Congress and Politics

Keep DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier

September 15, 2010

By a resounding and expected margin, Washington, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty was defeated for re-election by Council Chairman, Vincent Gray. While I am not a District resident or a Fenty fan, I was impressed with his results and more importantly, the people he put into positions of authority. For as much as I liked what Michelle Rhee, his hand-picked Schools Chancellor, did to fix the disaster known as DC Schools, it was his Police Chief, Cathy Lanier, who I think has done an outstanding job. Her leadership of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has been inspiring on so many levels. I think she has shown herself to be an excellent leader in protecting the safety and security of the District’s citizens.

Is DHS Prepared to Meet the Number One Threat to the US (and do they even know what that threat is)?

Security Debrief |

September 15, 2010

By Douglas Doan
Last week, experts in and out of government debated the extent and potency of the threat from Muslim extremists. Meanwhile, Secretary Napolitano spent time talking about the fear of attack from homegrown terrorists. But what was most interesting of all is that nobody wanted to talk about the single greatest threat to the nation, which was recently highlighted by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, and then later reinforced by Secretary of State Clinton. This new threat is not the Taliban, or some bin Laden splinter group, but the ever growing U.S. national debt.

If you're going to sue Arizona over immigration, then you must sue California over drugs

Chris Battle |

September 14, 2010

If DOJ is going to sue the state of Arizona over its immigration law that is allegedly at odds with federal law, then why is the same standard not applied to California, which has legalized so-called medical marijuana and is pushing to fully legalize pot outright?

It May Be Cool, But is it Smart? Further Questions about the Use of the Predator for Border Enforcement

David Olive |

September 13, 2010

Following my recent posting concerning questions that ought to be asked about the cost-effectiveness of using the Predator for border enforcement purposes, I have heard from several people, and there have been a couple news stories focused on the same theme. Is it smart to deploy a very expensive air platform, like the Predator, no matter how much positive publicity the cool-looking airplane generates for border state politicians? The underlying premise of whether it is “smart” to fly UAVs (like the Predator) for border surveillance missions has NOT been addressed – and it ought to be.

GOP Takeover and the Future of Congressional Oversight

Rich Cooper |

September 10, 2010

Depending upon who you talk to, there are anywhere between 88 to 122 Congressional Committees with DHS oversight. No other Cabinet department or agency in the federal sphere has near the obtrusive oversight problems that DHS has. With midterm election polls forecasting significant losses for Democrats and a prospective GOP takeover of the House of Representatives, it begs the question, “What will change?”

Arizona's 'Sheriff Joe,' Immigration Firebrand, Squares Off With Feds

Media Watch |

September 3, 2010

Arizona’s ‘Sheriff Joe,’ Immigration Firebrand, Squares Off With Feds The Justice Department upped its political and legal pressure on Arizona and its most notable lawman Thursday when it sued Maricopa County and Sheriff Joe Arpaio for allegedly failing to adequately cooperate with a civil rights investigation that predates the state’s controversial anti-immigration measures. Although the […]

Questions to Secretary Napolitano About Using Predator UAVs for Border Enforcement

David Olive |

August 31, 2010

The announcement Monday afternoon by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano that Predator B unmanned aerial vehicles will begin patrolling the skies over American’s Southwest border, funded in part by the latest $600 million infusion of cash from Congress, ought to raise some very serious questions about the manner in which increasingly limited homeland security funds are being spent. If DHS wants to deploy Predator B UAVs, then at least admit that Predators are far more expensive than almost every other alternative – or make the case why this is a better choice. Thus far, the explanations are lacking, and this should not be allowed to continue. When Congress returns, or whenever GAO gets around to it, Secretary Napolitano should be required publicly to address some of the following questions.

State of Arizona files Opening Brief in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Media Watch |

August 27, 2010

State of Arizona files Opening Brief in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – Homeland Security Newswire
Yesterday, 26 August 2010, the State of Arizona filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco its Opening Brief in seeking to overturn the decision of District Court Judge Susan Bolton enjoining enforcement of parts of Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070.

The National Cyber Awareness and Education Campaign

Steven Bucci |

August 24, 2010

Those who read my Security Debrief posts or my Tweets will recognize (maybe with a groan) that one of my “issues” is the lack of action in Awareness and Education with regard to cybersecurity. It is not a sexy, nor a potentially lucrative issue, but I believe with all my heart that it is the foundational piece of any eventual “solution” to our cyber woes. Bottom line of Bucci’s rant is this: we need to make Awareness and Education a real priority and expend the money, time, and personnel to do it correctly.

Homeland Security Still MIA on EMP

admin |

August 24, 2010

As an article by Security Management’s Matthew Harwood reminds us, Homeland Security has not “taken seriously the threat that a high-altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon could fry the nation’s power grid[.]” Dr. Michael J. Frankel is executive director of the EMP Commission, which was created in 2001 to study the national security threat an EMP attack could pose to the United States. If anything, Frankel underplays the scope of the threat. The catastrophe would not stop at our borders, and the Earth would likely recede into the “new” Dark Ages.

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