Secretary Napolitano's Pen & Pad Session with Reporters 6/25/09

improve upon them. A few weeks ago, I began speaking about the five major missions of the Department of Homeland Security. Counterterrorism, securing the borders, enforcing smart and effective immigration policies, preparing for, responding to, recovering from disasters, and then, building one Department of Homeland Security. The next four or five weeks are going to be a keen focus on the counterterrorism aspect of this Department, why, because it is the reason this Department was started, and there's a lot of work to be done in that area, one of the first things I will be doing is leaving on a week long trip Saturday to Europe and to Kuwait, where I will be working on Homeland Security issues in a variety of ways. It's an ideal time to really address what is happening around the world It's an ideal time to identify, not only plots that have been disrupted in the past, what worked, but what we need to be doing jointly in the future. In the UK for example, I'm very interested in what they are doing, on what we call deradicalization, which is the effort to prevent homegrown terrorism from errupting. So, you know, in a Department where you can focus on many things, my focus right now is on this counterrorism issue. My view is that we have to stand in a constant state of readiness and preparation and do all that we can to minimize risk to the United States. But we can't put the United States under a bubble, so, that's why agreements on how we deal with air flights, how we share information, traveler data, so very useful in the effort to protect, the Homeland, the United States. Terrorism can also occur in different ways, we've seen it aviation and transportation focused. But, there are other avenues as well, fortunately none that have actuated, but that possibly could and we need to be thinking, preparing for that as well. So, if you ask me what's the threat environment. The threat environment is ongoing and ever-present. When I get back, I will turn my attention immediately to a bill that was proposed in the Senate this past week, known as Pass I.D. Pass I.D. is a national security measure. It fulfills one of the key recommendations of the 9/11 commission which was that the federal government set a national standard for identification. While the federal government sets the standard it is up for the states to implement that standard. And Pass I.D. is the bill that would, that provides that implementation mechanism. It's a common sense bill it's been worked on with the nations governors in a bi-partisan fashion. It already has bi-partisan support. The National Sheriff's Association endorsed it a couple of days ago. The Federal Law Enforcement Association just endorsed it as well, so a lot of law enforcement support coming on board. But, that is a bill that, in my view, will help us on our, really our, never ending quest to not only fill the mandates of the 9/11 commission but even improve upon them.