Open for Questions: Aviation Security

We announced the other day that Secretary Napolitano would sit down for live Facebook chat on aviation security. The White House posted the video for those that missed the livestream. Check it out below.

REMINDER: Watch, Discuss, Engage: Secretary Napolitano Answers your Questions about Aviation Security

Join Secretary Janet Napolitano TODAY for a live Facebook chat – hosted by the White House – on aviation security. Secretary Napolitano is engaging with leaders around the world as part of a broad initiative to strengthen the international aviation system against the evolving threats posed by terrorists. We realize that the American public has questions about new screening measures and technology, and about how we’re working with our international partners to bolster security on flights coming to the United States from foreign countries.

Secretary Napolitano will answer your questions at 3:00 PM EST via the White House’s facebook chat application.

Watch the chat @ WhiteHouse.gov/live

Watch, discuss, and engage through Facebook

President's Report and Directive on Attempted 12/25/09 Attack and Subsequent Briefing by Secretary Napolitano

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, left, with White House Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, speaks about the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing during a briefing at the White House,  Jan. 7, 2010.   (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

The President spoke to the American public this afternoon, outlining the details in the White House's report on the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack. The report itself focuses on the shortcomings related to intelligence collection, sharing and integration within the intelligence community. You can download a pdf copy of the report here:

Read the summary of the security review

The President simultaneously issued a directive for multiple federal departments and agencies, ordering corrective actions with respect to intelligence, screening, and watchlisting systems and programs. Relevant to this blog, the President ordered DHS to undertake the following:

• Aggressively pursue enhanced screening technology, protocols, and procedures, especially in regard to aviation and other transportation sectors, consistent with privacy rights and civil liberties; strengthen international partnerships and coordination on aviation security issues.
• Develop recommendations on long-term law enforcement requirements for aviation security in coordination with the Department of Justice.

You can download the full pdf version of the President's directive here:

Read the President's Directive on corrective actions (pdf).

Secretary Napolitano, Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan, and Robert Gibbs briefed the press shortly after the President's statement, delving further into the report and detailing the recommendations and findings within.

The Secretary discussed the immediate steps DHS took after the attempted attack, noting that DHS strengthened screening requirements for passengers entering the United States and deployed additional law enforcement officers, behavior detection officers, and explosive detection K-9 units to airports across the country. It's worth mentioning that while these additional measures are both seen and unseen, that they add to the "layers of security" already in place at airports and on airplanes traveling to and from the United States.

The Secretary also outlined five long-term steps the department is taking to correct the shortcomings that led to the attempted attack:

1. Re-evaluate and modify the process for creation and modification of terror "watchlists" - including adjusting the process by which names are added to the “No-Fly” and “Selectee” lists.
2. Establish a partnership on aviation security between DHS and the Department of Energy and its National Laboratories in order to develop new and more effective technologies to deter and disrupt known threats and proactively anticipate and protect against new ways by which terrorists could seek to board an aircraft.
3. Accelerate deployment of advanced imaging technology to provide greater explosives detection capabilities—and encourage foreign aviation security authorities to do the same—in order to identify materials such as those used in the attempted Dec. 25 attack. The Transportation Security Administration currently has 40 machines deployed throughout the United States, and plans to deploy at least 300 additional units in 2010.
4. Strengthen the presence and capacity of aviation law enforcement—by deploying law enforcement officers from across DHS to serve as Federal Air Marshals to increase security aboard U.S.-bound flights.
5. Work with the Department of State to strengthen international cooperation on aviation security measures, ensuring that we have a consistent system to screen passengers flying to the United States from countries around the world. As I write this, senior department officials - led by Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute - are on a multi-country, multi-continent mission to begin this process, and Secretary Napolitano will travel to Spain later this month to meet with her international counterparts in the first of a series of global meetings intended to bring about broad consensus on new international aviation security standards and procedures.

John Brennan mentioned this afternoon that our intelligence and homeland security communities have made significant progress since 9/11. That's true. Our work, however, is never finished, as we face evolving threats and new intelligence each day. We'll keep you up-to-date on our progress in the weeks and months to come.

Updated: Secretary to Brief from the White House Today

UPDATE: The Secretary will now brief from the White House today at 5:15 PM EST. You can still watch live at whitehouse.gov/live.

We mentioned it in the morning roundup, but the Secretary will participate in a briefing this afternoon at the White House with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan to discuss the report on the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack.

You can watch the briefing live on the White House’s website at 3:45 PM EST today.

GreenGov

We're all used to the blue bins, the green bins – you know the ones with holes exactly as big as a soda can, encouraging you to recycle rather than tossing it into the local landfill, where it would spend the next 200-500 years ever-so-slowly decomposing.

We hear it all the time: Everyone can do their part to make their homes and offices more sustainable. So recycle that can, think of the environment before printing an email, and turn your computer and lights off when you leave the office – trust me, it doesn’t make your boss think you’re still there – or finish up in the kitchen at night.

There's a bigger question here, though. What can government do? How do we make enterprise-wide changes that will conserve energy, recycle goods, and make our facilities and resources more sustainable as we plan for the future? Well, we can start by setting an example.

Last week, the President signed an Executive Order on federal sustainability. The order commits the federal government and its employees to "lead by example" - furthering a culture of sustainability by:

• establishing real greenhouse gas emission reduction targets;
• increasing energy efficiency;
• reducing vehicle fleet gas consumption;
• conserving water and reducing waste;
• and leveraging the government's purchasing power to promote more environmentally-conscience products and technologies.

So where do we begin? This week, The White House launched the GreenGov Challenge - a call to action for federal employees to get involved and submit their best ideas to make our government more sustainable. Employees can submit ideas online and vote on others. The challenge began on October 19th, and continues through the end of the month; employees can head over to the White House's site to get started. Now, while only federal employees may submit ideas, the American public is welcome to log on to view and monitor all the contributions as they are submitted.

So if you're a federal employee, get involved. We need every good idea to make this a success. Those green and blue bins are just a start.

White House Meeting on H1N1 Preparedness

The Secretary participated in a briefing at the White House today on H1N1 preparedness with President Obama, other cabinet secretaries, and White House officials. After the meeting, President Obama was joined by the cabinet secretaries in the Rose Garden and he talked about their meeting, which was focused on the importance of public preparation for H1N1 as we head into flu season.

President Obama:

As I said when we saw the first cases of this virus back in the spring, I don't want anybody to be alarmed, but I do want everybody to be prepared. We know that we usually get a second, larger wave of these flu viruses in the fall, and so response plans have been put in place across all levels of government. Our plans and decisions are based on the best scientific information available, and as the situation changes, we will continue to update the public.

We're also making steady progress on developing a safe and effective H1N1 flu vaccine, and we expect a flu shot program will begin soon. This program will be completely voluntary, but it will be strongly recommended.

For all that we do in the federal government, however, every American has a role to play in responding to this virus. We need state and local governments on the front lines to make antiviral medications and vaccines available, and be ready to take whatever steps are necessary to support the health care system. We need hospitals and health care providers to continue preparing for an increased patient load, and to take steps to protect health care workers. We need families and businesses to ensure that they have plans in place if a family member, a child, or a co-worker contracts the flu and needs to stay home.

And most importantly we need everyone to get informed about individual risk factors, and we need everyone to take the common-sense steps that we know can make a difference. Stay home if you're sick. Wash your hands frequently. Cover your sneezes with your sleeve, not your hands. And take all the necessary precautions to stay healthy. I know it sounds simple, but it's important and it works.

The government recently released updated guidance for businesses and schools, and flu.gov will continue to be a great resource for individuals in advance of flu season. September, as we posted on earlier today, is National Preparedness Month, and every American shares a responsibility to be ready for H1N1 this fall.

From the White House Blog

Secretary Napolitano posted the following on the White House Blog this morning:

I just returned from Guadalajara, Mexico, where President Obama and I met with our Mexican counterparts to continue our collaboration and cooperation on a range of border issues. Today, I'm at the University of Texas at El Paso for their sixth annual Border Security Conference.

Later this morning, I will deliver remarks outlining the cohesive strategy that we've brought to our border security and immigration enforcement efforts. As someone who has been working on these issues for many years, it's clear to me that as our shared border challenges evolve, our approach must evolve as well. That is exactly what we are doing.

In the six months since President Obama's inauguration, we've instituted polices that reflect the reality that border security, enforcement of immigration laws in the interior of the country, and counter-narcotics enforcement are inextricably linked. In my remarks today I will discuss a new strategy, one that relies on simultaneously addressing all these challenges.

It's an approach that uses the laws we have in ways that are smart, tough, and effective. The UTEP speech will be streamed live at 1:15 PM EDT this afternoon and I invite you to tune in here.

Janet Napolitano is the Secretary of Homeland Security.

You can check out the live stream of the Secretary's remarks here.

White House Announces H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit

At today's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced an all-day H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit, scheduled for next Thursday, July 9th, at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C.

H1N1 now exists in over 100 countries around the world, and experts say that the virus may worsen this fall when the traditional flu season starts in the Northern Hemisphere.

Continued cooperation among all federal departments, as well as with state, local, and tribal governments and medical, academic, and business sectors (yes, all of the above) will be vital as we continue to tackle this national public health issue.

The Flu Preparedness Summit will bring government officials and health professionals, emergency managers and educators, non-profit organizations and business executives, together in one room. They'll have a forum to talk about their lessons learned from H1N1 thus far, and importantly, discuss the next steps in assessing and building on current pandemic plans.
The initial news blitz has largely subsided, but the simple fact remains that H1N1 flu is still with us. We'll keep you up-to-date on the summit, and on the department's continuing role in dealing with H1N1.

Working Together for Immigration Reform

(President Barack Obama talks with members of Congress to discuss immigration, Thursday, June 25, 2009,
in the State Dinning Room of the White House. From left; Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, Rep. Luis Guitierrez,
D-Ill., Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., Rep. James Clyburn, D - S.C. the president, Vice President Joe Biden,
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Secretary Napolitano was at the White House yesterday with the President and members of Congress working on identifying a way forward on comprehensive immigration reform. From the White House blog:

While Congressional leaders are working to tackle the complexities of immigration reform, the Administration has already taken steps to improve the system. The FBI has cleared much of the backlog of immigration background checks, the Department of Homeland Security is speeding up citizenship petitions and in conjunction with the Department of Labor, they are working to crack down on employers who are exploiting illegal workers. The President also announced a new collaborative effort that will utilize technology to improve legal immigration:

"Today I'm pleased to announce a new collaboration between my Chief Information Officer, my Chief Performance Officer, my Chief Technologies Officer and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office to make the agency much more efficient, much more transparent, much more user-friendly than it has been in the past.

In the next 90 days, USCIS will launch a vastly improved Web site that will, for the first time ever, allow applicants to get updates on their status of their applications via e-mail and text message and online. And anybody who's dealt with families who are trying to deal with -- navigate the immigration system, this is going to save them huge amounts of time standing in line, waiting around, making phone calls, being put on hold. It's an example of some things that we can do administratively even as we're working through difficult issues surrounding comprehensive immigration.

And the idea is very simple here: We're going to leverage cutting-edge technology to reduce the unnecessary paperwork, backlogs, and the lack of transparency that's caused so many people so much heartache." --More on the White House Blog.

At the President’s direction, Secretary Napolitano will convene a group of leaders from the White House and Congress to begin identifying the way forward on comprehensive immigration reform.