Mr. Michael Meade, Deputy Field Office Director, US Immigration and Customs Enforecement[/caption]I would like to thank President Foote and the Federation for the opportunity to speak to you today about the Department of Homeland Security. I am truly honored for this opportunity.

Most people of my father’s generation remember exactly where they were on November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot. For me and my generation, most will remember exactly where they were on September 11, 2001.

The Department of Homeland Security was formed in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as part of a determined national effort to safeguard the United States against terrorism. The Department became the third-largest Federal department, bringing together 22 different Federal agencies with over 200,000 federal employees, each with a role in this effort. Some of these agencies were very well known, such as the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Secret Service. There were also agencies such as the Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center. Before this, I only knew Plum Island as the title of a book by Nelson DeMille.

Eleven days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was appointed as the first Director of the Office of Homeland Security in the White House. The office oversaw and coordinated a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard the country against terrorism and respond to any future attacks.

With the passage of the Homeland Security Act by Congress in November 2002, the Department of Homeland Security formally came into being as a stand-alone, Cabinet-level department to further coordinate and unify national homeland security efforts, opening its doors on March 1, 2003. I was privileged to be in attendance when Secretary Ridge gave his first public address to future Homeland Security employees on January 30, 2003. Secretary Ridge was a larger than life figure and just what we employees needed at that time, he was our John Wayne.

An interesting fact about the Department of Homeland Security is that the outline and overall purpose of the Department had been proposed both by the U.S. Commission on National Security in January of 2001 and Congressman Mac Thornberry of Texas in March 2001.

Our Mission

The vision of homeland security is to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards.

Three key concepts form the foundation of our national homeland security strategy designed to achieve this vision:

• Security,
• Resilience, and
• Customs and Exchange.

These missions are enterprise-wide, and not limited to the Department of Homeland Security.

Hundreds of thousands of people from across the federal government, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, the private sector, and other nongovernmental organizations are responsible for executing these missions.

These are the people who regularly interact with the public, who are responsible for public safety and security, who own and operate our nation’s critical infrastructures and services, who perform research and develop technology, and who keep watch, prepare for, and respond to emerging threats and disasters. The Core Missions of DHS

There are five homeland security missions:

1. Prevent terrorism and enhancing security;
2. Safeguard and secure cyberspace
3. Ensure resilience to disasters
4. Enforce and administer our immigration laws;
5. Secure and manage our borders;

I believe there are areas within each of our five missions that will be of interest to the Federation and its members.

Preventing Terrorism and Enhancing Security

Recent events in Paris and Belgium have made this an important topic and it remains the number one priority of the Department.

Protecting the American people from terrorist threats is our founding principle and our highest priority. The Department of Homeland Security’s counterterrorism responsibilities focus on three goals:

1. Prevent terrorist attacks;
2. Prevent the unauthorized acquisition, importation, movement, or use of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials and capabilities within the United States; and
3. Reduce the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and key resources, essential leadership, and major events to terrorist attacks and other hazards. Global Aviation Security – In response to both 9/11 and evolving threats, and with the help and support of Congress, DHS has significantly adapted and enhanced its ability to detect threats through a multilayered, risk-based system.

Cargo Screening – Securing the global supply chain, while ensuring its smooth functioning, is essential to our national security and economic prosperity.

Strengthen International Partnerships – DHS works internationally not only to maintain our physical security, but also protect our economic security.

Critical Infrastructure Protection – DHS works closely with international partners to strengthen the security of the networks of global trade and travel upon which the nation’s economy and communities rely.

Safeguard and Secure Cyberspace The Department has the lead for the federal government for securing civilian government computer systems, and works with industry and state, local, tribal and territorial governments to secure critical infrastructure and information systems. The Department works to:

• analyze and reduces cyber threats and vulnerabilities;
• distribute threat warnings; and
• Coordinate the response to cyber incidents to ensure that our computers, networks, and cyber systems remain safe.

Ensuring Resilience to Disasters

The term “resilience” refers to the ability to adapt to changing conditions and withstand and rapidly recover from disruption due to emergencies. Whether it is resilience towards acts of terrorism, cyber-attacks, pandemics, and catastrophic natural disasters, our national preparedness is the shared responsibility of all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors, and individual citizens.

The Department of Homeland Security provides the coordinated, comprehensive federal response in the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency while working with federal, state, local, and private sector partners to ensure a swift and effective recovery effort. The Department builds a ready and resilient nation through efforts to:

• Bolster information sharing and collaboration
• Provide grants, plans and training to our homeland security and law enforcement partners

Ensuring Rapid Recovery

• FEMA released the National Disaster Recovery Framework which was developed in partnership with stakeholders representing local, state, tribal and federal governments, private organizations, professional associations, academic experts, and communities recovering from disasters. The Recovery Framework defines how federal agencies will work together to best meet the needs of states and communities in their ongoing recovery, by aligning key roles and responsibilities among all our partners.
• FEMA’s Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Certification Program encourages the adoption of continuity standards and practices by businesses everywhere as a way to build the Nation’s resilience.
• Launched in February 2003, FEMA’s Ready campaign is a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters. The goal of the campaign is to get the public involved and ultimately to increase the level of basic preparedness across the nation.
• Superstorm Sandy, which the Northeastern United States in October of 2012, reinforced the need to be resilient and have disaster recovery plans in place. Reports commissioned by The President, the Governor of New York and Mayor of New York all underscore its value; particularly in the realm of rebuilding resiliently.

In the wake of Hurricane Ike in September 2008, I was placed in charge of several Special Response Teams and was dispatched to Houston, Texas to assist with the relief efforts. I learned a valuable lesson that you could use should you ever have the misfortune of being in the midst of a natural disaster. Upon arriving in Houston, our first assignment was to secure lodging. Power outages were widespread. We found a hotel that appeared to be occupied.

We went inside to find a large group of electric company technicians checking in. There was no electricity, but we were fortunate that they had rooms for us and clean water. As we waited to check in, the electric company technicians told us not to worry, as they did not want to sleep without a hot shower or air conditioning, so the hotel would be the first location to which they would restore power. So, the lesson is, look for the hotel being used by the electric company and you should be in good hands.

Secure and manage our borders

In addition to the often controversial topic of enforcing immigration laws, a key part of our mission to secure and manage our borders involved commerce and trade.

Facilitating Commerce

• International commerce is critical to America’s economy, and the entire world. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is committed to keeping it safe and vibrant.
• CBP creates and implements programs using sophisticated technologies, and trains personnel to help achieve the goals of securing U.S. ports and borders while also expediting trade. CBP works closely with other governments and the private sector to ensure the efficient flow of goods throughout the world.

A New Trade Strategy

• To address the growth, risks and complexities of international trade, CBP developed a trade strategy to guide our efforts toward a system that is swift, safe and secure for legitimate imports and exports.
• The strategy works to modernize CBP’s processes to enforce U.S. trade laws, collect revenue accurately, and advance national and economic security.

Prioritizing Trade Issues

CBP prioritizes trade issues based on impact of non-compliance. Currently, CBP focuses on achieving results for seven priority trade issues:

• Agriculture
• Anti-dumping and countervailing duties
• Import safety
• Intellectual property rights
• Penalties
• Revenue
• Textiles

My agency within DHS, ICE, is heavily involved in the area of intellectual property rights.

The (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) stands at the forefront of the United States Government’s response to global intellectual property (IP) theft and enforcement of its international trade laws.

The mission of the IPR Center is to ensure national security by protecting the public’s health and safety, the U.S. economy, and our war fighters, and to stop predatory and unfair trade practices that threaten the global economy.

To accomplish this goal, the IPR Center brings together 23 partner agencies, consisting of 19 key federal agencies, Interpol, Europol and the governments of Canada and Mexico in a task-force setting.

The task force structure enables the IPR Center to effectively leverage the resources, skills, and authorities of each partner and provide a comprehensive response to IP theft. The IPR Center is led by an ICE-HSI Director with Deputy Directors from HSI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

IPR Center partners employ a strategic approach to combat IP Theft. That approach includes:

Investigation – Identifying, disrupting, prosecuting and dismantling criminal organizations involved in the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit products.

Interdiction – Using focused targeting and inspections to keep counterfeit and pirated goods out of U.S. supply chains, markets and streets.

Outreach and Training – Providing training for domestic and international law enforcement to build stronger enforcement capabilities worldwide. Our global economy and e-commerce have made combating IP theft a more complex challenge. There are more threats to border security, national security, and U.S. economic stability. The IPR Center is prepared to take on these challenges.

Some key successes in this area were represented in cases where the IPR center played a key role in shutting down the sale and distribution of:

• Counterfeit and unsafe vehicle airbags, hazardous children’s toys, and counterfeit prescription medication.

The Department’s internet site, DHS. GOV, is highly recommend for those that reside within the U.S. or spend a great deal of time here. It even has useful information for people that may not reside here, but travel here or may be planning to travel here. Some of the information available to the public includes:

• Protect Myself from Cyber Attacks
• Report Cyber Incidents
• Prepare My Family for a Disaster
• Report Suspicious Activity
• Find Overseas Travel Alerts
• Get a Homeland Security Job
• Do Business with DHS
• Verify Employment Eligibility (E-Verify)
• Get a Green Card
• Check the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS)
• File a Travel Complaint (DHS TRIP)

Before I go, I would like to share with you some statistics that illustrate just some of the functions performed by the Department of Homeland Security every day. We refer to this as a Day in the Life of DHS.

To prevent terrorism and enhance security, TODAY, DHS will:

• Screen approximately 2 million passengers and their checked baggage before they board commercial aircraft;
• Intercept 90 prohibited items at checkpoints (TSA outbound and CBP inbound) and prevent 1,945 prohibited items from entering federal facilities;
• Deploy thousands of transportation security officers and federal air marshals to protect the traveling public;
• Minimize the wait times of passengers’ security screening to an average of less than 10 minutes;
• Monitor 1,428 radiation portal monitors to scan 100 percent of all containerized cargo entering from Canada and Mexico; 100 percent of the personally owned vehicles entering from Canada and Mexico; and 99 percent of all arriving seaborne containerized cargo for illicit radiological/nuclear materials;

To secure and manage our borders,
TODAY, DHS will:

• Process nearly 1 million travelers entering the United States at air, land and sea ports of entry;
• Inspect more than 47,000 truck, rail and sea containers;
• Process more than $88 million in fees, duties and tariffs;
• Seize 11,435 pounds of narcotics at or near ports of entry nationwide;
• Seize or remove 1,100 pounds of illegal drugs via maritime routes;
• Issue 200 credentials to qualified merchant mariners to ensure the safety, security and efficiency of the maritime supply chain; and
• Manage 3,500 commercial vessel transits through the Marine Transportation System to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of goods and people.
• Make an average 728 administrative arrests and 638 criminal alien arrests;
• Seize approximately $400,000 in undeclared or illicit currency at and between U.S. ports of entry nationwide;
• Litigate nearly 1,500 cases in immigration court and obtain 6,161 final orders of removal including 933 for criminal aliens;
• House 33,429 illegal aliens in detention facilities nationwide;
• Process 24,371 applications for immigration benefits; and
• Naturalize nearly 2,583 new U.S. citizens.
• Patrol 3.4 million square miles of U.S. waterways
• Save 13 lives, respond to 64 search and rescue cases and prevent loss of $260,000 in property damage.

In closing, I would once again like to thank the Federation for the honor of this opportunity and especially to President Foote. I am blessed to count such a man as my friend. He is a man deeply committed to his family, his country, and the Federation. Once again, thank you.