Adfero Group HSPI

Is anyone else wondering why – if the narco-violence on our southern border is so important (and indeed it is) – why the Administration has yet to announce a nominee to lead the DEA?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on why I believe there must be reform of the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.

Unfortunately, the United States has already missed the boat and time has run out for any “catching up” in policy and tactics in dealing with Pakistan. Today, the world faces the stark and real possibility of Pakistan becoming a failed state and a haven for terrorism with potential nightmarish consequences. Can this be stopped and what should the U.S. do about it?

On March 31, Washington took its first step toward engagement with Tehran through a diplomatic encounter with the Iranian government at the Afghanistan conference in the Hague. Even though the initial contact was awkward, it was clearly a step forward for the Obama administration, and both countries agreed that the opium/heroin trade was a destructive force in both the region and the world. As such, the United States should consider using collaboration on counternarcotics as an effective means to jump-start diplomacy with Iran.

While the debate on the future of cyber security has been underway for some time, one of the world’s great deliberative bodies, the US Senate (in the form of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee) brought an elevated and informed discussion in today’s hearing, “Cyber Security: Developing a National Strategy.”

The private sector owns 85 percent of the nation’s critical infrastructure, and the government simply cannot protect it all. The latest hazard, Swine Flu, has the potential to become a pandemic. There are protocols and trained personnel to support an international effort to contain a pandemic in its earliest stages, including the release of Tamiflu and Relenza from the Strategic National Stockpile. Local, state and federal authorities, however, cannot effectively prepare for and respond to a pandemic without significant help from the private sector. If your company has not already conducted a pandemic drill now is the time to do so.

Here’s the question – who pays for the protection afforded to private companies engaged in protecting America’s critical assets? The answer is: it depends.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a webpage dedicated to the latest information, updates and safety measures the public can take related to Swine Flu.

While I am concerned about the outbreak, I have the comfort of getting to know and study with one of our country’s most impressive leaders. Knowing he’s on the job tells me one of the country’s best doctors and leaders is going to make it right. He will be straightforward; he won’t play games and he will not stop until the situation is addressed completely.

During his hearing, Craig Fugate underscored that vision, talent and leadership is needed to create a stronger national, and not simply, federal capacity to meet obligations to the American people in times of crisis.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recently published a year long study on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) use of risk assessment methodologies to drive resource allocations. The bottom line, according to GAO, is that TSA’s risk assessment capabilities are found wanting. But instead of being defensive about the findings, all of us should feel pretty good about how TSA has proceeded to determine risk priorities thus far.

I was fortunate enough to attend the joint announcement yesterday ay JFK International Airport with CBP and the Dutch government of the FLUX Alliance, the new joint international trusted traveler program. The brand name links CBP’s Global Entry program and the Dutch Privium program into a unified application process with reciprocal privileges for U.S. and Dutch citizens. It’s a great development.

The OEC Conference organizers saved the best for last – Darell Darnell. His presentation, done without notes, was outstanding and was a great insight into the effectiveness of social media during the 2009 Inauguration.

Most of the second day program was spent with concurrent breakout sessions occurring. This allowed the attendees to hear from their counterparts around the country on everything from the Value of Statewide Governance; Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grants; Statewide Communications Interoperability Plans (SCIPs) and more. I’m sure to many people these topics are probably about as exciting as getting front row seats to observe a paint drying marathon, but each of the selected topics addressed core essentials to the planning, execution and funding associated with connecting first responders and more to emergencies and wide scale events.

The release of a report warning of rightwing extremist threats in the United States continues to generate controversy. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman has sent a letter to Secretary Napolitano expressing civil liberties concerns and inquiring about additional actions the Department may take.

For a group that’s dangerously close to being branded as the ‘party of no,’ Republicans have a funny way of showing they can lead. Republican leaders – spearheaded by Congressman John Carter of Texas – are calling for DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to step down or be fired.

Security Debrief is hosting its first online debate to analyze a strategic plan released by the Department of Homeland Security to secure the border with Mexico. The Department released a fact sheet last week — “Southwest Border: The Way Ahead” — which outlines the new activities and spending for specific departments and locations. Contributors Doug Doan and Chad Wolf kick off the debate by offering differing views on the appropriate use of stimulus funds for homeland security projects.

Greetings from sunny and very warm Chicago where the first ever, DHS Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) National Conference is underway. With more than 500+ attendees assembled at the Chicago Hilton, the program has assembled first responders, emergency managers and industry members from around the US (and world) to share, discuss and learn from one another what it takes to be interoperable with one another.

With all this talk of declassified interrogation memos and whether or not to prosecute, it is worth noting that today in Germany the trial of Fritz Gelowicz and three others begins. Who is Fritz Gelowicz, you may ask?

Today, CQ Homeland Security published a story with quotes from three Security Debrief contributors. Chris Battle, Julie Myers Wood, and Rich Cooper agreed that the experiences of Craig Fugate and John Morton will make for a less than controversial confirmation process.