For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
The United States Senate today confirmed President Obama’s nomination of Jane Holl Lute to become the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Ms. Lute will serve as the second-most senior official at the Department led by Secretary Janet Napolitano.
“No one is better suited to assume the role of Deputy Secretary of this Department than Jane Holl Lute. Jane brings to the table a wealth of crisis-management and complex organizational leadership experience,” said Secretary Napolitano. “She is a deep and strategic thinker, a tested and accomplished manager, and she knows how to get things done.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced Ms. Lute at her Senate confirmation hearing by saying, “Ms. Lute has the management skills, the dedication and the willingness to serve this country – something that we desperately need. She is a strong and tested leader, who knows how to get things done. This is as good an appointment as I think has ever come before Congress.”
Lee H. Hamilton, Former Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission wrote in a letter to Congress, “[Jane Holl Lute] has a rare capacity for getting things done and done well; especially pertinent in this context is her ability to bring about harmonious functioning of different elements within a large organization.”
The National Sheriffs’ Association President, David A. Goad, wrote in a letter, “We are extraordinarily pleased…with her vast qualifications…Together, with Secretary Napolitano, we are confident in Ms. Lute’s ability to continue to strengthen and cultivate the relationship between DHS and state and local law enforcement, creating a safer America for all citizens.”
Biography of Jane Holl Lute
Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute has over thirty years of military and senior executive experience in the United States government and at the heart of efforts to prevent and resolve international crises.
Ms. Lute served as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, responsible for support to peacekeeping operations. In this capacity, Ms. Lute managed operational support for the second-largest deployed military presence in the world. At the United Nations, Ms. Lute led rapid-response support to a wide variety of operations and crises in some of the most remote, austere, and dangerous environments in the world. She also effectively directed the growth of United Nations Peacekeeping support from a $1.8 billion to nearly $8 billion operation. Most recently, Ms. Lute led the United Nations initiative designed to coordinate efforts to build sustainable peace in countries emerging from violent conflict.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Lute served on the National Security Council staff under both President George H.W. Bush and President William Jefferson Clinton.
Ms. Lute was Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Fund, the entities established to administer Ted Turner's $1 billion contribution to support the goals of the United Nations. She also headed the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict and was a senior public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Ms. Lute had a distinguished career in the United States Army, including service in the Gulf during Operation Desert Storm.
Ms. Lute has a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University.
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