturalization ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will preside over the ceremony, according to a press release from Camp Lejeune.

Leadership Events
2 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano, Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas will participate in a naturalization ceremony for 31 military service members
The Pentagon
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
8:30 AM EDT
Chief Privacy Officer Mary Ellen Callahan will deliver remarks about the Privacy Office’s accomplishments to the Federal Advisory Committee Act Data Privacy Committee at its quarterly public meeting
Marriott Detroit at the Renaissance Center
Renaissance Center
Detroit, Mich.

9 AM EDT
ICE Special Advisor on Detention & Removal Dr. Dora Schriro will be participating in a panel discussion at the Migration Policy Institute on the MPI report being released tomorrow critiquing ICE’s detention database and case tracking system.
1400 16th Street, NW., Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036

9:10 AM EDT
Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications Gregory Schaffer will participate in a panel discussion about securing systems and networks at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) 2009 Homeland Security Symposium and Exhibition
Arlington Crystal Gateway Marriott
1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Arlington, Va.

10:30 AM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Acquisition Admiral Ronald Rabago will participate in a roundtable discussion about current and upcoming Acquisition Directorate projects
U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
2100 2nd Street SW
Washington, D.C.

1 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Captain Frederick Sommer, Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, will participate in a satellite press teleconference of the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Task Force to discuss findings from a 41-day mission in the Arctic Ocean. Scientists on board Healy have been collaborating with Canadian counterparts aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent since August 7 as part of a joint effort to delineate the outer edge of the North American continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.

1:10 PM EDT
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Acting Administrator Gale Rossides will deliver opening remarks at the Aviation Security Advisory Council (ASAC) Meeting.
Doubletree Hotel, Crystal City
300 Army Navy Drive
Arlington, Va.

1:30 PM EDT
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection Maj. Gen. James L. Snyder will participate in a panel discussion about stimulus investments and critical infrastructure resiliency at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) 2009 Homeland Security Symposium and Exhibition
Arlington Crystal Gateway Marriott
1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Arlington, Va.

3:10 PM EDT
Bruce McConnell, Counselor to NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Phil Reitinger, will moderate a cyber security panel discussion at the Gov. 2.0 Conference
Grand Hyatt Hotel
1000 H Street NorthwestWashington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - September 9th

From Atlanta Journal-Constitution on TSA Screening for Powder Explosives:

TSA said it will begin using powder explosives detection kits at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and other airports around the country this week, following a pilot test of the kits in late 2008 at airports in Los Angeles, New York, Detroit and Washington, D.C. At about $145 each, the 1,250 kits distributed nationwide cost close to $185,000.

Typical security checkpoint procedures will not change, the agency said. Security screeners will use X-rays to determine which substances need additional screening.

When substances are selected for additional screening, security officers will use a powder test kit to collect a sample and apply a solution to test for potential explosives. Powders that are "determined to be a potential threat" will not be permitted past checkpoints or in checked baggage, according to TSA.

Common powders are not prohibited and the vast majority of commonly carried powders, like most medication, infant formula and makeup, are unlikely to need further screening, TSA said.

From Associated Press, on the new Girl Scout Preparedness Patch:

It's not just the Boy Scouts who need to "Be Prepared."

To reinforce a motto shared with the Girl Scouts, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Girls Scouts CEO Kathy Cloninger announced a new emergency preparedness patch to encourage girls to prepare for emergencies.

"We've been talking the past eight months now that I've been in the department about the need to get more individuals involved and also to get young people used to the idea of emergency preparedness," Napolitano, a former scout, said at Scotchtown Hills Elementary School in Laurel.

The event in suburban Washington coincided with President Barack Obama's speech to students at an Arlington, Va., high school about taking responsibility to be good students.

To earn the patch, girls will have to create an emergency preparedness plan for their families. They also will learn about local alerts and warning systems and get involved in community service. Planning for natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes
will be part of the exercise, as well as other emergencies.

"It covers the full scope of emergency preparedness," said Brigid Howe, program services manager for the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital.

The program was developed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Girl Scouts also announced a new affiliation with DHS Citizen Corps, a part of FEMA that brings government and community leaders together to get residents involved
in emergency planning.

Leadership Events
10 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano, General Services Administration (GSA) Acting Administrator Paul Prouty, U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty and Councilman Marion Barry will participate in a ceremonial groundbreaking to commence consolidation of a new unified DHS headquarters
St. Elizabeths Campus
2700 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave SE
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
9:30 AM EDT
National Programs and Protection Directorate (NPPD) Under Secretary Rand Beers will deliver remarks at the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness Conference
Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, Manhattan Room
2 Exchange Place
Jersey City, N.J.

11 AM EDT
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Director Colleen Manaher will participate in a panel discussion about U.S. land border management at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) 2009 Homeland Security Symposium and Exhibition
Crystal Gateway Marriott
1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Arlington, Va.

1 PM EDT
Private Sector Office Acting Assistant Secretary Bridger McGaw will testify before the House Committee on Small Business about the fall 2009 H1N1 flu season and its potential impact on small businesses
2360 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - September 8th

From the Wall Street Journal, on E-Verify:

Agencies across the federal government on Tuesday will start ordering contractors to use an electronic system to verify whether their employees are eligible to work in the U.S.

The sweeping new mandate, crafted by the Bush White House but being implemented by the Obama administration, represents a significant expansion for the so-called E-Verify system, which government officials and independent experts expect to eventually become mandatory for private employers. Already, some states require companies operating within their borders to use it, regardless of whether the companies have government contracts.

About 169,000 federal contractors and subcontractors, who employ roughly 3.8 million workers, will eventually be covered by the program taking effect Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Alexander Williams Jr. rejected an 11th-hour-effort late Friday by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups to delay the mandate while a federal appeal is pending. Upset about the liability the mandate puts on employers, the groups suing argue it is illegal for the government to extend E-Verify to contractors through an executive order.

The Chamber argues that given the state of the economy, this isn't the time to add more costs to U.S. businesses.

From the Dayton Daily News, on a new baggage screening system for the Dayton International Airport:

A $10 million federal grant from economic stimulus funds will allow Dayton International Airport to install a new baggage screening system and move the current machines out of the terminal lobby to make more room for travelers, airport officials said Friday, Sept. 4.

The city is soliciting bids from contractors to build an expansion of the airport's terminal building and install the new system there. It will use conveyors to transport baggage from airline ticket counters to another part of the building for screening.

Airport officials expect the contractor to start work in early January and have the system ready to operate in late December .

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will provide the funding. The government additionally is to provide screening equipment with an estimated value of $5 million, said Iftikhar Ahmad, Dayton's director of aviation.

From the Clayton News Daily, on the Beagle Brigade:

The wet nose of a beagle named Button recently led a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialist canine enforcement officer to a suitcase at the world's busiest airport.

Button sat down next to the suitcase and indicated to her handler that the luggage contained prohibited agricultural items.

"Show it to me," the handler commanded.

Button obeyed the command by placing her furry paw on the suitcase and barked and wagged her tail while waiting to be rewarded with a treat. The demonstration was part of a recent training exercise at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Button is part of the Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Canine Program and the Plant Protection and Quarantine program of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She belongs to one of numerous teams that work on concourse E, also known as the international terminal, at Hartsfield-Jackson.

"The CBP (Customs and Border Protection) Agriculture Canine Program utilizes detector dogs to locate fruits, vegetables, meats or other prohibited items that may carry pests or diseases that could harm U.S. agricultural resources," said Scott Sams, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection at Hartsfield-Jackson. "The CBP Agricultural Specialist Canine teams seize thousands of types of prohibited plant material and animal products every year. Agriculture specialists in the canine program are an integral part in the fulfillment of the CBP mission to protect American agriculture."

Leadership Events
12:30 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano, Laurel, Md., Mayor Craig Moe and Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Kathy Cloninger will launch a Girl Scout preparedness patch, announce a new partnership and participate in a media availability
Scotchtown Hills Elementary
15950 Dorset Rd.
Laurel, Md.

Public Events
9 AM CDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Tribal Liaison Steve Golubic will participate in the Tribal Assistance Coordination Group presentation and tabletop exercise
at the National Native American Law Enforcement Association 17th Annual Conference
Tulsa Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
777 West Cherokee Street
Catoosa, Okla.

Morning Roundup - September 4th

From Homeland Security Today, on a new agreement between the U.S. and Mexico on a new cross-border communications network:

The governments of the United States and Mexico signed an agreement Wednesday to build a new cross-border communications network to enable international communication between law enforcement agencies dealing with border security issues.

Officials of the United States-Mexico High-Level Consultative Commission on Telecommunications (HLCC) signed an agreement that set up an international working group to oversee the creation and operation of the communications network, managed by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Mexican Secretariat of Public Safety (SSP). The network, when completed, would provide law enforcement agencies with the means to transmit voice, data and video to enable collaborative responses to border incidents.

The HLCC agreement essentially establishes a framework for interoperable communications between federal, state, local, and tribal agencies that use the network.

The nations also would provide protection to the network, called the Cross Border Public Security Communications Network, from radio interference.

From the Bellingham Herald, on a Border Patrol seizure:

US Border Patrol agents seized about $3 million worth of Ecstasy and cocaine near Sumas Wednesday night, Sept. 2.

The agents were patrolling along the border when they spotted two people's footprints and the tracks of a heavy object being dragged along a row in a raspberry patch that went south from the U.S.-Canadian border, Agent Mike Bermudez said.

The footprints, which were eventually traced back to Canada, stopped in a residential area and the agents began searching the immediate area, Bermudez said.

While searching in some farm equipment, they located a large hockey bag that contained three backpacks, Bermudez said.

Public Events
9:30 AM Local
U.S. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Admiral Dave Pekoske will preside at a memorial service on the anniversary of the deaths of the four man crew of Coast Guard helicopter CG6505 when it crashed off Honolulu during training Sept. 4, 2008. During the ceremony the Air Station Barbers Point Aircrew Memorial will be dedicated to the crew of CG6505 as well as to the crew of Coast Guard helicopter CG1420, which crashed Jan. 7, 1982, resulting in the deaths of three.
Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
1 Coral Sea Rd
Kapolei , HI

Morning Roundup - September 2nd

From the Associated Press, on the President's remarks yesterday regarding H1N1:

"I don't want anybody to be alarmed, but I do want everyone to be prepared," he said.

The global swine flu epidemic first emerged in April, sickening more than 1 million Americans and killing about 500. More than 2,000 people have died worldwide. Health officials are preparing for a surge in cases this fall, and one White House report from a panel of experts suggests up to half the U.S. population could catch swine flu during a pandemicVaccine development is ongoing and is likely to be available by October. The president said the vaccine for swine flu - known as the H1N1 virus - would be voluntary, but "strongly recommended."

Certain groups are more vulnerable to swine flu, including children under 2, pregnant women and people with health problems like asthma, diabetes and heart disease.

Like the seasonal flu, swine flu spreads through coughs and sneezes of people who are sick. Obama said there are common sense precautions people can take to lower their risk of infection, like washing their hands frequently and staying home if they feel sick.

"I know it sounds simple, but it's important and it works," Obama said.

From CNN, on a new cast of characters to help educate kids about H1N1:

The federal government is reintroducing a powerful weapon in the fight against the H1N1 flu virus: Elmo.Kathleen Sebelius and Elmo spoke in May at a news conference about the H1N1 flu public service ads.

The popular Sesame Street character will be featured in a series of public service advertisements meant to encourage better hygiene among young children, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.

In the ads, Elmo teams up with Gordon, another Sesame Street veteran, to stress the importance of basic healthy habits such as frequent hand washing, sneezing into the bend of your arm, and not touching your mouth, nose, and eyes.

The Secretary also appeard on the Today Show this morning to talk about National Preparedness Month and H1N1. You can check out the clip by clicking on the picture below:

From the Biloxi Sun Herald, on the Deputy Secretary's meeting on H1N1 in Mississippi yesterday:

U.S. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson says Mississippi's health and emergency leaders appear prepared to handle the swine flu.Thompson and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute met privately Tuesday with health, education and emergency management officials to discuss the H1N1 flu virus.

"We came to hear what the issues were and learn what the challenges were in getting prepared," Lute said a news conference after the meeting. "What we heard was a great deal of awareness about the flu. That's a real strength as the flu season approaches."

When asked if Mississippi appeared to have its swine flu efforts under control, Thompson replied: "At this point, yes."Mississippi has 586 confirmed swine flu cases and two deaths as of Tuesday. Hundreds of other suspected cases have been reported on school and college campuses.

Leadership Events

10 AM EDT

Secretary Napolitano will participate in a media availability with Deputy Mayor Skyler, Commissioner Bruno and representatives from the American Red Cross and the Ad Council
Duffy Square
On Broadway, between 46th and 47th Streets
New York, N.Y.

Public Events

12:15 PM PDT

US-VISIT Program Director Robert Mocny will deliver remarks about biometrics and homeland security at the Monterey Homeland Security Conference
Naval Postgraduate School
1 University Circle
Monterey, Calif.

2 PM EDT

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Preparedness Coordination Division Director Andrew Mitchell and other FEMA staff will participate in a panel discussion about disaster preparedness, emergency management in higher education and the FEMA grant cycle at the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Conference
Renaissance Hotel
999 9th Street, NW
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - September 1st

From Federal News Radio, on the 2nd Quadrennial Homeland Secuirty Review dialogue:

The Department of Homeland Security has opened up phase two of its Quadrennial Homeland Security Review.

DHS yesterday launched the web component of the review's second phase. And the agency is asking the blogosphere to spread the word about the process.

Alan Cohen, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Strategic Plans at DHS says that in phase one a task force of DHS staffers used the website to solicit suggestions on topics for discussion as part of the first annual Review.

"For the second national dialogue," he told a reporter teleconference on Monday, "we're focusing here on the groups taking their goals, breaking their goals into strategic objectives, and we've distilled those objectives down to a short and pithy description that you'll see on the site. We're asking folks to assign a priority level to the objective: do you think that these priorities should be higher than others?"

Thus far, Cohen says, DHS has gathered more than 20,000 comments, suggestions and ratings from people who participated in part one of the review process. And they've even been able to revise and adjust the format of the review, from a radio button-style click-through questionnaire form to more of a dialogue box comment format, based on feedback from all those people who have participated in the review process so far.

From the Associated Press, on Operation Twisted Traveler:

Three men expelled from Cambodia are facing charges in the U.S. as part of a crackdown on Americans who travel overseas to have sex with children, authorities said Monday.

The three previously convicted sex offenders were the first to be charged under "Operation Twisted Traveler," an initiative targeting problems in Cambodia, which authorities described as ground zero for the crimes.

"Let their arrests serve as notice to any other person who might be tempted to evade justice by victimizing children outside of this country," said John Morton, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Boarding a plane to a foreign land is no protection."

From the New York Times, on new accusations in a credit card fraud investigation:

The five men operated thousands of miles from Manhattan, under aliases like "the Viver," "Inexwor" and "DoZ." And with their true identities obscured on the Web, Manhattan prosecutors said, these men were able to play intimate roles in a cybertheft that resulted in more than 95,000 stolen credit card numbers and $4 million worth of fraudulent transactions.

The men, all from Eastern Europe, were the latest suspects to be identified by Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, in a 17-defendant, 173-count enterprise corruption indictment dating to November 2007.Mr. Morgenthau said at a news conference on Monday that the men were involved in a vast conspiracy known as the Western Express Cybercrime Group, which trafficked in stolen credit card information through the Internet and used it for things like forging credit cards and selling goods on eBay. The defendants often hid their identities by using digital currencies like e-gold and Webmoney, Mr. Morgenthau said.

From Forbes, on how to fight the flu this fall:

Last week, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a group of the nation's leading scientists and engineers, released a report on the H1N1 flu virus. The forecast seemed grim.

A more aggressive mutation of the virus, they said, could infect 30% to 50% of the population, lead to as many as 1.8 million hospitalizations and cause between 30,000 to 90,000 deaths compared to the annual number of 36,000.

Yet to Dr. Philip Alcabes, an epidemiologist and professor at Hunter College School of Health Sciences in New York, the estimate is a "plausible scenario," not a prediction.

"Should the public be alarmed?" he says. "Absolutely not." Besides, it's impossible to know whether the virus will mutate until the day it happens.

In Depth: How To Fight The Flu This Fall

Jean Gallagher, a 46-year-old alumna of St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, N.Y., which was the epicenter of a New York City H1N1 outbreak of this spring, says she's not concerned about contracting the virus this fall. Gallagher, who is on leave from her job as a professor of English at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, says she'll get her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Maggie, vaccinated this fall and wash both of their hands frequently, but plans to take no additional precautions.

Leadership Events
11:15 AM CDT
Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute and Chairman Bennie Thompson will participate in a media availability
Jackson State University, The Jackson Medical Mall
350 West Woodrow Wilson, Room 131
Jackson, Miss.

4:30 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano, Mayor Fenty, Governor O’Malley and Governor Kaine will participate in a media availability
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Press Room
Ronald Reagan Building, Concourse Level - Room C.1-47
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, D.C

Public Events
8 AM MDT
U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will participate in an Enforcement Expo forum to showcase vital new techniques as well as to view and compare the latest equipment necessary to enforce our immigration and customs laws
Columbus Convention Center
Columbus, Ohio

10 AM PDT
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Public Affairs Manager Suzanne Trevino will conduct a media event and press availability with Continental Airlines representatives on paperless boarding pass technology
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco, Calif.

Morning Roundup - August 31st

There was quite a bit of coverage over the weekend and this morning about the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. A few highlights below:

From The Hill:

The Obama administration says it is prepared to handle a major natural disaster on par with Hurricane Katrina.

President Barack Obama's White House and agencies are winning high marks from both Democrats and Republicans for efforts at both rebuilding and preparing for other storms, four years after Katrina destroyed the Gulf Coast and damaged the Bush administration's legacy.

The Obama team went to work quickly after taking office, with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issuing a department-wide directive -- including to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- on Jan. 27 to ensure integration between state and federal agencies in planning for disasters.

On Jan. 28, Napolitano ordered a department review of plans to address Katrina's "lingering impacts," according to a White House fact sheet. And then on Jan. 29, FEMA announced an approved $23 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs "to cover the entire cost of elevating 48 residential properties in Orleans Parish to the Advisory Base Flood Elevation."

Obama focused his weekly radio address on his administration's efforts on both the rebuilding and the preparation fronts.

"From the streets of New Orleans to the Mississippi Coast, folks are beginning the next chapter in their American stories," Obama said. "And together, we can ensure that the legacy of a terrible storm is a country that is safer and more prepared for the challenges that may come."

From Security Management:

In the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) post-Hurricane Katrina years under the Bush administration, state officials cited renewed engagement by their agency partners who worked with them directly at the regional level.

States remained less impressed, however, with their DHS partners in the nation's capital, who they said still took a closed-door, dictatorial approach to issues like grant management, handing down strict guidelines from on high while ignoring or disregarding states' needs and wants.

That has begun to change under the Obama administration, according to a report by Deb Weinstein, a student at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, assigned to the Medill News Service bureau in Washington, DC.

From the New York Times:

Houses still sit empty, residents are still scattered and streets still echo with the sounds of hammers and power saws. But on the fourth anniversary of the hurricane that redefined its future, New Orleans is no longer talking about mere recovery.

Yes, people are returning: the number of households receiving mail is now more than three-fourths of the pre-Katrina figures, according to the latest estimates, up from fewer than half three years ago. Projects stalled by red tape and the bad credit market, like the Lafitte public housing complex, are finally getting back on track.

But reverting to the city that existed here before the flood is not the goal. For a city that justly if sometimes self-consciously relishes its own nostalgia, there was much about pre-Katrina New Orleans, from the unstable floodwalls to the stagnant economy, that was best left behind. Employment had not grown for the six years before the storm. The population had been shrinking since the 1960s. In 2005, there were only two

Fortune 500 companies with headquarters here - now there is only one, Entergy, a power company.

So instead of returning to a decaying economic structure, New Orleans is talking about revitalization, a buzzword behind the new energy in the city, carried by an intensity and idealism that would have bordered on indecent in the old, charmingly carefree New Orleans.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

For the survivors, hurricane Katrina lives in memories, photographs, and the empty spaces left by lost friends and objects.

Its immediate toll was tragedy. The storm that crashed into New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast four years ago wreaked a shocking $80 billion in damage and resulted in 1,836 confirmed fatalities. But since then, its overall legacy has broadened and, one hopes, has not been all bad.

Count these among the lessons it taught and the changes it spawned:

.Volunteers matter a lot in a time of crisis.
.FEMA's mission has shifted from a top-down to a bottom-up approach.
.New appreciation has emerged of the need to retain and restore wetlands to help absorb storm surges.
.Storm-tracking capabilities have advanced in ways that improve public safety.
.Hurricanes have moved to the center of the climate-change debate.

"Katrina has become a symbolic event," says Russell Dynes, founding director of the University of Delaware's Disaster Recovery Center, in Newark.

The limits of centralized response

The storm four years ago ripped apart the fabric of New Orleans, but it also left a deep impression on emergency response workers nationwide. It showed, for one thing, how volunteer efforts - churches, college students - played a much more important role than expected and how the centralized response, led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), alienated many of the same people it was intended to help.

After Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) overhauled its National Disaster Plan, incorporating a more bottom-up approach and going back to its roots as a civil, not military, response unit. FEMA's current director, Craig Fugate, is intent on setting policy to reflect his belief that citizens are less victims than crucial first responders.

Public Events
11:30 AM PDT
ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton will participate in media availability with the U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles to announce the first arrests made in conjunction with Operation Twisted Traveler, an international ICE-led initiative targeting Americans traveling to Cambodia to sexually exploit children
Room 7516
300 N. Los Angeles St.
Los Angeles, Calif.

Morning Roundup - August 28th

From the Dallas Morning News, on the Secretary's committment to comprehensive immigration reform:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that she was optimistic that a bipartisan immigration-policy overhaul would, at some point, get through Congress.

"This is not a new issue," she said in a meeting with The Dallas Morning News' editorial board. "It's just putting together a comprehensive package that covers the immigration issues from A to Z. ... It's a priority for both me and the president."

Napolitano expressed hope that the effort, which has bogged down in Congress in years past, would not be as contentious as it was under former President George W. Bush.

She did not say when a bill would ultimately be considered since Congress and the White House are now consumed with health care legislation. So changes to immigration policy could be further down the road, though she has had meetings with Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat expected to take the lead on the issue.

"There is a bipartisan recognition that the current law is outdated and needs to be brought up to date with our current needs," she said.

Napolitano, the former governor of Arizona, has dealt with the effects of illegal immigration for much of her career in public service.

She said an immigration bill should focus on the following:

. Developing or bolstering the penalties for employers who repeatedly hire illegal immigrants.
. Stamping out the new tactics human traffickers and money launderers are using to exploit the border.
. Developing programs that would allow seasonal workers to legally enter the country.
. Updating the visa process to allow students with capabilities the country needs to remain in the U.S.

From the Associated Press, on rebuilding efforts along the gulf coast:

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged to right the wrongs he said bogged down efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Seven months into the job, he's earning high praise from some unlikely places.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., says Obama's team has brought a more practical and flexible approach. Many local officials offer similar reviews. Even Doug O'Dell, former President George W. Bush's recovery coordinator, says the Obama administration's "new vision" appears to be turning things around.

Not too long ago, Jindal said in a telephone interview, Louisiana governors didn't have "very many positive things" to say about the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But Jindal said he had a lot of respect for the current FEMA chief, Craig Fugate, and his team. "There is a sense of momentum and a desire to get things done," the governor said.

Added O'Dell: "I think the results are self-evident."

The retired Marine general served what he calls a frustrating stint as Bush's recovery coordinator last year. "What people have said to me is that for whatever reason, problems that were insurmountable under previous leadership are getting resolved quickly," O'Dell said.

"And I really hate to say that because (the top FEMA leaders) in my time there were good, hardworking, earnest men, but they were also the victims of their own bureaucracy."

From the Associated Press, on the new Fire Administrator:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano swore in Kelvin Cochran as the nation's new Fire Administrator on Thursday and emphasized to a gathering of emergency responders efforts the government is making to help struggling fire departments.

Napolitano reminded attendees at the Fire-Rescue International Conference that the federal stimulus bill provides $210 million in Assistance to Firefighter grants for fire stations.

Congress also will waive the requirement that local governments match funds when they split an additional $210 million worth of Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants this year. That move will let fire departments rehire laid-off firefighters. The Department of Homeland Security plans to ask for double that amount for next year, Napolitano said.

"Cities and states are cash-strapped right now and we want to do things, to the extent we can, so that our emergency services continue our security planning continues unimpeded," she said after swearing in Cochran.

From Fire Rescue 1, on H1N1 preparedness:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano admitted Thursday the swine flu vaccine is unlikely to be ready for the start of the next expected wave of the virus, and urged the fire service to be ready for outbreaks.

"In all likelihood, this flu will be back on our shores before any vaccine is available," she said.

Secretary Napolitano said shots to protect against the H1N1 virus should be available about mid-October.

During an address to Fire-Rescue International in Dallas, Secretary Napolitano said fire departments should begin planning for high rates of absenteeism, not only due to member sickness but from those having to stay at home to tend to children with the virus.

Secretary Napolitano urged departments to begin looking at leave and overtime policies. "Do it now, before we are in the midst of this next flu season," she said.

Public Events
10 AM CDT
USCG Sector Lake Michigan Commander Capt. Luann Barndt and Col. Vincent Quarles, Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers' Chicago District will conduct a press briefing to discuss public safety and vessel traffic issues concerning the Aquatic Nuisance Species Dispersal barrier in Romeoville, IL.
W Edgewood Dr
Under the Romeo Road Bridge adjacent to the Citgo Lamont Refinery.
Romeoville, IL

Morning Roundup - August 27th

From the Louisville Courier-Journal, an interview with Secretary Napolitano:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that the federal government is more prepared than ever to respond to a Hurricane Katrina-like disaster and that the county is safer than ever against foreign terrorist attack.

In a wide-ranging hour-long interview with The Courier-Journal's editorial board, the former Arizona governor, who took over the federal post in January, said an issue receiving ever more attention by her agency is the threat of domestic terrorism. She added that the department is also focused on potential threats to the private sector, such as cyber-terrorism.

Napolitano said that while the threat of a terrorist attack "remains with us" it doesn't come solely from Al Qaida and that the "methods" of possible attack are varied.
"We're stronger now and we keep getting stronger," Napolitano said. "We're certainly stronger than before 9/11." She added that the department needs to continue to "reduce the risk and strengthen our ability to respond."

From the Houston Chronicle, on a new immigration task force:

Immigration officials on Wednesday announced plans to create a task force to crack down what they described as a tremendous local problem - immigration document and benefit fraud.

"We've noticed a tremendous amount of document and benefit fraud occurring within the Greater Houston area," said Pat McElwain, the assistant special agent in charge for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston and head of the newly created task force.

The task force is still forming, and ICE officials are talking to other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Attorney's Office, and local agencies, including the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff's Office, about participation, McElwain said.
Gregory Palmore, an ICE spokesman, said ICE does not have statistics available on document fraud in Houston and could not go into details about cases locally that are under investigation.

Nationally, ICE has 17 fraudulent document task forces up and running that have been credited with a number of high-profile cases, McElwain said.

From NextGov, on Cyberstorm III:

The Homeland Security Department's third large-scale cybersecurity drill in September 2010 will test the national cyber response plan currently being developed by the Obama administration, said industry and government participants in the simulation exercise during a conference on Tuesday.

Cyber Storm III will build upon the lessons learned in the two previous exercises that took place in February 2006 and March 2008, and provide the first opportunity to assess the White House strategy for responding to a cyberattack with nationwide impact.

"The national cyber response plan will be an offshoot of a lot of the findings that came out of Cyber Storm I and II that will formalize the roles and responsibilities," said Brett Lambo, director of the cyber exercises program in DHS' national cybersecurity division. He participated on an afternoon panel at the GFirst conference in Atlanta hosted by the department's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. "It's not a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but a lot of questions bubbled up [from the exercises]," followed by the announcement along with President Obama's 60-day cyber review that a response plan should be developed.

Leadership Events
9:15 AM CDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks at the 2009 Fire-Rescue International Conference, swear in Kelvin Cochran as U.S. Fire Administrator and participate in a media availability
Dallas Convention Center Arena
650 South Griffin Street
Dallas, Texas

Public Events
9 AM EDT
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver remarks about DHS cybersecurity priorities and how to better build and sustain current and future cyber partnerships at the GFIRST Conference
Omni Hotel at CNN Center
100 CNN Center
Atlanta, Ga.

3:45 PM EDT
NPPD Federal Network Security (FNS) Director Matt Coose will participate in a presentation at the GFIRST Conference about the activities of the FNS Branch
Omni Hotel at CNN Center
100 CNN Center
Atlanta, Ga.

Morning Roundup - August 25th

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune, with an interview with Secretary Napolitano:

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Monday that it's her department's job to conclude the long-running dispute over how much FEMA owes Louisiana for the damage inflicted on Charity Hospital by Hurricane Katrina, but up to Louisianians to figure out what happens next and how to pay for what FEMA won't.

"They have to make choices and we're not in a position to make choices for communities, " Napolitano said in an interview with The Times-Picayune in advance of Saturday's fourth anniversary of Katrina.

"What we are in the business of is facilitating the recovery of the community -- breaking through some of the bureaucratic entanglements that existed prior to January and moving things through as quickly as possible within the confines of what we're able to provide, " Napolitano said.

Napolitano's comments on Charity track those made last week by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. All expect Louisiana to use a new binding arbitration process established for resolving disputes between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state and local officials.

From the Newark Star Ledger, on Global Entry:

For $100 and a fingerprinting session, frequent international travelers can now shave a few minutes off their wait time after landing at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Starting today, pre-approved U.S. citizens and permanent residents re-entering the country can skip passport-checking lines and pass through an automated kiosk instead.

"For frequent business travelers, it's a great program," said John Saleh, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in New York. "They come off the plane with their carry-on, they go up to the kiosk, and they're out the door within a couple minutes."

From the Associated Press, on CBP's repatriation program:

Immigration authorities are flying illegal immigrants deep into their native Mexico from Southern Arizona to discourage dangerous crossings in triple-digit desert heat.

The twice-daily flights from Tucson to Mexico City are intended to keep immigrants away from border towns where they would likely run into smugglers who want to sneak them back into the U.S.

"This is where the probability of losing their lives can really increase. We offer that opportunity for them to get out of that cycle," John Torres, a special adviser to the assistant secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Monday in Tucson.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security flights began Saturday for the sixth straight summer and will end Sept. 28.

Tucson is the only spot in this country where the flights depart. Arizona is the busiest illegal entry point into the U.S.

Since 2004, more than 82,000 Mexicans have been returned as part of the repatriation program. The number, however, represents just a small portion of illegal immigrants in this country.

Public Events

8 AM EDT

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will deliver remarks about Coast Guard Diversity initiatives at the Coast Guard Training Forum of the Blacks in Government National Training Convention
Baltimore Hilton Hotel
1 West Pratt Street
Baltimore, Md.

8:30 AM EDT
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications Gregory Schaffer will deliver opening remarks at the GFIRST Conference
Omni Hotel at CNN Center
100 CNN Center
Atlanta, Ga.

10:30 AM EDT
NPPD Critical Infrastructure Protection Cybersecurity Program Director Patrick Beggs will deliver remarks at the GFIRST Conference about information technology sector risk
Omni Hotel at CNN Center
100 CNN Center
Atlanta, Ga.

1 PM CDT
Office of Health Affairs (OHA) Acting Director for Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Defense Doug Meckes, D.V.M., will participate in a panel discussion about animal identification needs related to homeland security issues at the ID Info Expo 2009
Westin Crown Center Hotel
One Pershing Road
Kansas City, Mo.

3:45 PM EDT
NPPD Cyber Exercise Program Director Brett Lambo will deliver remarks about cyber exercises at the GFIRST Conference
Omni Hotel at CNN Center
100 CNN Center
Atlanta, Ga.

3:45 PM EDT
NPPD National Cyber Security Division Acting Director Dr. Peter Fonash will participate in a panel discussion about raising cybersecurity awareness at the GFIRST Conference
Omni Hotel at CNN Center
100 CNN Center
Atlanta, Ga.

Morning Roundup - August 24th

From HS Today, on the Coast Guard's arctic presence:

One of the final presidential policy directives issued by the Bush administration, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 25 (HSPD- 25) , issued on January 9 2009 declared that the "United States is an Arctic nation", with varied and critical security interests in the Arctic region.

Since taking office the Obama administration and new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Janet Napolitano have reiterated the call for deeper focus on the Arctic, citing in particular the global security implications of climate change in the region, which by melting summer sea ice is fast accelerating maritime activity and the flow of goods, oil, gas and other resources.

Last Thursday at a special "field hearing" held in Anchorage, Alaska by US Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, US Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, discussed how the Coast Guard was stepping up its Arctic Presence to address the challenges emerging in that fast changing region.

From ABC, on the Border Patrol's efforts to disrupt smuggling in Nogales:

Maria Elena Leyva cannot see the problem that has recently made her hometown notorious along the US-Mexican border.

It is beneath her feet -- hidden in the earth below hills speckled with mesquites, pines, and oaks.

In the words of the county sheriff, Nogales is becoming "the drug-tunnel capital of the world."

Since 1990, the US Border Patrol has found 109 tunnels along the border with Mexico, all in California and Arizona. Sixty-five -- or 60 percent -- have been found in Nogales, with 16 of those discovered in the past nine months.

Until the 1990s, the international line here was just a chain-link fence that allowed Americans and Mexicans to look each other in the eye, Ms. Leyva recalls, sitting on a porch only two blocks from the border. But during the past few years in particular, an arsenal of manpower, physical barriers, and electronic surveillance has made the border a virtual fortress.

This has forced drug smugglers to look for alternate means of moving marijuana, heroine, and cocaine into the US. "We've increased our enforcement on the ground, so they have to compensate for it and that's why they're developing tunnels," Border Patrol spokesman Michael Scioli says.

Public Events
9 AM PDT
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air & Marine Operations personnel will participate in a media availability and demonstration of the newly acquired Advanced Concept Demonstrator Vessel
Squallicum Harbor Boat Ramp
Roeder Avenue and Bellwether Way
Bellingham, Wash.

3 PM MST
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Advisor to the Assistant Secretary John P. Torres will participate in a media availability about the beginning of the 2009 Mexican Interior Repatriation Program (MIRP)
Tucson International Airport
Executive Flight Terminal
Tucson, Ariz.

Morning Roundup - August 20th

From the Associated Press, on yesterday's H1N1 guidance:

Government officials are calling on U.S. businesses to help manage swine flu this fall by getting vaccines to vulnerable workers and encouraging employees with symptoms to stay home.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said Wednesday that employers should develop plans for managing both seasonal and swine flu. Businesses should encourage employees who are at-risk for swine flu to get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available. First in line are pregnant women, health care workers and younger adults with conditions such as asthma.

The government is trying to prepare for the possibility of a widespread outbreak this fall, which could hurt businesses along with the broader economy by keeping workers home. Unlike regular seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus which causes swine flu has not retreated during the hot and humid summer months, and so far has infected more than 1 million Americans.

Locke briefed reporters on recommendations for U.S. businesses at a press conference alongside Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

From the North County Times in California, on ICE Assistant Secretary Morton's visit to San Diego yesterday:

A top-level official with the Department of Homeland Security said in San Diego on Wednesday that the agency would more strictly focus its enforcement efforts on arresting illegal immigrants with criminal histories.

In recent years, the agency has been criticized by immigrant rights activists for using raids ostensibly aimed at targeted individuals who were a threat to national security or community safety, but also arresting illegal immigrants nearby, known as collateral arrests.

John Morton, the assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who was in San Diego on Wednesday, said that the agency would more tightly focus the program on criminal immigrants but would not give a "free pass" to those who have been ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge.

"If we're going to have any kind of system that works and has credibility, there's got to be enforcement," Morton said.

Public Events
2:30 PM Local
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will testify before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security about the Coast Guard’s Arctic Presence
University of Alaska Anchorage
Consortium Library Lew Haines Memorial Room (Room 307)
3211 Providence Drive
Anchorage, Alaska

Morning Roundup - August 19th

From the Times-Picayune, on the Secretary's announcement in New Orleans on Monday:

Southern University at New Orleans, which has clawed its way back to 85 percent of its pre-Hurricane Katrina enrollment, will get $32 million in additional grants to rebuild four academic buildings on its original campus, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday in front of a receptive faculty conclave.

The secretary's announcement ends a long-running dispute between the flood-ravaged school and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the primary source of rebuilding money for state and local government entities.

The grants will bring SUNO's post-storm federal aid to $92 million. And it underscores a federal commitment to rebuild the institution's Pontchartrain Park campus on Press Drive, rather than moving the entire university to the makeshift lakeside campus that opened in temporary buildings after Katrina.

The anticipated construction on the original 17-acre campus -- combined with ongoing projects on the Lake Campus -- should result in a more impressive physical plant for SUNO than the 11-building, 3,600-student campus that flooded almost four years ago. The university already has partially refurbished six buildings, and it has broken ground on a new technology building, a business school and a $44 million residential complex.

From the Yuma Sun, on the Border Patrol's arrest of a wanted gang member:

Two Border Patrol agents nabbed a wanted gang member after spotting him during a bicycle patrol in San Luis, Ariz., Monday evening.

BP said several arrest warrants had been issued for the suspect who had been on the run from the San Luis Police Department for some time.

According to BP, on Aug. 12 agents assigned to the Yuma Station bike patrol unit assisted SLPD with a domestic violence call. The subject fled the scene before agents arrived.

"The Border Patrol agents were asked to help a police officer respond to the domestic violence call because he was alone," said Laura Boston, Border Patrol agent with the Yuma Sector Public Affairs.

The agents were later informed by San Luis police that the subject was a known member of the Plaza Barrio Wild Gang in that city and had several active felony warrants for domestic violence, dangerous drugs and felony flight.

Leadership Events
11 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a media availability to announce H1N1 business guidance
Department of Commerce
Main Auditorium
1401 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20230

Public Events
2:15 PM EDT
NPPD Supervisory Program Analyst Ryan Oremland will present an update on the National Emergency Communications Plan at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International Annual Conference and Expo
Hilton Pavilion 6
Las Vegas Hilton
3000 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, Nev.

3:45 PM EDT
NPPD Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) Director Chris Essid will deliver remarks about the OEC and the National Emergency Communications Plan at the APCO International Annual Conference and Expo
Conrad Room
Las Vegas Hilton
3000 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, Nev.

4:40 PM EDT
ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton will be participating in a pen and pad with San Diego-area media
185 West F Street
2nd Floor
San Diego, California

Morning Roundup - August 18th

From the Associated Press, on the Secretary's trip to New Orleans yesterday:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Monday the Obama administration was honoring its pledge to cut red tape and speed the flow of rebuilding aid to the Gulf Coast, with more than $895 million in infrastructure funds set aside for Louisiana since President Barack Obama took office.

The latest pledge of money - $32 million - was announced during her second visit in five months to Southern University at New Orleans, which was virtually wiped out by Hurricane Katrina nearly four years ago. Only a few buildings have been renovated to date, and some classes and school activities are still held in trailers at a nearby campus.

The money is to replace four buildings. The school and Federal Emergency Management Agency had previously not come to terms on the level of damage caused by the Aug. 29, 2005 storm and levee breaches.

"It's really awesome," Chancellor Victor Ukpolo said.

Shortly after taking her post earlier this year, Napolitano ordered a fresh look at hurricane recovery efforts that had been marred by red tape, finger-pointing and hard feelings by officials at all levels. The review prompted, among other things, joint federal-state teams to resolve project disputes.

From USA Today, on a new set of charges for a known hacker:

Federal authorities in New Jersey on Monday charged accused TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez and two unnamed Russians with also cracking into the computer systems of Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, Hannaford Bros. and two unidentified companies.

Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, is now at the epicenter of the largest data breach criminal case in U.S. history. He was previously charged on May 2008 and August 2008 by federal authorities in eastern New York and Massachusetts, suspected of breaching data systems linked to more than 2,500 stores owned by the TJX (TJX) retail chain, parent of T.J. Maxx. TJX reported losing more than 94 million payment card transactions. Gonzalez pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

He faces the Heartland charges beyond that. "This investigation marks the continued success of law enforcement in tracking down cutting-edge hacking schemes," Ralph Marra, acting U.S. Attorney of New Jersey said in a statement.

From the Wall Street Journal, on preparing for H1N1:

With about 55 million U.S. children heading back to school in the next few weeks, concerns are growing that the H1N1 swine flu will spread even further than it already has. Identified by scientists four months ago, the virus has already turned up in nearly every corner of the world, from Argentina to Iran. It defied public-health officials' predictions of a lull in the warm summer months, proliferating in military units and children's summer camps.

More than two million people are believed to have contracted the new flu in the U.S.; 7,511 had been hospitalized and 477 had died as of Aug. 13, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. World-wide, 177,457 people have been confirmed with the disease, and 1,462 deaths had been reported as of Aug. 12, according to the World Health Organization.

A vaccine against the new flu is under development, but it is unlikely to be widely available before the flu season gets under way. That could leave many people scrambling to protect themselves and their children.

Here is what you need to know:

How dangerous is the H1N1 swine flu?

Public Events
2 PM Local
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will participate in a media availability about Arctic Domain Awareness
Fairbanks International Airport
General Aviation Hanger
6459 Airport Way
Fairbanks, Alaska

Morning Roundup - August 17th

From the Houston Chronicle, an op-ed written by Secretary Napotlitano:

As a former U.S. attorney, attorney general and governor of Arizona, I spent more than 15 years working in the Southwest and watching the challenges of our shared border evolve over time. Since the beginning of the Obama administration, our response to these challenges has evolved as well.

The change is needed.

For the past eight years the federal government approached the Southwest border as having a set of problems that were somehow independent from our nation's broader challenges with immigration, security, counternarcotics enforcement and international cooperation.

But there's a more strategic, more cooperative path, and we are taking it.

The Obama administration's approach is to view border security, interior immigration enforcement and counternarcotics enforcement as inextricably linked.

At the top of our border security mission is combating violence by Mexico-based drug cartels. To be sure, we haven't seen anything like Mexico's cartel violence here in the U.S. But the smuggling organizations are transnational, and the Obama administration is giving this issue the highest-level attention.

Over the past six months, we have forged a true partnership with Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, while building stronger relations with agencies across the federal government, and at the state, local and tribal level.

From Federal Computer Week, on Secure Flight:

Aug 14, 2009 Airlines will start asking passengers to provide their birth dates and gender on Aug. 15 as the Transportation Security Administration continues to take over from airlines the responsibility of screening travelers against subsets of the government's terrorist watch list.

The additional information will be required from passengers as part of TSA's Secure Flight passenger vetting program. However, if passengers aren't prompted to provide the additional information by a particular airline, they shouldn't worry as it won't affect their travel, TSA said in a statement.

As part of that multibillion-dollar, multi-phase information technology program, aircraft operators will be required to provide every passenger's information to TSA.

That agency, which is part of the Homeland Security Department, will then compare that information to the relevant watch list subsets and tell the airline whether it is authorized to print a boarding pass.

From the Associated Press, on current storm activity:

Tropical Storm Claudette made landfall on the Florida Panhandle near Fort Walton Beach early Monday while Hurricane Bill became the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season.

Claudette, the first named storm to hit the U.S. mainland this year, was weakening as it moved farther inland Monday. But even before its arrival, the storm dumped heavy rains in some areas Sunday. It was not expected to cause significant flooding or wind damage.

Elsewhere, Hurricane Bill had maximum sustained winds near 75 mph but was expected to strengthen.

"We do believe (Bill) could become a major hurricane during the next couple of days," said Daniel Brown, a hurricane specialist for the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Bill was centered about 1,160 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving quickly west-northwest at 22 mph. The first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season ironically shares the same name as National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read.

Leadership Events
10:30 AM CDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks about Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts and participate in a media availability with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator (FEMA) Craig Fugate and Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding Janet Woodka
Southern University at New Orleans
University Cafeteria
6400 Press Drive
New Orleans, La.

Public Events
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Director of Software Assurance Joe Jarzombek will deliver remarks about national efforts for deploying software systems at the annual METROCON Technical Conference
Sheraton Arlington Hotel
1500 Convention Center Drive
Arlington, Texas

10:30 AM PDT
ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton will be participating in a pen and pad with Los Angeles-area media
300 N. Los Angeles Street
Room 1275
Los Angeles, California

12 PM Local
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will participate in a media availability about Arctic Domain Awareness
Nome Airport
Army National Guard Hanger
500 Bering Street
Nome, Alaska

Morning Roundup - August 14th

From the San Antonio Express-News, on yesterday's agreement:

High-ranking U.S. and Mexican government officials signed an agreement in San Antonio on Thursday they say provides an unprecedented level of cooperation between the two countries in fighting cross-border drug crime.

The letter of intent recommends a joint strategic plan in weapons and ammunition trafficking investigations. The letter was signed during the last day of a convention for Border Security Task Force (BEST) teams, which are led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The conference also was attended by senior Mexican officials.

"This will leverage the investigative capabilities of both governments and launch a more unified effort in investigating weapons smuggling cases," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.

Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora said the deal recognizes shared responsibility for the gun-trafficking problem.

"Mexico is very, very respectful of the legal constitutional framework in the U.S.," he said. "But the Second Amendment was never meant to arm foreign criminal groups, and we should go after the criminals that are illegally shipping weapons into the criminal hands of groups based in our country."

ICE assistant secretary John Morton also announced the first BEST office to open in Mexico for Mexican law enforcement officers and U.S. agents to share information and evidence. ICE has 15 BEST teams along U.S. borders.

From Federal Computer Week, on the new civic network "Our Border":

The Homeland Security Department has created a moderated social network designed to spur informed debate and discussion about topics related to the United States' Southwestern border.

The network named Our Border is hosted on the site Ning.com and is open to everyone. But although posted content is visible to anyone who visits, people need to have an account with the Ning network to participate, DHS said. However, the network is administered and moderated by DHS and all content is reviewed by the department before it's posted, according to the network's content policy.

DHS will use the network to communicate the department's policy, post photos and videos, and engage in dialogue, according to the policies detailed on Our Border. The department administers the network and plans to eventually use Ning's live chat feature on Our Border, according to DHS' privacy impact assessment.

Four discussion groups are currently available on the site: Customs and Border Protection, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Also from Federal Computer Week, on Global Entry:

The Homeland Security Department's international registered traveler program is going strong. The program is expanding from seven airports to 20 airports starting Aug. 24, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced.

DHS started the Global Entry international trusted traveler program in June 2008 as a pilot project at three airports. It grew to seven airports last fall.

U.S. citizens and others who want to enroll in Global Entry must submit to a security check and interview and provide a fingerprint. Once enrolled, upon returning to the United States, they can use a kiosk to process their passports and scan their fingerprints. This typically results in less waiting than a manual check by U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees, DHS said.

To date, approximately 16,000 members have enrolled in Global Entry at the seven existing locations and in April, DHS signed an agreement for reciprocal treatment with airports in the Netherlands.

This month, the department will add 13 more airports to the program, Napolitano said in a news release Aug. 12.

"Expanding this vital program allows us to improve customer service at airports and concentrate our resources on higher-risk travelers," Napolitano said.

From the Palm Beach Post, on welcoming a new group of citizens and opening a new USCIS facility:

After Kalvin Berice Lindo became an American citizen on Thursday, he kissed his crying wife, took a deep breath and said, "I finally feel like I'm part of the world."

The 55-year-old man, originally from Jamaica, stood proudly with 24 others as they vowed to be great Americans. And though naturalization ceremonies take place at least twice a week in Palm Beach County, this ceremony was even more special because it took place at the grand opening of the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building on Belvedere Road in Royal Palm Beach.

U.S. Rep Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, and newly inducted USCIS director Alejandro Mayorkas were on hand for the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony and to congratulate the 25 for their accomplishments.

"It's a wonderful moment you'll remember forever," Klein said. "You have a special responsibility to take it upon yourself to make our country stronger and better."

The 38,000 square foot building, which opened in March, is expected to process 57,000 customers a year. More than one million people become U.S. citizens each year and about 8,000 of those become citizens here in Palm Beach County, said Sharon Scheidhauer, USCIS spokeswoman.

Public Events
6PM EDT
USCIS Office of Citizenship Chief Rebecca Carson will participate in an information session for immigrants interested in learning more about U.S. citizenship and the naturalization process
USCIS Atlanta Field Office
2150 Parklake Drive
Atlanta, Ga.

Morning Roundup - August 13th

From the Associated Press, on a mutual pledge to cooperate in the fight against cartel-related violence:

The U.S. heads of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives plan to sign a letter of intent with the attorney general of Mexico again pledging cooperation and shared intelligence in the battle against drug cartels and other border violence.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora and ATF's acting director, Kenneth Melson, will meet in San Antonio on Thursday at a border security conference.

The letter of intent isn't as weighty as some previous agreements but was being used by officials to again pledge cooperation to stop escalating cartel-related violence.

From Weather.com, on the latest tropical outlook:

Tropical Depression 2 is slowly but surely gaining organization in the eastern Atlantic and is likely on its way to becoming Tropical Storm Ana.

Meanwhile, what is that big thunderstorm complex to its right? It's a well-developed tropical low that has now emerged off the coast of Africa. It definitely bears watching.

Model run after model run of several models continues to develop this tropical low into an eventual tropical depression, tropical storm and then hurricane.

A model run, by the way, is the time when a computer program produces a possible future weather scenario given the atmospheric conditions at the present time.

Generally speaking, this is done about 2 to 4 times a day (a few weather models, however, are run every 2 to 3 hours).

One such weather model that develops this large disturbance is the GFS (Global Forecast System) model. You can see its depiction of the tropical Atlantic for this coming Sunday morning below.

Take note of what happens to TD 2 (perhaps by then, Ana). It shows an eventual weakening of TD 2 as it approaches the northern Windward Islands.

Meanwhile, the GFS predicts that the tropical low just now off the coast of Africa could very well be a tropical storm or a hurricane by this Sunday. Could this be Bill?

From NextGov, on setting the record straight on the cyber mission:

Reports of a struggle among agencies about who should oversee governmentwide cybersecurity are inaccurate, and the biggest problem in locking down federal networks is recruiting enough information security workers, said Homeland Security Department officials.

"The misconception that concerns me most is that infighting is happening" among the federal agencies involved in cybersecurity initiatives, said Phil Reitinger, deputy undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate in an interview with Nextgov. "I just don't see that. Are there disputes between agencies? Yes. Are there arguments between components of DHS? Yes. We're people -- that's how it works.

But the degree of collaboration and joint work around the mission is really amazing. There's hard commitment in DHS and across agencies . . . and a deep well of shared experience."

Leadership Events
11 AM CDT
Secretary Napolitano, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora, Mexican National Public Security System Executive Secretary Jorge Tello Peón, ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton and ATF Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson will participate in a press conference
Grand Hyatt Hotel
Texas Ballroom Salon F (Fourth Floor)
600 East Market Street
San Antonio, Texas

Public Events
9 AM PDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will participate in a media availability for the opening of the new Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
500 E. Temple Street
Los Angeles, Calif.

10 AM PDT
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Public Affairs Manager Suzanne Trevino will participate in a media availability about paperless boarding pass technology with Continental Airlines representatives
San Diego International AirportTerminal
23707 N. Harbor Drive
San Diego, Calif.

1 PM PDT
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas will officially open the new USCIS field office in West Palm Beach and participate in a naturalization ceremony
USCIS West Palm Beach Field Office
9300 Belvedere Road
Royal Palm Beach, Fla.

3 PM CDT
TSA Public Affairs Manager Sari Koshetz will participate in a media availability to introduce the new Explosive Detection System (EDS) equipment
Tunica Airport
White Oak Road
Tunica, Miss.

Morning Roundup - August 12th

From the Los Angeles Times, on the Secretary's address at the Border Security Conference in El Paso yesterday:

One day after President Obama concluded a summit in Mexico, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that securing the Southwest border required targeting several issues at the same time: illegal immigration, drug trafficking and violence in Mexico.

Napolitano said her strategy was unlike the Bush administration's, when "the issue of the Southwest border was walled off from all other issues."

"Our approach is to view Southwest border security, along with enforcement of our immigration laws in the interior of the country, counter-narcotics enforcement and streamlined citizenship processes together," she said. "These things are inextricably linked."

Napolitano said the U.S. government is cooperating with the Mexican government more than ever to battle drug-related violence, citing efforts to stop the drugs flowing north and guns and cash flowing south.

"We have a unique opportunity now with Mexico to really break up these cartels," she said. "Shame on us if we don't take full advantage of that."

Napolitano also announced an additional $30 million in federal funds for local law enforcement in California and other border states to better fight trafficking and violence. Agencies in California will receive nearly $7.4 million. The money is in addition to $60 million announced in June.

From the Deming Headlight, on the Stonegarden announcement:

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano took the occasion Tuesday of a Southwest Border Security Conference at the University of Texas at El Paso to announce an additional $30 million for Operation Stonegarden.

The announcement was seen via video conference in five U.S. Border Patrol Stations, including Deming. San Diego, Tucson, and Texas' Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley stations were also online.

Operation Stonegarden, in which the Luna County Sheriff's Office and the Deming Station of the USBP participate, provides funds for equipment and operational costs related to border-area crime. The $30 million is in addition to $60 million already
allocated for the current fiscal year.

"I think that's going to allow state agencies and other municipalities to get involved in coordinating efforts on border violence," said Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos, who was at UTEP. "It's a very positive thing."

From the Atlantic Online, a profile of and interview with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate:

Craig Fugate, the new head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Barack Obama, is an unusual choice for the job, historically speaking. Unlike many of his predecessors, most famously Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown under President George W. Bush, Fugate (pronounced few-gate) has experience in the relevant subject matter. A former firefighter, Fugate managed disasters for 20 years in Florida, the fiasco capital of America. Even more bizarrely for FEMA, often a dumping ground for friends of the powerful, Fugate has no political connections to Obama. Instead, he got his job the old-fashioned way-when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was looking for candidates, people kept mentioning his name. He has a reputation for telling it like it is-in a field where "it" is usually bad. And what Fugate has to say may come as strong medicine for his fellow citizens, nine out of 10 of whom now live in a place at significant risk for some kind of disaster.

A bear of a man with a white goatee, an aw-shucks accent, and a voice just slightly higher than you expect, Fugate has no university degrees but knows enough to be mistaken for a meteorologist by hurricane experts. He grew up in Alachua County, smack in the middle of Florida. Both of his parents died before he graduated from high school. As a teenager, he followed his father's example and became a volunteer firefighter. Then he became a paramedic, earning the nickname "Dr. Death" for having to pronounce more people dead on his first day than anyone before him. But he found his calling when he moved into emergency management, in 1989. Obsessively planning for horrible things he could not really control seemed to inspire him. "He is emergency management," says Will May Jr., who worked with Fugate for more than 20 years and is now Alachua's public-safety director. "That's what he does. He spends practically all his waking life working in it, thinking about it, talking about it, planning how to do things better."

Public Events
10:30 AM CDT
Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement Acting Director John Leech will deliver remarks at the 2009 Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) Conference
Grand Hyatt Hotel
600 E Market St.
San Antonio, Texas

1:45 PM MDT
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Control Systems Security Director Sean McGurk will deliver remarks at the 2nd International Symposium on Resilient Control Systems
University Place
1784 Science Center Dr
Idaho Falls, Idaho

Morning Roundup - August 11th

From the Los Angeles Times, an interview with the Secretary:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is attending a conference in Texas on border security. She sat down with a Times reporter Monday to discuss a number of issues, including the Mexican drug war, immigration detention in the U.S. and legislative reforms.

How effective have the new technology and extra personnel at the border been, and what more can be done to target the drug cartels and border violence?

They have been very effective because they have been coordinated, they have been targeted, they have been done in collaboration with the Mexicans, which is a change from years past. . . . How has it worked so far? It's done well. What do we need to be doing more of or do differently? We want to continue our joint efforts to add to Mexican civilian law enforcement.

At some point, for example, the military needs to leave Ciudad Juarez and we need to have a civilian law enforcement capacity there. . . . You have got to be able to match manpower with technology, with really good, smart, targeted, intelligence-driven law enforcement to really have a system that makes sense.

From the Associated Press, on the North American Leaders Summit:

President Barack Obama and his counterparts from Mexico and Canada emerged Monday from a speed summit united on recession-fighting and Honduras' ousted leader but still divided on security and trade, the areas that most define their partnership.

The annual three-way meeting lasted barely more than four hours, spanning dinner Sunday night and Monday's morning of talks. There were repeated shows of friendship as the leaders gathered at the Institutos Cabanas, a 19th century home for poor children that's now a sprawling art museum, but there were no concrete announcements.

Further, questions about domestic policy - especially Obama's efforts to overhaul U.S. health care - took much of the attention as the three leaders appeared together before reporters in a graceful stone-arched courtyard.

From the Associated Press, on a new tool to fight smugglers:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection unveiled on Monday a prototype vessel for high-speed pursuits of smugglers ferrying people and drugs from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.

The 43-foot boat is faster, more stable and carries about twice as much fuel as the agency's current vessels, which were rolled out from 2001 to 2005.

The $875,000 prototype has infrared cameras and sensors that give detailed images as far as the horizon goes. Currently, agents often use goggles, which detect things only as far as the naked eye can.

The agency hopes to get funding to replace its fleet of about 65 vessels for high-speed chases that are stationed in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida's Atlantic Coast and in the Pacific Ocean near the borders with Canada and Mexico.

Leadership Events
10:30 AM MDT
Secretary Napolitano will meet with members of the Southwest Border Task Force and participate in a video teleconference
Undergraduate Learning Center, Room 220
500 West University Ave
El Paso, Texas

11:15 AM MDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks at the Border Security Conference and participate in a media availability
University of Texas at El Paso
Undergraduate Learning Center, Room 106
500 West University Ave
El Paso, Texas

Public Events
10:30 AM EDT
Office of Health Affairs (OHA) External Affairs Director Bob Davis will participate in a breakout session on nuclear crisis and emergency risk communication at the 2009 National Conference on Community Preparedness.
Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, Va.

10:30 AM MDT
Assistant Secretary John Morton will announce the repatriation of $2.4 million from a joint investigation between U.S. and Mexico
Grand Hyatt Hotel
600 E Market, Salon F, 4th Floor
San Antonio, Texas

11:00 AM EDT
Cincinnati Resident Agent in Charge Rich Wilkens will announce the arrests and indictments of 50 individuals as part of a national marriage fraud scheme dubbed Operation Honeymoon’s Over
221 East 4th St – Suite 400
Cincinnati, Ohio

1:00 PM EDT
ICE Acting Field Office Director Phil Miller will give a tour of the South Louisiana Correctional Facility for local media and Non – Governmental Organization’s
South Louisiana Correctional Center
3843 Stagg Ave
Basile, La.

Morning Roundup - August 10th

From the Wall Street Journal, on the North American Leaders Summit:

U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Mexico for his first summit with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts, with economic and security issues high on the agenda.

During the two-day North American Leaders Summit, Mr. Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are discussing efforts to stem the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, economic competitiveness, national security, and global climate change, White House officials said. Canada and Mexico are the U.S.'s first- and third-largest trading partners, respectively, and trade-related issues are another focus of the meeting.

Late Sunday afternoon, Mr. Obama joined Mr. Calderon in what one senior administration official described as a "cordial" bilateral meeting. Mr. Calderon raised objections to a U.S. ban on Mexican trucks shipping goods across the border, a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"I think there's been a clear understanding that this issue was one that was a priority issue and one that everyone would like to see resolved as quickly as possible," the administration official said.

From the Washington Post, on H1N1:

As the first influenza pandemic in 41 years has spread during the Southern Hemisphere's winter over the past few months, the United States and other northern countries have been racing to prepare for a second wave of swine flu virus.

At the same time, international health authorities have become increasingly alarmed about the new virus's arrival in the poorest, least-prepared parts of the world. While flu viruses are notoriously capricious, making any firm predictions impossible, a new round could hit the Northern Hemisphere within weeks and lead to major disruptions in schools, workplaces and hospitals, according to U.S. and international health officials.

"The virus is still around and ready to explode," said William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University School of Medicine influenza expert who advises federal health officials. "We're potentially looking at a very big mess."

President Obama arrived in Mexico on Sunday for a two-day summit that will include discussions on swine flu, along with Mexico's drug wars, border security, immigration reform and economic recovery.

"Everyone recognizes that H1N1 is going to be a challenge for all of us, and there are people who are going to be getting sick in the fall and die," said John Brennan, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security. "The strategy and the effort on the part of the governments is to make sure we . . . collaborate to minimize the impact."

From MSNBC, on counterfeit cash:

Nicholas Ostergaard has a new policy at the Jukebox, the deli and pub he owns in Indian Trail, N.C.: "No more hundreds."

The Jukebox now accepts nothing bigger than a $50 bill after a teenager paid for an $11 order last month with what turned out to be a fake $100 bill and walked away with $89 in change.

"I instantly thought it was fake," Ostergaard said. But when he checked the bill with a detector pen - a common device that uses iodine to verify U.S. currency - "it came up it was real."

That made the deli another victim in what the U.S. Secret Service said was an ambitious counterfeiting operation that has spread as much as $60,000 in phony currency at businesses from Hickory to Greensboro, in central North Carolina, just since May.

Leadership Events
8:45 AM EDT
Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute will deliver remarks at the 2009 National Conference on Community Preparedness
Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel
2799 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, Va.

Public Events
8 AM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will deliver opening remarks at the 2009 National Conference on Community Preparedness
Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel
Arlington, Va.

2:30 PM MDT
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton will participate in a panel discussion on The Merida Initiative at the Border Security Conference
University of Texas at El Paso
500 W. University Ave.
El Paso, Texas

Morning Roundup - August 7th

From the Washington Post, on reforming immigration detention:

The Obama administration announced plans Thursday to restructure the nation's much-criticized immigration detention system by strengthening federal oversight and seeking to standardize conditions in a 32,000-bed system now scattered throughout 350 local jails, state prisons and contract facilities.

John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said his goal within three to five years is to hold noncriminal immigrants in a smaller number of less prison-like settings. Those facilities would meet federal guidelines ensuring access to pro bono legal counsel, medical care and grievance proceedings, he said.

"We need a system that is open, transparent and accountable," Morton said. "With these reforms, ICE will move away from our present decentralized jail approach to a system that is wholly designed for and based on civil detention needs and the needs of the people we detain."

The new approach comes after a massive detention buildup under President George W. Bush, an increase that civil liberties and immigrant advocacy groups say led to systemic abuse. Starting after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and accelerating as Washington took a get-tough approach to illegal immigration, ICE's detention system more than tripled in size. It now houses nearly 400,000 immigration violators a year.

From the Associated Press, on the updated hurricane outlook:

The Atlantic hurricane season will be less active than originally predicted, government forecasters said Thursday after the first two months of the half-year stretch passed without any named storms developing.

Updating its May outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a warmer weather pattern called an El Nino over the Pacific Ocean was acting as a damper to tropical storms in the Caribbean and neighboring Atlantic.

But forecasters at NOAA's National Hurricane Center warned people to remain vigilant because the peak period for hurricanes runs from this month through October. The overall season lasts from June through November.

From the Baltimore Sun, on crab canneries no longer in a pinch:

Maryland seafood processors, desperately short of hands to pick crabmeat, are rushing to apply for visas for foreign workers after the federal Department of Homeland Security declared Thursday that 25,000 seasonal immigration permits have gone unclaimed for this year.

The unexpected discovery that some of the annual allocation of 66,000 seasonal worker visas were still available was a welcome relief for the operators of Eastern Shore crab "picking houses," some of which had remained shuttered when the season started in the spring because they could not find enough help.

Even in a region with nearly double-digit unemployment, the crab companies remain reliant on migrant labor from abroad because so few local residents are willing to take the messy, repetitive jobs.

Recent employment drives have been unsuccessful, leaving employers to wait for federal relief.

"This is great news, just huge," said Jack Brooks, president of the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association, and co-owner of J.M. Clayton Co., a Cambridge picking house that has been operating with less than half its normal staff. He and others say the federal announcement came in the nick of time to save the state's seafood industry from the brink of economic calamity.

From the Wall Street Journal, on yesterday's denial of service attacks:

Multiple Internet sites, including popular hangouts Twitter and Facebook, were temporarily disrupted Thursday after they were struck by apparently coordinated computer attacks.

Users were unable to access Twitter's Web site for about two hours starting around 9 a.m. EDT. Around the same time, Facebook users saw delays logging in or using the social network.

Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. were working together with Google Inc. to investigate what happened, according to a person familiar with the matter. Another person familiar with the attack said it may have been targeted at a single Russian activist blogger with accounts across the impacted services.

The companies traced the problem to what the computer industry calls "denial-of-service" attacks, which are designed to make sites inaccessible by overwhelming them with a flood of traffic. Though such attacks are fairly routine, simultaneous action against multiple consumer Internet companies is rare.

Leadership Events
9:16 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano, Secretary Sebelius, Secretary Duncan and CDC Director Tom Frieden will participate in a news conference about new H1N1 School Guidance
Health and Human Services Headquarters
200 INDEPENDENCE ST. SW
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Public Events
10:00 AM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will preside at the Change of Watch where Vice Admiral David Pekoske will relieve Vice Admiral Vivean Crea as the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard
Coast Guard TISCOM
7323 Telegraph Road,
Alexandria, Va.

2:00 PM EDT
ICE Special Agent in Charge Bruce Foucart will participate in a media availability announcing arrests pursuant to an ICE-led Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) case
Bristol County District Attorney’s Office
888 Purchase Street
New Bedford, Mass.

Morning Roundup - August 6th

From the Tacoma News Tribune. Looks like someone's headed into the penalty box:

A 24-year-old Canadian woman is facing a federal charge after she was allegedly arrested near the border in Whatcom County with 577 pounds of marijuana.

A U.S. Border Patrol unit stopped Brandine Phillips in a pickup truck as she was about to turn onto Highway 542 near Maple Falls early Tuesday morning. Charging papers say the marijuana was packed in 12 hockey bags.

According to the documents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had been tailing Phillips for days, and watched her drive from the Nooksack River Casino up a remote, one-lane, dead-end road toward the Canadian border. The ICE agents began following her again at a distance after she drove back down the road, and that's when the Border Patrol unit intervened and pulled her over.

From the Washington Post, on more funding for anti-terror teams for the Washington, D.C. Metro system:

The federal government will pay almost $10 million for the Metro Transit Police to put 20 officers on five anti-terrorism teams, Metro officials announced Wednesday.

The department has a Special Response Team, said spokeswoman Cathy Asato, but the force has not had specific teams focused on counterterrorism. A Department of Homeland Security transit grant program will provide the money to create them.

"They're going to recruit from within to form these anti-terror teams," Asato said, "then we'll recruit 20 new officers to fill their spots."

The 420-member force will increase by almost 5 percent as a result of the hires. Metro said that the four-person units will increase law enforcement visibility in stations and that the teams would increase random patrols of Metro facilities and vehicles, respond more quickly to suspicious packages and gather intelligence that might be shared with federal law enforcement officials.

Leadership Events
11:30 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano and Senator Landrieu will participate in a media availability
Russell Senate Office Building, Room 428A
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
11:00 AM EDT
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton will announce major reforms to ICE’s immigration detention system during a media teleconference
Potomac Center North
500 12th St. SW

1:00 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Vice Commandant Admiral Vivean Crea will participate in a panel discussion on women in military service and the legacy of WWII Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (SPARs)
Coast Guard Headquarters
2100 2nd Street SW
Washington, D.C.

1:30 PM EDT
DHS Office of Health Affairs (OHA) Chief Veterinarian Thomas McGinn will deliver remarks about agriculture and veterinary preparedness at the Foreign Animal and Emerging Disease training course
The University of Tennessee
Conference Center
600 Henley Street
Knoxville, Tenn.
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - August 5th

From Federal News Radio, on the Secretary's cybersecurity speech yesterday:

The Homeland Security Department has reorganized how it oversees cybersecurity.

Department Secretary Janet Napolitano says as DHS grew up over the past six years, cybersecurity was spread throughout the agency. She says this was a common issue across the government not just within DHS.

But now under Phil Reitinger, the deputy undersecretary of the National Protections Program Directorate, DHS's structure has improved.

"If the question is who at DHS do you call, it's going to be Phil or someone who works for him," says Napolitano Tuesday during a cybersecurity conference sponsored by the Secret Service and DHS in Washington.

"One thing we have done is to take cyber and elevate its prominence within the department and concentrate all key personnel decisions and the like about cyber under one person, Phil, who reports to an undersecretary, who reports directly to me. So you have a command and control structure that elevates cyber within all of the many threats DHS has to deal with."

From the Associated Press, on a new intelligence center at Selfridge:

The federal government is building an intelligence gathering center designed to help detect smuggling, terrorism and other crime across the long and liquid Great Lakes border between the U.S. and Canada, authorities said Tuesday.

The $30 million Operational Integration Center at Selfridge Air National Guard Base is the first center of its kind on the northern border and is expected to open next May. It will analyze and act on aircraft video, border camera images and other information from several federal, state and local agencies.

Officials say the center eventually should incorporate data from satellites, unmanned aircraft and other sources, and provide real-time information from across the entire Great Lakes border.

The base is in Macomb County's Harrison Township, 20 miles northeast of Detroit.

The Department of Homeland Security has several centers that gather and share law enforcement resources along the U.S.-Mexico border. But officials said Tuesday that the Michigan operation will be a big boost for the northern border, which is nearly twice as long as its southern counterpart and historically has received fewer resources despite threats such as the smuggling of drugs, people and weapons.

Public Events
10 AM CDT
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roy Rivera will participate in a media availability about human trafficking and child pornography hosted by the Children at Risk Organization
1001 East Elizabeth Street
Brownsville, Texas

2:30 PM EDT
Under Secretary for Management Elaine Duke will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia on strengthening the federal acquisition workforce
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - August 4th

From the Washington Post, on a new FEMA working group focused on the needs of children during a disaster:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to plan more broadly for children and their needs as the government prepares for disasters.

"Children are not small adults," FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said Monday.

Most disaster plans are crafted around adult populations, and people with specific needs - such as children - are often an afterthought, Fugate said in an interview with The Associated Press.

A new FEMA working group will work with the congressionally mandated National Commission on Children and Disasters, created in 2007. The FEMA group will focus on specific guidance for evacuating, sheltering and relocating children; helping childcare centers, schools and child welfare programs prepare for disasters; and making disaster preparation part of the Homeland Security Department's grant programs.

The working group's findings could mean changes to the country's blueprint for disaster response, known as the National Response Framework, Fugate said.

From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, on some new equipment at the Greater Rochester International Airport:

The federal Transportation Security Administration has started using advanced imaging technology to scan passengers at the Greater Rochester International Airport.

The new machine, a backscatter X-ray scanner, is expected to remain in Rochester for a 60-day test period, said John McCaffrey, federal security director of the Greater Rochester International Airport. When using the machine, security officials can quickly and unobtrusively screen passengers without any physical contact. The machine is being used in one of the airport's six security lanes, in place of a metal detector.

"We're very excited to have this equipment in Rochester," McCaffrey said Monday. "This is an additional layer of security that gives our officers the tools to detect threats and has privacy protections built in for the traveling public."McCaffrey said the machine reduces the need for pat-down searches for passengers with joint replacements or other medical conditions, because the machine scans for metal and nonmetal objects in a person. Use of the machine is safe for all passengers, he said.

From the Associated Press, on a terrorism drill in New York City today:

Law enforcers on boats are holding a terrorism drill south of the Verrazano Bridge.

The goal is protect the area from a potential "dirty bomb" or nuclear device.

Participants on about 17 vessels will practice checking for radioactive material.

The exercise is being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday.

It's part of an NYPD-led initiative called Securing the Cities. The funding comes from the federal Department of Homeland Security.

Leadership Events
8:45 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks at the U.S. Secret Service Global Cyber Security Conference
JW Marriott Hotel
Capitol Ballroom
1331 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
10:30 AM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery about the needs of children in disasters
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - August 3rd

An excerpt from the Secretary's interview on CNN last week:

We're joined now by the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano. Madam Secretary, it's good to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.

NAPOLITANO: Thank you.

ROBERTS: So, this new counterterrorism strategy, you want to involve the public to a greater degree than ever before -- how do you get the public involved in protecting this nation against the threat of terrorism?

NAPOLITANO: Well, one way is being on shows like this one and just saying, "Look, we want to make the country safe, keep the country safe, every individual has a role." Cities, counties, towns, they all have a role -- all of the federal government, of course, is involved, and then, even our international partners. So, it's a multilayer strategy for how to get at this problem.

ROBERTS: You know, if you ride the subway here in New York City, and I do quite often, you see signs all over the place that say, "See something, say something," you know, everybody has to participate. But many people might wonder, you know, will this become a case of, you know, neighbors reporting on neighbors, spying on neighbors? And how do you prevent, you know, an increase of suspicion, particularly across ethnic and religious lines?

NAPOLITANO: Well, I think you're right to point out that there's a balance to be struck. But what we're asking people to do is when they see something unusual, a package left unattended on a subway platform -- we've had incidents even during my short tenure as secretary where an individual seeing a gun being passed in an airport that had been screened that would have gotten onboard but for that passenger sounding the alert. Those are the kinds of things that individuals can help us with.

Public Events
1:30 PM EDT
Assistant Secretary David Heyman will participate in a blogger roundtable at the NAC to discuss the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review
DHS Headquarters
Nebraska Avenue Complex
3801 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, D.C.

3 PM EDT
Management Directorate Acting Chief Procurement Officer Rick Gunderson will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security about eliminating wasteful contractor bonuses
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - July 30th

From the Washington Post, on the Secretary's speech in New York yesterday:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urged Americans on Wednesday to join a "collective fight against terrorism" that combines the efforts of individuals, companies and local, state and foreign governments.

Answering critics who have accused the Obama administration of downplaying the risk of terrorist attacks, Napolitano said the threat has not abated and outlined an approach that emphasizes burden-sharing as federal spending and political support for post-Sept. 11 security measures wane.

"I am sometimes asked if I think complacency is a threat. I believe the short answer is 'yes,' " Napolitano said, speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York before visiting the World Trade Center site destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"But I think a better question is this: Has the U.S. government done everything it can to educate and engage the American people? The answer is 'no,' " she said.

In what aides called a major counter-terrorism policy address, Napolitano noted that American hotels were targeted in bombings this month in Jakarta, six Americans were among 164 people killed in a commando-style assault in Mumbai in November and three Americans were among 54 killed in a Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September.

To confront a terrorism threat that "is even more decentralized, more networked and more adaptive," she said, counter-terrorism efforts also need to exploit the values of "networks." For example, the nation needs better technology, training and linkages to share information with 780,000 local law enforcement agents, Napolitano said, promising to strengthen 70 state-run intelligence "fusion centers" that began under the Bush administration.

And from the New York Times:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called Wednesday for closer collaboration with foreign partners, more intensive cooperation between the federal government and local law enforcement officials, and greater involvement by civilians in watching for and responding to terrorist threats.

"For too long, we've treated the public as a liability to be protected rather than as an asset in our nation's collective security," Ms. Napolitano said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "This approach, unfortunately, has allowed confusion, anxiety and fear to linger."

Ms. Napolitano, whose visit to New York included her first trip to ground zero, seemed intent in her speech on a shift of tone from that of the Bush administration, which critics say too often appeared to exaggerate threats and sow fear. But she unveiled no specific new initiatives in this regard.

She did say she had traveled 30,000 miles in just the last few weeks - "from Islamabad to Seattle" - while brokering international security agreements.

And she emphasized the importance of facilities, called intelligence fusion centers, that have been set up nationwide to improve communications between the local officials most likely to see the first signs of suspicious activity - like a flight school student showing interest in learning to take off but not to land a plane - and state and federal officials.

Public Events
8 AM EDT
CS&C Division Director Brenda Oldfield will speak at the 2009 Society for Science and the Public Fellows Institute.
St. Regis Hotel
923 16th and K Streets, NW
Washington, D.C.

10 AM CDT
CBP Office of Air and Marine will accept its first UH-60M helicopter and mark the occasion in a ceremony with the Army.
Redstone Army Airfield
Gate 8 Visitor Entrance, near intersection of Goss and Patton Road
Huntsville, Ala.

10 AM EDT
TSA Public Affairs Manager Jon Allen will participate in a media availability announcing a 60-day test of next generation imaging technology equipment at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Terminal Dr.
Cleveland, Ohio

12 PM EDT
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver a keynote address on the importance of cyber security for states at the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) Annual Meeting.
InterContinental Harbor Court Hotel
550 Light Street
Baltimore, Md.

1 PM EDT
CS&C Director of Software Assurance Joe Jarzombek will speak at the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB)
The George Washington University
Cafritz Conference Center
800 21st St NW
Washington, D.C.

2:30 PM EDT
DHS Office of Management (MGMT) Under Secretary Elaine Duke will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia
342 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, D.C.

3:30 PM PDT
CS&C Director of the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) Mischel Kwon will participate in a panel discussion at the Black Hat conference.
Caesar’s Palace
3570 Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV

Morning Roundup

From the Wall Street Journal, on the Secretary's trip to New York:

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.

Morning Roundup - July 28th

From the Associated Press, on the Secretary's visit to Washington yesterday:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano got a tour Monday of a $4 million Olympics Coordination center that in six months should be a bustling hub of counterterrorism and security operations for the 2010 Winter Games in nearby British Columbia.

The tour at the command center in Bellingham, just south of the U.S.-Canadian border, was one of several stops in a jam-packed visit to the state.

Napolitano also visited the border crossing in Blaine, Wash. - the main entry into British Columbia from Washington. Later in the day, she met with federal and state government officials in Seattle to discuss port security and immigration, and visited Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond to talk about cybersecurity.

Napolitano said security of government Web sites is a key and new goal for Homeland Security, and the department has been recruiting staff across the country.

"I like to say in this area, we don't need to be playing catch up. We need to be leap-frogging,' she said. "We need to be thinking ahead of what the next line needs to be. This is such rapidly changing threat environment."

Interested in a career in cybersecurity? Check this out from CNet:

The U.S. government on Monday launched a national talent search for high school and college students interested in working in cybersecurity.

With the U.S. Cyber Challenge the goal is to find 10,000 young Americans to be "cyber guardians and cyber warriors," according to a statement from the Center for Strategic & International Studies, which is sponsoring the event.

…Candidates with promising skills will be invited to attend regional camps at local colleges beginning next year. The top candidates will be hired by the National Security Agency, the FBI, Defense Department, US-CERT, and the U.S. Department of Energy Laboratories.

Public Events
10 AM EDT
Alexander G. Garza, M.D., Presidential Nominee for the position of DHS Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about his confirmation
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC

2 PM MDT
Denver DSAC Paul Maldonado will participate in a press conference announcing the initial results of an ICE-led investigation of Salt Lake City’s largest immigration firm for fraudulently obtain H-2B employment visas for hundreds of unqualified alien workers
185 South Street
Salt Lake City, Utah

Morning Roundup - July 27th

From the Associated Press, on the National Level Exercise:

The government is conducting its first-ever nationwide exercise Monday aimed at preventing a terrorist attack.

The five-day exercise, being coordinated by the Homeland Security Department, will involve simulated "real life" scenarios, with a focus on preventing a terrorist from entering the U.S. to carry out an attack. Also participating will be officials from the Pentagon, office of the Director of National Intelligence as well as the Justice and State departments.

The exercise will take place at command posts and field locations in Washington, D.C., in addition to Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and California.

Homeland Security spokesman Clark Stevens says the simulations will most likely not affect or be seen by the public.

Previous nationwide exercises have focused on terror response efforts rather
than prevention.

From the Associated Press, on preparations for the Olympics:

When the 2010 winter Olympics open in Vancouver next February, representatives of state, local and federal law enforcement and emergency response agencies will gather 45 miles south, at a new $4 million communications center at Bellingham International Airport.

Whether they'll have much to do there remains an open question. The Department of Homeland Security has called the facility a key site for counterterrorism and security operations leading up to the games, and officials say a key goal is to make sure travelers move across the border safely and quickly.

But in the past three years, estimates of how much traffic the Winter Games will generate in Washington state have dropped dramatically, from early guesses of 2,000 cars a day, roughly the equivalent of a busy summer day, to as few as 400, according to studies by the Whatcom Council of Governments.

"Even when we thought we were looking at an additional 2,000 cars a day, the Olympics traffic volume didn't seem like something that would overwhelm the resources in place," said Hugh Conroy, a project manager with the council who has studied the traffic implications of the games. "It's basically gone from being like a busy summer day to a busy winter day."

Leadership Events
8:45 AM PDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a media availability with Governor Chris Gregoire and U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen
2010 Olympics Coordination Center
3888 Sound Way
Bellingham, Wash.

10:30 AM PDT
Secretary Napolitano, Governor Gregoire and Congressman Larsen will tour the Peace Arch border crossing
Interstate 5 at the U.S.-Canada Border
Blaine, Wash.

12:45 PM PDT
Secretary Napolitano and Governor Gregoire will participate in a media availability
Joint Harbor Operations Center
U.S. Coast Guard Integrated Support Command
1519 Alaskan Way South
Seattle, Wash.

Public Events
9 AM CDT
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air & Marine Operations will participate in a media availability to display the newly acquired Advanced Concept Demonstrator (ACTD) Vessel
CBP Brownsville Marine Unit
502 South Point Dr.
Port Isabel, Texas

10:00 AM EDT
USCG Station Miami Beach Commanding Officer, LT John Corbett, will participate in a media availability about diving and boating safety, harvesting regulations and closed areas for Florida's Mini-Lobster season
Coast Guard Integrated Support Command Miami Beach
100 Macarthur Causeway

1:20 PM EDT
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Cyber Security and Communications (CS&C) Rear Admiral Michael Brown will speak at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) luncheon
1539 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

2:00 PM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will testify before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure about the role of federal government in disasters
2167 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, D.C.

3:05 PM EDT
Brenda Oldfield, Director of Cyber Education and Workforce Development for the National Cyber Security Division, will give a keynote speech at the 3rd Annual “Securing the eCampus” Conference
Hopkins Center for the Arts, Alumni HallDartmouth College
6041 Lower Level Wilson Hall
Hanover, NH
jxmkp7t2sb

Morning Roundup - July 24th

From The Washington Post, on labor-management talks at TSA:

It's not unusual for labor and management to talk about their differences.

But when Transportation Security Administration officials met with union leaders Thursday, they described the session as "historic."

It was the first-ever formal labor-management meeting between the agency and the union and the beginning of what labor leaders hope will be a relationship that could lead to TSA employees winning the right to collective bargaining in the near
future.

Labor leaders, shut out during the Bush administration, placed gaining collective bargaining rights for transportation security officers -- the screeners who make sure no one takes dangerous items on airplanes -- at the top of their agenda when the Obama administration took office.

"The past eight years with the Bush administration have been an uphill battle, and we are finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel," said American Federation of Government Employees President John Gage.Currently, unions can recruit officers as members, but labor organizations do not have the right to bargain on their behalf. Congress is considering legislation that would provide
that ability.

From HS Today, on the department's 9/11 Commission progress report:

One of the most important areas of concern to the 9/11 Commission members in their final report was the improvement of intelligence collection and dissemination across the board throughout government. In marking the fifth anniversary of the issuance of the 9/11 Commission Report Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano released a progress report outlining advancements in the Department’s capabilities to protect against and respond to acts of terrorism and other threats.

Not surprisingly, the report outlined the many actions that DHS has taken since it was created to improve and broaden the functioning of counterterrorism intelligence gathering, analysis, and sharing.

“The 9/11 Commission’s recommendations have in many ways set the course for the Department’s efforts to combat security threats,” said Napolitano. “We have answered these challenges by building an agency far better equipped to combat terrorism, and we will continue to expand these capabilities as we move forward in our mission to keep America safe and secure.”

Leadership Events
11:45 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano and the National Security Preparedness Group will participate in a media availability
DHS Headquarters, Building 21
Nebraska Avenue Complex
3801 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC

Public Events
10:00 AM CDT
Director of National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) Cyber Exercises Program Brett Lambo will deliver remarks at the National Association of Counties 2009 Annual Conference about DHS cybersecurity efforts
Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, Tenn.

1 PM CDT
NPPD Office of Emergency Communications Deputy Director Taylor Heard will deliver remarks about OEC’s resources for local governments at the National Association of Counties 2009 Annual Conference
Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Delta Ballroom B
2800 Opryland Drive
Nashville, Tenn.

1 PM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate will participate in a media availability following his meeting with New England Emergency Management Directors
FEMA Region I Headquarters
99 High Street
Boston, Mass.

2 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will attend the change of command ceremony for the First Coast Guard District
Integrated Support Command Boston
427 Commercial Street
Boston, Mass.

Morning Roundup - July 23rd

From the Associated Press, on the relaunch of dhs.gov:

The Homeland Security Department relaunched its Web site Wednesday and became the first Cabinet-level agency to follow the tech-savvy White House directives on social media.

President Barack Obama's aides have been urging agencies to add interactive components to their Web sites, such as videos and blogs. But it's been a slow start for a team that harnessed the Internet during the presidential campaign to organize supporters and deliver the White House.

The White House touted the Homeland Security Department's online presence as a model for other agencies. The department redesigned its own Web site to offer more opportunities for citizens to interact and launched a YouTube channel to post online videos.

From Federal News Radio, on the department's 9/11 Commission progress report:

Five years to the day the 9/11 Commission issued its report, the Homeland Security Department released a progress report outlining the advancements it has made.

The Commission identified intelligence failures occurring before the 2001 terrorist attacks. It also suggested recommendations to help prevent a similar attack.

Among DHS's new policies, initiatives and grants created since 9/11, the progress report reflects the department's focus on enhanced science and technology.

DHS says in a release it has increased transportation security by conducting 100 percent screenings for all checked and carry-on baggage through more than 500 explosive detection systems deployed to every major U.S. airport.

Leadership Events
11:00 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Education Secretary Arne Duncan , John Brennan and Dr. Anne Schuchat will participate in a media availability
U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Upper Atrium
Washington D.C.

1:20 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks at the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and the Asset Forfeiture Program National Leadership Conference
Omni Shoreham Hotel
Regency Ballroom
2500 Calvert Street
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
10 AM EDT
USCIS Deputy Associate Director of National Security and Records Verification Gerri Ratliff will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement about E-Verify
2154 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C

10 AM EDT
TSA Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), Office of Law Enforcement Director Robert Bray will testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight about personnel challenges faced by FAMS
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - July 22nd

From the Bangor Daily News, on a local endorsement of Pass ID:

Just back from the summer meeting of the National Governors Association, Gov. John Baldacci said Tuesday he is endorsing the Pass ID proposal of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

"We need to strengthen our driver's licenses, and we need to require a lawful presence requirement," he said. "It eliminates the fees currently assessed to states to use existing federal databases. It eliminates all the data-sharing mandates. It adds flexibility to the states."

Baldacci said the Pass ID legislation is designed to replace the controversial Real ID law that Maine and other states have opposed. While governor of Arizona, Napolitano opposed Real ID but said the new proposal fixes the problems she saw in the Real ID law.

"Pass ID provides a strong yet flexible framework for states to implement secure identification," she said. "I am proud to join our nation's governors in supporting Pass ID - a cost-effective, common-sense solution that balances critical security requirements with the input and practical needs of state governments."

From the Grand Rapids Press, on a USCIS naturalization ceremony in Michigan:

New United States citizens stand for the administration of the oath during the naturalization ceremony at the Gerald R. Ford Museum Tuesday afternoon.

The multi-hued group gathered Tuesday at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum proved the point: Citizenship is more coveted than ever.

Approximately 80 immigrants from 52 countries as varied as Somalia, Chile and India raised their right hand for the oath of citizenship, as record numbers are doing.

Department of Homeland Security data show the number of immigrants naturalized in the United States grew from about 660,000 in 2007 to more than 1 million in 2008 -- an increase of roughly 58 percent.

A decade ago, about two-thirds of the eligible immigrants who had been in the United States for more than 20 years were naturalized. Now, about three-quarters of such long-term residents have become citizens.

Public Events
9:15 AM EDT
Acting Director of the National Cyber Security Division Dr. Peter Fonash will deliver remarks at the Pre-Solicitation Conference Certification and Accreditation and Other Security Services event MITRE-3 Headquarters
7515 Colshire Drive
McLean, Va.

10 AM EDT
USCIS Service Center Operations Deputy Chief Robert Kruszka will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the EB-5 (investor visa) regional center program
226 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C

10:30 AM EDT
TSA Public Affairs Manager Lara Uselding will participate in a media event about the deployment of Advanced Imaging Technology
Port Jefferson Ferry Terminal
102 West Broadway
Port Jefferson, N.Y.

11:30 AM CDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will deliver remarks at the National Naval Officer’s Association Professional Development and Training Conference
Westin Galleria Houston
Plaza Ballroom
5060 West Alabama St.
Houston, Texas

1:55 PM EDT
NPPD Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver remarks at the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate Cyber-Physical Systems Security Workshop
Hilton Newark Penn Station-Gateway Center
Newark, N.J.

Morning Roundup - July 21st

Morning Roundup for July 21st, 2009 - Featured News and Public Events

From the Wall Street Journal - An op-ed co-written by Secretary Napolitano and Attorney General Holder:

Five years ago this week, the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorist Acts Upon the United States released the "9/11 Commission Report," a comprehensive review of the circumstances and actions leading up to, including, and following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The Report's concluding chapter offered a set of recommendations to dramatically refocus the federal government's efforts to prevent and prepare for future terrorist attacks.

While the scope of the Commission's recommendations was comprehensive, the ultimate goal was straightforward: in order to protect the American people, the many components within our government responsible for national security and law enforcement had to break old habits and communicate with one another more effectively.

Though clear in principle, the goal of interagency cooperation had proven elusive in
practice. Before the attacks of 9/11, federal counterterrorism efforts were impeded by the failure to share key information. As a result, law enforcement officials-the men and women who often serve as the first line of defense against potential attacks-did not always receive the tools and intelligence they needed.

From USA Today, on immigration enforcement:

The Department of Homeland Security is changing the way it tackles illegal immigration, in many cases remaking or rescinding Bush administration policies.

The changes put heavier emphasis on employers, including more investigations of hiring records and fines for violations, says John Morton, assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in DHS.

"We have to come to grips with the market for illegal labor," he says. "To get there, we have to move beyond individual cases."

The arrests of hundreds of illegal workers at a time in raids at factories and meatpacking plants were a visible component of President George W. Bush's immigration enforcement strategy.

The largest workplace raid under the Obama administration was in February, when 28 illegal immigrants were arrested at an engine manufacturer in Bellingham, Wash.

Guidelines issued since then make it clear that raids targeting employees won't be a priority. The agency still will arrest illegal immigrants as it conducts investigations, Morton says, but "we are going to place our focus . first and foremost on the employer."

From the Associated Press, on a first for the Coast Guard and for the First Lady:

In a first for a first lady, Michelle Obama is sponsoring a future Coast Guard cutter.

Construction of the cutter Stratton began Monday in Pascagoula, Miss., when the U.S. Coast Guard and Northrop Grumman laid the ship's keel at the defense contractor's shipyard.

As sponsor, Mrs. Obama promises to be involved in the life of what the service is calling a "national security cutter."

The White House says Mrs. Obama's decision is an extension of her commitment to support servicemembers and their families. The Coast Guard says it's the first time a president's wife has signed on as a sponsor.

Stratton is named after Capt. Dorothy Stratton. She was director of the Guard's women's Reserve during World War II.

Public Events
2 PM EDT
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Office of Cybersecurity and Communications Director Sean McGurk will testify before the House Committee on Homeland 311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

2 PM EDT
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Deputy Director Mike Aytes will testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security about E-Verify
226 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - July 20th

An editorial from the Las Vegas Sun on Pass ID:

Since the Real ID Act was passed by Congress four years ago, criticism of this legislation to increase the security of driver's licenses has arisen from many sources, including state governments, privacy groups and travel agents.

The federal law was passed as a response to 9/11. Its purpose was to prevent terrorists from easily obtaining false licenses, enabling them to set up bank accounts, rent living quarters and otherwise blend into American society unnoticed.

Although its intention was good, the Bush administration followed its usual pattern - quickly writing legislation and pushing it through a Republican-controlled Congress without thinking much about problems that could arise.

The National Governors Association has endorsed an alternative to Real ID that is backed by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She was governor of Arizona when that state, along with many others, protested Real ID as too expensive and unworkable from technical and privacy standpoints.

From the Biloxi Sun Herald, on FEMA Administrator Fugate's remarks to the National Governors Association:

The hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 taught residents and officials along the Coast many lessons, but the most important is that federal, state and local governments need to work together to respond and recover.

FEMA Director Craig Fugate told governors from across the country Sunday all levels of government need to work as a team to coordinate response to disasters and see who can help most in different areas.

Fugate was the head of Florida's emergency management department in 2004 when four hurricanes struck that state. He also offered help to Mississippi in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck.

He spoke Sunday as part of a panel discussion on emergency preparedness, along with representatives from Motorola and Travelers Insurance.

"Too often the disaster we prepare for is the last one when we need to look at the ones in the future," he said at the National Governors Association summer meeting.

The conference wraps up today at the Coast Coliseum and Convention Center.

Leadership Events
3 PM PDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a media availability at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort
Regency Conference Center, Regency Terrace, Main Floor
Monterey, Calif.


5 PM PDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference
Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort
Regency Grand Ballroom
Monterey, Calif.


Public Events
1 PM CDT
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Rabago will lay the keel for the Third National Security Cutter Stratton at the Northrup
Grumman shipyard
1000 Access Road
Pascagoula, Miss.

Veterans Job Fair Today

We noted it just now in the morning roundup, but this one is worth mentioning again.

DHS is hosting a Veterans Job Fair today at the Grand Hyatt from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM EDT. It's open to all active duty, retired, former service, Reserve/National Guard servicemembers and their spouses. Straight from dhs.gov:

July 17, 2009
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel100 H St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
Constitution Room A, Level 3B(Take Metro Center stop, exit at 11th
Street)

The job fair is open to all active duty, retired, former service, Reserve/National Guard servicemembers and their spouses.

Explore career opportunities in law enforcement, immigration and travel security, prevention and response, and mission support by attending the job fair and talking to representatives.

Learn more about the Department that touches the lives of all Americans and find out how Departmental careers contribute to the mission of defending America. Speak to Department professionals about continuing your service to America.

Workshops

• How to apply for federal jobs
• Understanding and applying veterans preference in federal hiring

Morning Roundup - July 17th

Morning Roundup for July 17th, 2009 - Featured News and Public Events

From Federal Computer Week, on the cybersecurity RFI:

The Homeland Security Department wants information from companies on technical solutions that could be used to protect the ".gov" cyber domain used by federal civilian agencies, according to recently published notice.

DHS is interested in products that could be used for its integrated cybersecurity program that includes software and hardware, the department said in a request for information (RFI) published July 15 on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site.

The full RFI is classified and vendors interested in the opportunity need to contact the department by July 22.

A letter to the editor of the New York Times from Assistant Secretary for ICE John Morton:

I take issue with your assertion that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 287(g) program is "misguided, ineffective and dangerous."

Among other things, the program enables state and local law enforcement officials to deploy resources and manpower in their communities to enforce federal immigration laws, a force multiplier for federal law enforcement.

The program has been effective. Since January 2006, 287(g)-trained officers have identified more than 120,000 people, predominantly in jails, who are in the country illegally and have committed serious crimes while here. Finding and removing these criminal aliens is critical to our nation's overall interior enforcement strategy.

From Government Technology, on FEMA Administrator Fugate's remarks yesterday on disaster response:

The goal of emergency management policy should be not just to respond but also to change the outcomes of natural hazards, and to do that the private sector and communities must be involved, said Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate on Thursday at the 2009 Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop in Broomfield, Colo. That includes changing building codes and standards, as well as the language used in mitigating hazards.

Fugate said minimizing the impacts of natural hazards should be the goal and disasters occur from natural hazards because of the way people live and build in the communities. "Floods and hurricanes happen. The hazard itself is not the disaster -- it's our habits, it's how we build and live in those areas, that's the disaster," Fugate said.

Public Events
Veterans Job Fair
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel
100 H St., N.W.Washington, D.C. 20001
Constitution Room A, Level 3B(Take Metro Center stop, exit at 11th Street)

Morning Roundup - July 16th

From the New York Times, on PASS ID:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who as governor of Arizona opposed tough new federal requirements for driver's licenses, endorsed legislation on Wednesday to replace the 2005 law with a more flexible and less costly version.

The new legislation maintains some features of the so-called Real ID law, which required states to scrupulously verify the identity of people to whom it issues driver's licenses, including verifying information they submit, like Social Security numbers and birth certificates.

The original measure, prompted by concerns about terrorism, was passed without Senate hearings as an amendment to a spending bill, and has been contested ever since. It requires states to comply with a series of benchmarks by Dec. 31, but no state has been certified as compliant.

The Real ID card is intended to be the only driver's license a person can use when boarding an airplane or entering a federal building.

Ms. Napolitano said the new bipartisan bill, sponsored by Senator Daniel K. Akaka, Democrat of Hawaii, was "a bill that if passed and implemented before Dec. 31 of this year will fix a bill that was flawed from the outset."

From the Associated Press, on cartel violence in Mexico:

Ongoing concerns that drug-related violence in Mexico poses a threat to American communities remain the Obama administration's border focus, the federal government's border czar said Wednesday.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Alan Bersin, who visited Arizona's busiest commercial port here on Wednesday, said those concerns have triggered a series of border security initiatives and brought about closer cooperation with Mexican federal authorities.

"We take the threat of spillover violence very seriously," Bersin said. "We're prepared to deal with it in the event it occurs. There are contingency plans to respond. But we have not yet seen that violence spill over into the United States."

Public Events
10 AM EDT
Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations Deputy Director Kumar Kibble will testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security; Subcommittee on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

10 AM CDT
TSA Public Affairs Manager Jon Allen will participate in a media
event announcing the installation of CT-80 Explosives Detection
System (EDS) equipment
University of Illinois Willard Airport11 Airport RoadSavoy, Ill.

11:30 AM EDT
TSA Public Affairs Manager Lara Uselding will participate in a
media event at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to
showcase new AT X-ray machines
Newark Liberty International Airport
Terminal C
Newark, NJ

Morning Roundup - July 15th

Morning Roundup for July 15th, 2009 - Featured News and Public Events

From the Washington Post, on PASS ID:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is promoting a new program to make driver's licenses more secure that would cost less than the plan pushed by the Bush administration.

On Wednesday, she was to testify before a Senate committee considering legislation that would replace the former administration's Real ID card plan with something called a Pass ID. Those who support the new program say it would not gut the security requirements in current law. But others say the new ID would relax rules enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Bush's Real ID plan has been stalled well short of nationwide implementation by opposition in the states. Twelve states have voted not to participate, and others have raised complaints.

The National Governors Association helped write the new proposal. As Arizona governor, Napolitano said the Bush administration did not collaborate enough with governors in the development of its plan for implementing the congressionally mandated program.

The governors group said the current law would cost states $4 billion while the new plan could cut the costs to between $1.3 billion and $2 billion.

From the Associated Press, on the HSAS review:

The Obama administration has begun a review that could spell the end of the color-coded terrorism advisories, long derided by late night TV comics and portrayed by some Democrats as a tool for Bush administration political manipulation.

It's not likely the review will plunge an alert system into the dark all together, but short of that, everything is on the table for consideration, according to one administration official familiar with the plans. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about potential outcomes.

The alert system assigns five different colors to terror risk levels. Green at the bottom signals a low danger of attack and red at the top warns of a severe threat. It was put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was designed to help emergency responders get prepared.

But it's been the butt of late-night television comics' jokes and criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike for being too vague to deliver enough useful information.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, on a huge haul for CBP this year:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reporting record drug seizures for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30.

According to the agency, which includes the Border Patrol, customs officers and air and marine operations, more than 3.3 million pounds of drugs were intercepted at and in between ports of entry along both the southern and northern borders. This is an increase of 64.3 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

The largest marijuana seizure occurred in late March, when agency officers at the Otay Mesa port of entry intercepted a commercial tractor-trailer loaded with 10,764 pounds of marijuana.

Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Jacqueline Dizdul credited a larger presence of border security personnel, among other things.

Leadership Events
10 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will testify before the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about PASS ID
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
12 PM PDT
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) Policy Advisor Debbie
Fulmer will deliver remarks on preparedness efforts for special needs populations at the 2009 Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)
San Diego Convention Center
111 W Harbor Dr.
San Diego, Calif.

2 PM EDT
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Assistant
Administrator John Sammon will testify before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection about general aviation security risks
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - July 14th

Morning Roundup for July 14th, 2009 - Featured News and Public Events

From the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot, on the Secretary's visit to Portsmouth, VA, yesterday:

When the boss is in town, you had better put on a good show.

By all accounts, the Coast Guard didn't disappoint Monday morning, when its members performed an anti-terrorism exercise for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The secretary boarded the cutter Frank Drew around 10 a.m. Soon after, the ship began making its way up the Elizabeth River under escort.

As it passed the shipping terminal, three 25-foot response boats swarmed up the water behind it. With one boat providing cover at the cutter's stern, Maritime Security Response Team members in the other boats clambered up the cutter's side toward the bridge.

A few minutes later, in the exercise's second phase, an MH-60J helicopter swooped in low behind the cutter and hooked a sharp left turn over its stern. A line dropped and, within 20 seconds, six team members had "fast roped" to the deck and proceeded to make their way across the ship.

And check out this report from WAVY-10 TV. They have some great video from the demonstration.

From the Associated Press, on increased cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. on curbing arms trafficking:

Mexico and the United States have agreed on a protocol for sharing information in arms trafficking cases.

Top officials of both countries say the guidelines are aimed at helping them bring more cases against weapons traffickers.

Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora made the announcement Monday at a joint news conference with John T. Morton, the assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mexican authorities say much of the country's drug cartel violence is fueled by weapons smuggled in from the United States.

Public Events
9 AM PDT
DHS Chief Veterinarian Thomas McGinn III, DVM, will
participate in a panel discussion about public health and animal
health at the 2009 American Veterinary Medical Association
Annual Convention
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
800 Convention Place
Seattle, Wash.

9:30 AM MDT
DHS Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special
Representative for Border Affairs Alan Bersin will participate in a
media availability
Nogales Border Patrol Station
1500 West La Quinta
Nogales, Ariz.

Morning Roundup - July 10th

Morning Roundup for July 10th, 2009 - Featured News and Public Events

From The New York Times, on the H1N1 Summit:

The Obama administration warned Americans on Thursday to be ready for an aggressive return of the swine flu virus in the fall, announcing plans to begin vaccinations in October and offering states and hospitals money to help them prepare.

"The potential for a significant outbreak in the fall is looming," President Obama said by telephone link from Italy to the White House's H1N1 Influenza Preparedness Summit, held at the National Institutes of Health.

With good planning, "we may end up averting a crisis," Mr. Obama said. "That's our fervent hope."

The summit meeting was jointly led by the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius; the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano; and the secretary of education, Arne Duncan. It gathered health and school officials from across the country and took questions by video link from the governors of several states, most of whom wanted to know who would pay for preparations like the vaccination drive.

From the Associated Press, on the best part of waking up:

Customs agents discovered an extra ingredient in a shipment of Colombian coffee: nearly a half-ton of cocaine.

U.S. Customs officer Troy Simon said Thursday it was his agency's biggest cocaine find at the Port of New Orleans since more than two tons turned up in a transformer shipment about 10 years ago.

He said officers opened the shipping container Monday after a gamma-ray scan showed squarish shapes on top of the rounded burlap bags of coffee beans.

They turned out to be 15 duffel bags.U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Virginia Dabbs says they held 400 packages of cocaine weighing a total of 994 pounds.

Public Events
2:30 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will participate in a Change of Command ceremony for the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area in which Vice Admiral Jody Breckenridge will relieve Vice Admiral David Pekoske
Parade Field
Coast Guard Island
Alameda, Calif.

Morning Roundup - July 9th

Morning Roundup for July 9th, 2009 - Featured News and Public Events
From The New York Times, on E-Verify:

The Obama administration will require businesses that win federal contracts to use a government electronic database system to verify that their employees have legal immigration status to work in the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Wednesday.

After a six-month review, Homeland Security officials decided to go ahead with a worker-verification plan based on the electronic system, called E-Verify. The system, which the Bush administration sought to put into effect in its final months, is meant to prevent federal contractors from hiring illegal immigrants.

At the same time, Homeland Security officials said they would drop another Bush administration proposal that would have forced employers to fire any workers whose Social Security information did not match the records of the Social Security Administration. That measure, called the no-match rule, had been challenged in federal court by immigrant advocates and businesses, who said the Social Security database contained errors that could have cost thousands of legal workers their jobs.

Administration officials said the court battle over the no-match rule, which never went into effect, would now end.

From the Associated Press, on the H1N1 Summit:

The Obama administration put the states on notice Thursday: Swine flu promises to create a mess this fall. Are you ready?

Swine flu may have faded from the headlines but it's still sickening people here and abroad and is certain to worsen when influenza-friendly fall temperatures arrive.

The federal government called together health and education officials from every state to check their preparations for the likely prospect of vaccinations and determine how they'll handle flu-riddled schools.

"I want to be clear: This summit is not about raising alarms or stoking fears. It is about being prepared," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebeliussaid. "We must avoid complacency."

The government estimates that 1 million Americans so far have been infected with the never-before-seen virus known formally by its scientific family name,
H1N1.

No longer do many public health experts warn of the new virus' "return" in the fall. Summer's heat and humidity usually chase away influenza, but the swine flu has never left. Children are spreading it in summer camps, and U.S. deaths have reached 170.

Leadership Events
9:05 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks about DHS H1N1 Influenza preparedness efforts
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
National Institutes of Health
Conference Room A
Natcher Conference Center
Bethesda, Md.

9:25 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a roundtable discussion with Secretary Sebelius and Secretary Duncan
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Conference Room A
National Institutes of Health
Natcher Conference Center
Bethesda, Md.

10:15 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a media availability with Secretary Sebelius, Secretary Duncan and Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
National Institutes of Health
Conference Room A
Natcher Conference Center
Bethesda, Md.

Public Events
10 AM EDT
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Investigations Deputy Director Kumar Kibble and DHS Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs Alan Bersin will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about Southwest border security
2154 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

10 AM EDT
Coast Guard Rear Admiral Kevin Cook will testify before the Technology and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation about Merchant Mariner licensing and documentation
2167 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - July 8th

Morning Roundup for July 8th, 2009 - Featured News and Public Events

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on a new national fire chief:

Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin J. Cochran has accepted a key federal position with the Obama Administration.

Cochran was chosen as U.S. Fire Administrator with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the Department of Homeland Security, according to a White House press release.

"Each of these individuals brings with them valuable expertise in their respective fields, and I am grateful for their decision to serve in my administration," President Obama said in the statement, which includes nominations of nine others for various federal roles.

Cochran has 28 years of experience from firefighter to chief training officer to fire chief, according to the press release. Cochran has also served as the president of the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association and Vice Chairman of Volunteers of America. Cochran took over as Atlanta's fire chief in 2008. Prior to his post with Atlanta, he served as fire chief in Shreveport, Louisiana
beginning in 1999.

"It is remarkable to think that my childhood dream of being a firefighter has taken me from the front porch of a shotgun house in Shreveport, Louisiana, to becoming the head of the United States Fire Administration," Cochran said in a statement from the City of Atlanta's press office.

From the Associated Press, on the recent cybersecurity incident:

A widespread and unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of several government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber crime, The Associated Press has learned.

The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week, according to officials inside and outside the government.

Some of the sites were still experiencing problems Tuesday evening. Cyber attacks on South Korea government and private sites also may be linked, officials there said.

U.S. officials refused to publicly discuss details of the cyber attack. But Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the agency's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a notice to federal departments and other partner organizations about the problems and "advised them of steps to take to help mitigate against such attacks."

The U.S., she said, sees attacks on its networks every day, and measures have been put in place to minimize the impact on federal Web sites.

From WWL-TV, on new ICE efforts to curb the flow of undocumented workers into the U.S.:

In an effort to stop the flow of undocumented workers into the country, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is about to try a new approach: not just targeting the workers, but also the people who employ them, in the
first place.

"That's a challenge. There are millions of employers in the United States," said John Morton, the newly-appointed assistant secretary of ICE, who spent Tuesday visiting New Orleans.

Among the agency's efforts: a renewed, aggressive auditing of I-9 forms. All employers are required to have one, as proof of an employee's residency or citizenship. Just how effective that move will be in the New Orleans area, though, remains to be seen.

Here, a majority of illegal workers are day laborers, not concentrated within one company, but rather working in smaller numbers for individual employers or contractors. Morton said the smaller concentration does make enforcement harder.

"We're very cognizant that we just can't focus on the very top, on the biggest employers - that we have to do this at all levels," he said.

Public Events
10 AM EDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate and Inspector General Richard Skinner will testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about FEMA housing solutions
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

10 AM EDT
FEMA National Preparedness Directorate (NPD) Deputy Administrator Tim Manning will testify before the House Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Technology and 2318 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

10 AM EDT
Federal Protective Service Director Gary Schenkel will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about the Government Accountability Office’s preliminary findings concerning the Federal Protective Service and security operations
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

2 PM EDT
Acting Chief Financial Officer Peggy Sherry will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement, about annual oversight of the federal government’s consolidated financial statement
2247 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - July 7th

Tuesday, July 7th Morning Roundup - Featured News and Public Events

From the Associated Press, on Project Seahawk:

Project Seahawk, a port security effort developed in South Carolina, is vital to waging the war on terrorism and a model for ports around the nation, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Monday.

Graham, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Gov. Mark Sanford and other leaders had a private briefing on the project during a visit to the Project Seahawk headquarters at the old Charleston Navy Base.

Seahawk, created in 2003 in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, brings together representatives of state, federal and local law enforcement agencies who meet each day in a command center to share and compare information on harbor activity.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune, on a fruitful holiday weekend for CBP:

Federal authorities announced Monday the seizure of marijuana, heroin and cocaine worth more than $1 million in three separate busts.

Customs and Border Protection agents found 99 packages of marijuana, weighing more than 315 pounds, hidden throughout a Nissan SUV Saturday morning at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, officials said.

A dog walking through the line of vehicles waiting to enter the United States alerted agents to the drugs, officials aid. Two male Mexicans, ages 19 and 20, were arrested on smuggling charges.

On Friday, Border Patrol agents at a checkpoint on Interstate 8 in Pine Valley discovered 10 bundles of cocaine weighing 26 pounds hidden in the dashboard of a Chevrolet Malibu, officials said. The driver, a 26-year-old man and U.S. citizen, was arrested.

Public Events
10 AM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and the Coast Guard regarding Coast Guard Authorization
253 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.

11 AM EDT
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nelson Minerly will participate in a media event to highlight OLE/FAMS workforce diversity efforts in federal law enforcement at the FAMS Detroit field office
11301 Metro Airport Center Dr.Romulus, Mich.

10:30 CDT
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine personnel will demonstrate Marine Advance Concept Technology for members of congress and local media
Jones Park Road & U.S. Highway 49
Gulfport, Miss.

Morning Roundup - June 29th

Monday, June 29th Morning Roundup - Featured News and Public Events

From Homeland Security Today, on the Secretary's European trip:

The focal point of the trip, Napolitano explained, will be to extend collaborative relationships with a variety of nations on counter-terror initiatives.

Napolitano stressed a need to “keep focus on the counter-terrorism aspect” of the Department.

Napolitano said that while in Ireland she plans to evaluate aviation preclearance operations. Shortly afterward in the UK she plans to meet with the new home secretary Allen Johnson and the new transportation secretary Lord Andrew Adonis on a number of issues, including cyber security, violent extremism and civil aviation security.

Public Events

11 AM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Admiral Robert Papp will attend the District 5 change of command ceremony
431 Crawford Street
Portsmouth, Va.


3 PM EDT
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Director of the Office of Infrastructure Protection’s Infrastructure Security Compliance Division Sue Armstrong will present an overview of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program at the 2009 Chemical Sector Security Summit
Baltimore Marriott Waterfront
700 Aliceanna StreetBaltimore, Md.

Morning Roundup - June 22

Monday, June 22nd Morning Roundup - Featured News and Public Events

From CNN, on the importance of smuggling issues

The new U.S. border czar, Alan Bersin, has arrived to inspect operations at one of his most critical facilities, the Maricopa port of entry outside Nogales, Arizona.

It's the largest port of entry in Arizona, handling about 1,500 commercial trucks a day, making it a major trade corridor between the United States and Mexico, Officer James Tong of U.S. Customs and Border Protection tells Bersin.

It is also a major corridor for the smuggling of cocaine, heroin and marijuana into the U.S.

Last year, 37,000 pounds of marijuana were seized along this arid stretch of border. And on the day of Bersin's visit, two teenage girls were caught trying to sneak heroin past border guards in Nogales.

"That told me that in reaction to increased enforcement ... the cartels are ... recruiting teenagers as their new couriers," Bersin said.
Bersin said the Obama administration is forging a new alliance with Mexico in the campaign to combat the drug cartels.

"This is now viewed as a set of problems that we share in common," he said.

The cartels are implicated in more than 7,000 killings last year, including the assassination of police, judges and high-ranking government officials.

"We're very concerned about the spillover of the kind of public shootings where bystanders are caught between the cartels and between the cartels and the government," he said.

The solution, he said, is to stop not only the flood of drugs to the north, but also the flood of guns and money south into Mexico. His troops are charged with stopping the traffic in both directions. He was told that so far this year more than $2 million in narco dollars have been seized in Nogales.

From The Buffalo News, on security upgrades

You may not give it a second thought when you board a Metro Bus, descend into the subway or hop a flight at Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

But in the last four years alone, about $12 million has been poured into Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority facilities by the federal government - just to make them safe from terrorists.

Aside from major transit systems in cities like New York and Chicago, the NFTA ranks among the biggest recipients of Department of Homeland Security dollars in the nation. In the post-9/11 transportation world, such huge expenditures are now part of everyday operations.

"Technology plays an important role in keeping our transit infrastructure safe," said Sara Kuban, a Homeland Security spokeswoman.
"The goal is to reduce the threat."

In Buffalo, the new expenditures mean:

• An increase from 73 surveillance cameras in the Metro Rail system to 170.
• The addition of sophisticated new screens to monitor the subway in Metro Rail's operations center in downtown Buffalo.
• New and strengthened fencing at major bus garages and at the airport.
• The introduction of security card systems at NFTA facilities.

While attacks on U.S. transit systems have been practically non-existent, violence on commuter trains and subways in Tokyo, London and Madrid have heightened awareness around the world wherever large numbers of people are conveyed.

The mere fact that such crowds gather in commuter systems demands that precautions be taken, said Kim Minkel, the NFTA's director of health, safety and environmental quality.

Secretary’s Events

12:30 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a media availability
Orlando International Airport
East Checkpoint, Terminal A
Hyatt Atrium
1 Airport Blvd
Orlando, Fla.

1:15 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will participate in a United We Serve project with members of the FEMA Citizen Corps
110 Andes Avenue
Orlando, Fla.

Public Events

9 AM EDT
Chief Privacy Officer Mary Ellen Callahan will speak at the Government 2.0: Privacy and Best Practices Workshop hosted by the DHS Privacy Office
The Washington Court Hotel Atrium Ballroom
525 New Jersey Avenue
Washington, D.C.

11:00 AM MDT
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate will participate in a roundtable discussion with fire fighters to highlight President Obama’s United We Serve initiative.
Station 8, Denver Fire Department
Denver, Colo.

6:30 PM EDT
Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute will lead a citizenship class as part of President Obama’s United We Serve initiative
Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights
665 West 182nd Street, First Floor
New York, N.Y.

Morning Roundup - June 19th

Friday, June 19th Morning Roundup - Featured News and Public Events

News Highlights
From the LA Times, on expanded powers for ICE agents:

Reporting from Washington - In an effort to plug a hole in U.S.- Mexico drug enforcement, the U.S. departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced an agreement Thursday that will give designated immigration agents expanded powers to pursue drug investigations.

A key goal is to end the long-standing turf battles between the Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement that many critics believe have hampered investigations.

The agreement will allow an "unlimited" number of ICE agents to be cross-designated as DEA agents, giving them the authority to investigate suspected drug smugglers at the border and internationally -- a prerogative that in the past has been jealously guarded by the DEA.

Both departments also pledged greater information sharing and better coordination of activities.

"Moving past old disputes and ensuring cooperation between all levels of our Departments has been one of our top priorities since taking office," U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

The agreement "will strengthen our efforts to combat international narcotics smuggling, streamline operations and bring better intelligence to our frontline personnel," they said.

From the Associated Press, on a local dialogue:

Alan Bersin, the Obama administration's border czar, said Thursday the key to achieving comprehensive immigration reform rests with a secure border.

"The only way we believe we will have immigration reform is if we have strong enforcement," Bersin, assistant Homeland Security secretary for international affairs, told a border communities task force.

Bersin, who is in charge of illegal immigration and border issues, said strong enforcement at the border, in the work place and in the interior is vital "so that the American people come to believe that there are labor markets that work, that there are communities that work and that there's a border that works."

He and other DHS officials held a 90-minute dialogue over immigration-related issues with southern Arizona members of a border task force.

Speakers including several clergymen offered suggestions and criticism in particular of the Border Patrol, from the need for a streamlined complaint process and feedback on complaints to an abrupt manner in which agents sometimes toss food at illegal immigrant detainees in holding cells.

From the Associated Press, on Secure Flight:

Don't be surprised if you're asked to provide your date of birth and gender when booking plane tickets later this summer.

The Transportation Security Administration has launched a new program called "Secure Flight" to improve security and reduce misidentification of passengers who have names similar to individuals on government watch lists.

As part of Secure Flight, airlines will ask passengers buying tickets to provide their name exactly as it appears on the government-issued identification they plan to use when traveling. Later this summer, airlines also will begin asking passengers to provide their birthdates and gender.

From WWTI-TV, on a new addition to CBP's ranks:

Unmanned aircraft deployed at Fort Drum (John Moore, NewsWatch50) A monitor inside an operations trailer shows a close-up view of a boat skimming across the water on Lake Ontario.

The image was taken from an unmanned aircraft more
than three miles away.

A Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) has been temporarily based at Fort Drum since early June in an experiment by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office.

The Department of Homeland Security is using the extensive restricted air space over Fort Drum to test whether the drone could be a good fit along this stretch of the northern border.

Video of a boat on Lake Ontario captured from 19,000 feet above (John Moore, NewsWatch50) U.S. Customs and Border Protection has five of the aircraft but so far none of them based permanently in the Northeast.

The Predator will operate out of Fort Drum for about three weeks for testing and training, and to evaluate its use to law enforcement.

John Stanton, director of CPB's Office of Air and Marine, said state, provincial and local law enforcement agencies were quick to take up the offer of added surveillance of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River."So while we were flying, we were asked by our partner law enforcement agencies if we would be kind enough to be on the lookout for suspicious activities," Stanton said.

Secretary's Events
9 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast
JW Marriot Hotel, Ballroom
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
6 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Band will perform
The George Washington University
21st and H Streets NW
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - June 18th

Thursday, June 18th Morning Roundup - Featured News and Public Events

News Highlights
From the Chicago Tribune on a drug ring disrupted:

Federal authorities say they've disrupted a Canada-to-United States Ecstasy ring with the arrest of 20 people, most in western New York.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say the suspects are charged in a 24-count indictment with conspiracy to smuggle the drug into the U.S. from Canada and distribute it.

Of those arrested, 17 live in the Buffalo area, two are from New York City and one is from Chicago.

If convicted, they face up to 40 years in prison and fines of $2 million.

From Govtech. More on grants:

The new allocations include steps the DHS has taken to improve the ability of state, local and tribal governments to apply for and use FEMA grants, according to the release, including: considering stakeholder feedback; ensuring that state, local and tribal governments understand how funds can be used to sustain long-term project; and developing a more transparent, efficient application process.

The tribal grants target an area heretofore, overlooked, according to some. "We are particularly happy with the funds designated to tribal emergency managers who are a critical yet often overlooked partner in the nation's layered emergency management system," said Russell Decker, the International Association of Emergency Managers president. "We are also encouraged by the secretary's pledge to make the grant process less cumbersome for local, tribal and state recipients. It's clear the administration is listening to the key stakeholders."

From the Wall Street Journal, on a new GAO report linking U.S. guns to cartel violence in Mexico:

A new study by the Government Accountability Office says most firearms recovered in drug violence in Mexico come from the U.S., a finding that will likely fuel the politically charged debate over the U.S. government's efforts to stem gun trafficking across the border.

Drug-related murders have more than doubled in number to 6,200 last year from 2,700 in 2007, according to the GAO study, a draft of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The study is set to be released Thursday.

Mexican officials have pushed for the U.S. to enact tougher gun laws and to help restrict arms smuggling as Mexico attempts to battle drug cartels on its territory. "The availability of firearms illegally flowing from the United States into Mexico has armed and emboldened a dangerous criminal element in Mexico, and it has made the job of drug cartels easier," said Rep. Eliot L. Engel, (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, which is holding a hearing on arms trafficking Thursday. "It is simply unacceptable that the United States not only consumes the majority of the drugs flowing from Mexico, but also arms the very cartels that contribute to the daily violence that is devastating Mexico."

Secretary's Events
6:30 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks at the Fifth Annual Tribute to the U.S. Coast Guard dinner
National Building Museum
401 F Street NW
Washington, D.C.

Public Events
8:00 AM EDT
Office of Risk Management and Analysis Director Tina Gabbrielli will deliver remarks at the Security Analysis and Risk Management (SARMA) Annual Conference
George Mason University
3401 Fairfax Drive, Room 329
Arlington, Va.

10 AM EDT
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) representatives will participate in the Montgomery County Workplace Safety Committee Annual Safety Fair
Montgomery County Courthouse
2 East Airy Street
Norristown, Pa.

10 AM EDT
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Assistant Commissioner for International Trade Dan Baldwin will testify before the House Committee on Small Business about textiles enforcement
2360 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

10 AM EDT
National Protection and Programs (NPPD) Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver remarks at the Federal Computer Week Solutions Seminar
The Willard InterContinental Washington
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C.

12:00 PM EDT
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart will participate in a news conference to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the cross-designation of ICE agents with Title 21 authority
The National Press Club, Studio Room, 4th Floor
529 14th St. NW
Washington, D.C.

3:30 PM MDT
TSA Public Affairs will participate in a news conference about American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding going to Jackson Hole Airport for construction on a new in-line baggage screening system.
Jackson Hole Airport
1250 East Airport Rd.
Jackson, WY 83001

2 PM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Office of Civil Rights Director Terri Dickerson and Chief of Staff Admiral Clifford Pearson will testify before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, about civil rights and diversity in USCG
2167 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

2 PM EDT
Acting Chief Financial Officer Peggy Sherry will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement, about oversight of the federal government’s consolidated financial statement
2154 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Morning Roundup - June 17th

We’ll feature a rundown on the preparedness grants in a few minutes, but for now, the news...

Wednesday, June 17th Morning Roundup - Featured News and Public Events

News Highlights

From McClatchy, on the tough but necessary steps ahead toward immigration reform:

President Barack Obama, Democratic congressional leaders and advocates of revamping the nation's immigration laws say that developing a comprehensive immigration bill this year is a top priority, despite an already full legislative plate that includes a Supreme Court confirmation hearing, overhauling America's health care system, addressing climate change and conducting two wars.

They got a reality check on the potential bumps ahead when the White House recently postponed a bipartisan meeting on immigration that had been set for Wednesday - the second cancellation this month - because of "scheduling conflicts," administration officials told invited guests.

Still, supporters of an immigration overhaul think that Obama will succeed where other presidents have failed and will push through a comprehensive plan that will allow illegal immigrants to come out the shadows and provide them with a path to citizenship.

From the Associated Press, on a decline in Border Patrol apprehensions:

The number of Border Patrol apprehensions nationwide dropped for a third consecutive year, falling more than 17 percent to a level not seen since 1973, according to new government data.

The U.S. Border Patrol - charged with catching illegal immigrants near the nation's boundaries - had 724,000 apprehensions in 2008, according to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics. That was down from nearly 1.2 million in 2005.

Ninety-seven percent of those apprehensions were on the southwest border with Mexico and 91 percent of those caught were Mexican.

The report cited the slow U.S. economy and tougher border security as possible factors contributing to the drop.

The number of apprehensions reached its highest level in 1986, when Border Patrol made nearly 1.7 million apprehensions.

But the statistics are a crude measure of immigration since they only count those who are caught.

Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, said the data appear to follow other reports that showed steep declines in illegal immigration from Mexico.

From Government Technology, on new legislation aimed at improving and standardizing ID security requirements:

"The PASS ID Act takes positive steps toward addressing state legislatures' implementation challenges with the REAL ID." -- Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka

The Real ID Act of 2005 was designed to improve security of state-issued driver licenses and ID cards and bring them up to a uniform federal standard. However, states objected to provisions of the act, and its estimated $12 billion cost, so a number of states passed laws prohibiting its implementation, and things ground to a halt as all states asked for, or were given, extensions. Janet Napolitano, as governor of Arizona, objected to Real ID and later, as secretary of Homeland Security, asked for some viable options.

Yesterday, Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and George Voinovich (R-OH) introduced just such an option. The bipartisan "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification" Act of 2009, or Pass ID Act, was met with generally positive reactions from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) the National Governors Association (NGA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

"This legislation will strengthen national security by offering real solutions within a framework that is more workable for states," said the NCSL in a release."The PASS ID Act takes positive steps toward addressing state legislatures' implementation challenges with the REAL ID. NCSL urges Congress to continue to work with NCSL and its members as this legislation moves through the congressional process and to take all possible efforts to ensure state costs for implementation of the Real ID, and any corrective legislation, be fully funded by the federal government."

Secretary’s Events

7 PM EST
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks and receive an award at the 20th Annual World Affairs Council Global Education Dinner
Willard InterContinental Washington Ballroom
1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C.

Public Events

9 AM EDT
Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Biodefense Chief Scientist Diane Berry will participate in a panel discussion about biodefense products at the 2009 Biodefense Vaccines and Therapeutics Conference
Almas Temple Club
1315 K Street NW
Washington, D.C.

10 AM PDT
ICE - Resident Agent in Charge David Wales will participate in a news conference hosted by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department to announce the initial results of a joint investigation targeting a major local drug trafficking organization.
1445 Kansas Ave.
San Luis Obispo, C.A.

Morning Roundup - June 16th

Tuesday, June 16th Morning Roundup - Featured News and Public Events


News Highlights

From The Associated Press, on the agreement signed yesterday between the U.S. and Mexico on strenghtening border security:

The U.S. and Mexico formalized an agreement Monday to work together to secure legal travel and trade across the countries' shared border.

The agreement is outlined in a letter of intent signed by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Mexico's Finance Minister Agustin Carstens.

It expands a 2007 agreement and formalizes plans announced earlier this year to search vehicles at border crossings for bulk weapons and cash being smuggled from the U.S. into Mexico where more than 10,800 people have been killed by drug violence since December 2006.

Napolitano said the cooperation will include sharing information such as data about stolen cars.

Officials have said many of the weapons used in cartel violence in Mexico have come from the U.S.

Both countries are responsible for what goes into Mexico from the U.S., Napolitano said Monday at a news conference. "Our view is that we can either point fingers at each other, or we can work together," she said.

Officials said the agreement will improve communication and strengthen coordination on border enforcement. For instance, the U.S. will train Mexican customs agents and dogs and use more technology along the border.

"The more we work together, the better the service and security we provide to our peoples and economies," Carstens said in a statement.

From The New York Times, on a long overdue reunion:

Growing up among strangers in a refugee camp in the Darfur region of Sudan, 4-year-old Wesal Adam knew her parents mostly as faces in photographs and voices on the phone.

She knew that her father, Motasim Adam, and her mother, Wejdan Adam, lived in Brooklyn and that Mr. Adam drove a cab. But she did not know what they felt like or smelled like or how much they loved her - if at all.

Wesal did not know why she had been separated by deserts and oceans from her parents, but once she learned to talk she knew that her lack of certain papers was keeping her from them.

But on Monday morning at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Wesal and her father walked off a plane, reuniting the family and bringing a joyful end to a struggle that lasted more than two years.

From The Philadelphia Inquirer, on a big step forward for the Philadelphia International Airport's baggage screening system:

Mark Gale, acting Philadelphia Aviation Director, said the total cost of the new baggage handling systems at the airport's international terminal will be $50 million. The balance will be paid from airport funds, primarily bond funds,
Gale said.

The first part of the project for the A-East international terminal is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2010. A second phase will involve construction of an airfield building for rescreening bags arriving on international flights.

Gale said much of the screening by the Transportation Safety Administration is currently done manually, and the new machines will greatly speed the process.

Napolitano said in a statement: "These state-of-the-art baggage screening systems will enhance, airport security, streamline check-in procedures for passengers, and increase safety for TSA employees."

Secretary's Events

1:30PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano and Administrator Fugate will announce FEMA preparedness grants and participate in a media availability
Location: DHS HQ, Washington, D.C.



Public Events

9AM EDT
Customs and Border Protection Aire and Marine reps will participate in a demonstration of a Marine Advanced Concept Technology vessel.
Location:
1900 SE 15th Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL



9:30 AM EDT
US-CERT Director Mischel Kwon will participate in a panel discussion at the Symantec Government Symposium
Location:
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C.



10AM EDT
Under Secretary for Management Elaine Duke will testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce and the District of Columbia, on pandemic influenza preparedness and the federal workforce
Location:
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.



10AM EDT
National Protection and Programs Infrastructure Protection Security Division Director Sue Armstrong will testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security about Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS)
Location:
311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.



10:30AM CDT
ICE San Antonio Field Office Director, Michael J. Pitts will participate in a press conference with the Webb County Sheriff’s Office announcing the deployment of Secure Communities to six additional Texas counties.
Location:
902 Victoria Street
Laredo, Texas



2PM EDT
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications Peter Fonash will testify before the House Science and Technology, Subcommittees on Research and Science Education and Technology and Innovation on federal response to the 60-day Cyberspace Policy Review
Location:
2318 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.



3PM EDT
National Protection and Programs Risk Governance and Support Division Assistant Director Robert Kolasky will deliver remarks about building a homeland security national risk assessment at the Security Analysis and Risk Management (SARMA) Annual Conference
Location:
George Mason University
3401 Fairfax Drive, Room 330
Arlington, VA