Remarks by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at the Public/Private Sector Program on Emergency Preparedness

Phoenix, Arizona
Public/Private Sector Program on Emergency Preparedness
September 28, 2004
(Remarks as Prepared)

Thank you, Sue, for that kind introduction. And thank you all for your warm welcome. Mayor Gordon, my appreciation to you for being here. And my thanks to Valerie Manning and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce…Sue Stoll and AT&T…Cathy Tisdale and the American Red Cross Grand Canyon Chapter…and many, many others who have worked so hard to make this important event come together.

Communication is key in an emergency – but it’s even more important before an emergency strikes. So I salute the work of so many people here today who understand the need to continue to improve preparedness efforts in your respective companies and organizations. It’s the kind of support from the business community – and business owners – that we, at Homeland Security, have come to appreciate and expect from the private sector, nationwide.

Much like homeland security in general, America’s preparedness requires everyone’s help. As I’ve said many times, the federal government alone cannot protect the homeland, just as a town alone cannot rebuild itself after a hurricane or flood. Instead, homeland security must be a priority in every city, every community and every neighborhood across America.

We’ve learned from 9-11. We’ve learned from past natural disasters. Preparedness gets you swift and efficient response. The devastation and destruction left by a troika of recent hurricanes is a grim reminder that disasters do happen.

And I can assure you that those businesses that took the time to have an emergency plan – and were ready to continue operations under any circumstances – were in much better shape than others. They were prepared.

I know you all join me in commending the tireless work of many people who are helping citizens in hard-hit areas recover from these disasters. In places like Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina, in Pennsylvania and Ohio, public works officials, emergency responders, FEMA, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the National Guard, church groups and other organizations are removing debris, feeding and sheltering people, providing water, ice and comfort – basically saving lives and mending them.

The devastation carried in the winds and rain of Ivan, Frances and Charley brought out the spirit and character of a highly compassionate and resilient people. This spirit is indicative of a concept that some of you have probably heard me talk about before, but it always bears repeating: homeland security is about the integration of a nation. State and local governments, communities, businesses, organizations and citizens, all coming together around a shared goal of keeping our country safe from those who wish us harm.

The private sector is an important element of that integration.

In fact, you are critical to the fight against terrorism – whether through research and development of new technologies, protection of privately owned critical infrastructure, or coordination in the event of a particular threat, as we saw with the financial services sector when parts of the country went to heightened alert in August.

That’s why we have improved information sharing and coordination with the private sector, and reached out to form partnerships with businesses through programs such as the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, and Free and Secure Trade Lanes, special lanes for pre-cleared travelers. In fact, yesterday I was in Nogales to view early engineering efforts on two of these new lanes slated to open at the Mariposa Port of Entry early next year.

The simple fact is that the private sector helps keep us secure by keeping our economy moving forward. The private sector provides the tools, technologies, and best practices that are being used today – and developed for tomorrow – to protect our homeland. And you contribute to the planning, preparation, and policy making that occurs at the federal, state, and local level.

We cannot secure the homeland without the cooperation – in fact, the complete commitment – of the private sector, and that means everyone from small businesses to large corporations.

Now, I have spoken a little bit about natural disasters, and a little bit about terrorism. It’s why I like to refer to the Department of Homeland Security as an “all-hazards” agency. And, as such, we will continue to educate the public and businesses about the importance of being prepared for all emergencies, whether wrought by disaster or design. Our goal is to achieve seamless protection – a nation knit tightly together by shared vigilance, readiness, and communication.

After all, no government entity, no organization, no information expert can replace individual responsibility. When it comes to preparedness, citizens and business owners must choose to take action. Our job is to make that choice an easy and informed one.

Fortunately, there is a willingness to take on this responsibility. It’s no surprise that Americans want to help. They just need to know how.

As you know, last year, the Department of Homeland Security began to inform Americans about preparedness and awareness through our Ready campaign.

With the help of many people in this room, millions of Americans have responded, and have put together emergency kits and family communications plans.

Also, throughout September, more than 80 organizations and 56 states and territories launched National Preparedness Month, led by the America Prepared Campaign, which combines the innovation and expertise of the private sector, government, nonprofit organization and citizens to relay the important message of preparedness.

The response – from both the public and private sector – has been overwhelming. Many of you in this room have contributed to the singular success of the Ready campaign and National Preparedness Month, but I know that all of you believe we can do even better. And we are.

Last week, we launched Ready Business. This extension of the Ready campaign will help owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses prepare their employees, operations and assets in the event of an emergency.

As I mentioned, I have seen first-hand over the past several weeks how important a family ready kit and emergency plan can be – and the same is true for businesses. The steps business owners and managers can take to protect your operations and your employees – not to mention your bottom line – are simple, but the consequences of not taking action could be severe.

Small businesses employ half of all workers in the private sector and provide nearly 45 percent of the nation’s total payroll. If these businesses are ready to survive and recover from any emergency, then the nation and our economy will be more secure.

Similar to the Ready Campaign’s emphasis: get a kit, make a plan, be informed, Ready Business is organized around three themes: plan to stay in business, talk to your employees, protect your investment. It is not by accident that these are action-oriented suggestions. Being ready means taking actions now that will protect your company and employees later.

It’s important to make a plan. Talk to your suppliers and customers and know how they might be affected. Understand how your business operates so you can shift decision making if necessary. Assign responsibilities and develop procedures for crisis situations – including evacuation and shelter-in-place plans. Make provisions so that a disaster or attack won’t necessarily impede your payroll, your sales or your delivery of goods or services to customers.

It’s important to talk to your people. Include employees from all areas of your organization in the emergency planning process. Develop a communications plan that will allow you to contact employees on or off-site. Run drills and table-top exercises that simulate situations your business could face, and allow employees to practice their role in keeping themselves and each other safe.

It’s important to protect your investment. Talk to a professional about insurance coverage. Configure your office or storefront and valuable assets so that damage will be mitigated in the event of a natural disaster. Take steps to protect everything from your physical space to your presence in cyber-space with security systems, back-up generators, and online virus protection.

These steps are just a sample of the detailed guidance for businesses now available on the Ready website. I encourage everyone to visit the site, whether you are a small business owner, employee or interested citizen.

I understand that many of you have taken such actions within your companies, including General Dynamics in the Valley, which challenged other businesses to follow suit, and many have taken up that challenge.

That’s giving business competition a whole new twist – but it’s just the kind of cooperation and commitment we need to keep the momentum of readiness and results at surging levels.

Because until every community has prepared for a potential attack, until every business has an evacuation and “shelter in place” plan, until every school child knows what to do in an emergency, until every American is “ready”, there will be work remaining.

And yet, since the tragedy of 9/11, together as a nation we have made great progress in strengthening the security of our country – and we did so with a sense of urgency and collective will unprecedented in modern times. Immediately following the tragedy, we united, and we went to work. We reconstructed and unified programs, people and priorities in a way that facilitated speed, openness and outcomes. We joined together to seek out the most advanced technologies. We worked to reduce the vulnerabilities that were exploited on September 11th and think analytically about those that could be exploited in the future. We examined our critical infrastructure, our transportation systems, our borders, our ports, and, of course, the skies overhead. Nothing was beyond our scope of analysis and review.

Certainly, securing our homeland and protecting our citizens is a monumental task. We must guard thousands of miles of borders, shoreline, highways, railways and waterways. But together, we took the challenge head-on, and you can see and feel the difference in ways large and small.

Before September 11th, ticket agents asked who packed a traveler's bags, but little else was done in the airport or the aircraft to provide security.

Today we have deployed newly-trained screeners and thousands of federal air marshals; we've hardened cockpit doors on the aircraft, introduced state-of-the-art technologies, which, from the curb to the cockpit, have made airline travel safer.

We further strengthened our borders, for example, by deploying biometric technologies, such as those used in our US-VISIT system, retooling our student exchange program and unifying border inspection processes to ensure that we continue to welcome the free flow of trade and travelers, but keep terrorists out.

Before September 11th, we never looked in a container of cargo until it reached our shores, though nearly 20,000 containers arrive in our ports every single day. Now, as I speak, there are U.S. inspectors in Rotterdam and Singapore and Hong Kong and 22 other international ports of trade, working alongside our allies to target and screen cargo.

Before September 11th, our national stockpile of medications to protect Americans against a bioterrorist attack was drastically undersupplied. Today we have stockpiled a billion doses of antibiotics and vaccines, including enough smallpox vaccine for every man, woman and child in America.

There is so much more to tell. Before September 11th, our first preventers and first-responders lacked the financial resources and equipment they needed to respond together to a crisis.

And yet today we have allocated or awarded more than $8.5 billion dollars for our state and local partners across the country.

Here in Arizona, more than $135 million dollars have helped state and local officials fund training exercises, and also much-needed equipment, such as incident and recovery planning software, a bomb removal/disruptor robot, cyber terrorism protective software and more – all important tools and knowledge needed by the brave men and women who are the first to be called to an emergency scene.

This is merely a brief glimpse of the progress that we as a nation have made. If you're thinking that there's more that we can do, you're right. But after three years, in every way possible, we've made a real difference in securing our people and our homeland. The successful integration of people and technology for a greater purpose has had a genuine result. Thanks to new layered protections across land, air, and sea, our nation is safer, stronger and better protected than ever before.

Sadly, the scourge of terrorism since 9/11 has continued to show itself in the worst of ways – from Beslan to Madrid, from Riyadh to Baghdad. And a one-two-three punch of hurricanes has wreaked catastrophic destruction on many states and many lives. So we continue to move forward. For there is still plenty of work left to be done – and we will get it done.

Why?  Because we have faced hard fights before. And we have stared down daunting adversaries before. And we have faced moments of tragedy and disaster before. And we have always done so together.

A deep well of resiliency exists in all of us, in people who are not afraid or weary, but at times of great loss, rise up with great strength and great resolve.

Thanks to you, as a country, we have come a long way since 9/11, and I appreciate your willingness to help us go the distance as we work to speed and spread preparedness efforts throughout the nation.

This month, our thoughts collectively went to the nearly 3,000 citizens of more than 80 nations who lost their lives on September 11th, three years ago. We will not forget them. We will long honor them, by pledging all we are and all we want to be to the fight for freedom’s cause.

I have every confidence that we will prevail – and that generations from now – from canyon to coast, from sea to shining sea, this nation will still be the freest, greatest, most treasured place to call home – our home – the United States of America.

Thank you.

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