Secretary Chertoff Reviews the Department Success
(video transcript)

December 18, 2008

Arlington, Va.
Freedom Center

Hello, I'm Michael Chertoff. I'm here at the Freedom Center, one of the many facilities created after the Sept. 11th attacks to protect our country from terrorist threats and to improve coordination during major disasters and emergencies. In this case, threats to our aviation system.

As we look to the future, my hope is to turn over to my successor an integrated, well-functioning department – one that has addressed, or on the path to addressing, the most significant threats facing our country. As we've learned from experience, we must remain flexible with a forward-looking perspective to stay ahead of evolving threats, and we must resist complacency.

It's been my privilege over the past four years to lead the more than 218,000 men and women of our Department, who are working every day to keep the American people safe from harm.

The scope of our challenge is immense, and our responsibilities are unique across the government.

On an average day, we screen more than two million air travelers. We inspect more than 300,000 cars crossing our borders. We check 70,000 shipping containers for dangerous materials at our ports. We secure thousands of pieces of critical infrastructure – from bridges and dams to chemical plants and cyber systems. We rescue hundreds of people in danger or distress. And we naturalize more than 3,200 new American citizens and conduct 135,000 national security background checks.

We manage these and other risks every day. That's not to say we can protect every person from every danger at every moment. Nor can we eliminate all risk. What we can do is provide the best possible protection against the most consequential threats, with minimal disruption and inconvenience to the American people.

If you look back to where we stood as a nation prior to 9/11, and where we are today, there's no question we're far better protected and far better equipped to deal with 21st-century threats.

We've completely overhauled our aviation security system. Today, more than 20 layers of security protect air travelers, from hardened cockpit doors and Federal Air Marshals to 100 percent screening of passengers and bags.

At our borders, we've built hundreds of miles of fencing, doubled the size of the Border Patrol, added new technology and deployed the National Guard. Through the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, we've also trained thousands of new Border Patrol agents to handle the rigors of the border environment.

I've been to the southern border more than a dozen times over the past four years. I even welded some of the border fence. There's a transformation taking place in border towns and communities that were once plagued by drug smuggling and overrun with illegal immigrants.

For the first time in decades, fewer illegal immigrants are entering our country. This is a direct result of heightened security and enforcement.

In the interior, we've arrested record numbers of illegal aliens – including more than 11,000 gang members and 34,000 fugitives – and we've deported more than 349,000 illegal aliens in the past year. We've cracked down on employers who blatantly violate immigration laws, while giving businesses better tools, like E-Verify, to maintain a legal workforce.

At our seaports, we now scan virtually 100 percent of incoming cargo for radiation to make sure a weapon of mass destruction doesn't enter the United States through the global supply chain. Prior to 9/11, we hardly scanned any cargo. In addition, we have stationed our inspectors overseas to screen cargo before it leaves foreign ports.

We've also taken action to strengthen the security of identification documents. We require passports or other secure documents to enter the United States from within our own hemisphere. This closes a pre-9/11 loophole that left us vulnerable.

Through the US-VISIT system, we capture biometric fingerprints of just about every foreign visitor entering the United States, and we check those prints in real time against terrorist and criminal watch lists – all while maintaining rigorous privacy protections. Before 9/11, we didn't have this capability.

We've implemented new standards for secure driver's licenses across the United States to prevent the use of fraudulent or stolen documents. The Secret Service, which is known mainly for protecting our nation's leaders, also plays a major role in combating identity theft – this year disrupting an international scheme involving the theft of more than 40 million credit card numbers.

To protect chemical plants, we require high-risk chemical facilities to develop security plans and harden their assets, and we have implemented new regulations to protect chemical shipments traveling by rail.

Moreover, to guard against a dangerous biological attack, we have deployed early-warning surveillance systems to 30 major metropolitan areas under our BioWatch program.

Finally, we've integrated lessons from Hurricane Katrina and other disasters to ensure the federal government is fully prepared to support our state and local partners and the American people during a major disaster.

We've strengthened FEMA, built new capabilities for tracking commodities, improved emergency communications, and developed much stronger connections with our partners at all levels, including the Department of Defense and the private sector.

Not all of this work is glamorous. It doesn't always make headlines. But it has contributed to what I consider tangible, substantial improvements in the security and preparedness of our nation.

It has been a personal privilege for me to serve as Secretary and to make a contribution to our nation's security. I take comfort in knowing that the dedicated men and women I've come to know and work with over the last four years will continue to be on the frontlines of protecting our country – in places like the Freedom Center and other locations across the nation.

It's been an honor to serve with them, and I rest easy knowing they are there, standing watch and keeping all of us safe.