Executive Session

EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - February 15, 2005)

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I thank Judge Michael Chertoff for having the courage to take on the challenging tasks of leading the Department of Homeland Security. He is an ideal nominee for this position, and I look forward to working with him and other department officials to ensure that we have the best possible border and port security, cyber security, and efficient distribution of DHS resources and personnel.

There are several issues that we need to address in the short term, particularly in the areas of state homeland security grants and cyber security.

For the last 4 years, the Department of Homeland Security has provided billions of dollars throughout the country to prevent, prepare for, and respond to acts of terrorism. There are several effective first responder grant programs that have raised our nation's overall level of preparedness and ability to react to all manner of disasters.

However, many of the funds distributed to states and local Governments have been allocated by formulas that fail to take into consideration actual needs or are not based on real risks of terrorism. It is time that Congress re-examine the methods of distributing these critical preparedness funds. In order to adequately secure the nation against terrorist attacks, the Federal Government must strategically distribute grants to states and local governments in an efficient manner and to the places where they will be most effective. Congress must take the lead in reforming the system for distributing these funds based on actual threats and vulnerabilities and enable Federal agencies to target critical gaps in state and local terrorism prevention and preparedness capabilities.

We know that terrorists seek to strike the U.S. where it will do the most damage, either in terms of American lives or our country's economy and vital assets. Of course, we should make sure that our population centers are protected, but that does not mean that funds should only go to urban areas. When it comes to protecting our economy and vulnerable critical infrastructure, we need to be mindful of protecting all the vital components of these systems. Taking the U.S. food supply as an example, this would mean securing both up and down stream components, from agriculture and food production systems to the ports that ship products in and out of the country.

By targeting terrorism preparedness funds to the communities and components of the economy that are most at risk, the whole country benefits.

And looking beyond traditional terrorism preparedness, in this age of the Internet and globally interconnected computer systems, securing the Nation's borders no longer includes just land, air and sea, but also cyberspace. As a result, it is critical that the federal government provide strong leadership in cyber security by securing its computer systems and adequately safeguarding key components in our national infrastructure-including the systems the country relies upon that link water, utility, communications, transportation and financial networks.

I am encouraged that Judge Chertoff, has committed to closely examining the agency's role in cyber security to ensure it is doing everything possible in this critical mission. Toward that goal, we should elevate the issue of cyber security within the agency and create the position of Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security.

We made important strides toward making America safer with the recently enacted Intelligence Reform Bill, but we cannot claim to have finished the job of improving our intelligence capability and homeland security until we deal comprehensively with the need for enhanced cyber security. An organized cyber attack would disrupt national security, halt the production and distribution of needed goods and services, and threaten the very fabric of our Nation's economy.

Unfortunately, cyber security is an area that tends to be overlooked in the discussion of homeland security. First responders to a cyber security attack on America have far different needs and functions than traditional first responders. They require a clear and visible leadership within DHS to organize and maintain our security. Given the dynamic and ever-expanding threats in the area of cyber security, an Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security will provide DHS with an enhanced ability to interact, influence, and coordinate targeted cyber security missions across all areas of our infrastructure.

The effort to secure our nation will not be complete until all aspects of vulnerability to terrorists are recognized. This is true for all our national borders; on land, air, sea, and cyber space. Recognizing that threat is an important step, but we must now make every effort to prevent the threat from becoming a crippling reality.

I am proud to vote for Judge Chertoff. He has well-deserved bipartisan support, and I am confident he will be able to do the job. As Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, he worked tirelessly following the September 11th attacks, prosecuting those whose specific goal was to kill innocent citizens in New York, Virginia and elsewhere in this country. I look forward to working alongside him on these critical issues, and I am sure he will bring courage and commitment to the serious tasks at hand.

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