Remarks as Prepared by Secretary Napolitano to New York City First Responders

New York, New York

NYC Emergency Operations Center

“Rebuilding the Foundations for America's Hometown Security”

A New Framework for Security

Good morning. And thank you, Commissioner Bruno, for that introduction. It’s always great to be back in New York City. And thank you NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly; FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano; FDNY Chief of Counterterrorism Joseph Pfeifer; FDNY Chief of Operations Robert Sweeney; and also NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

In addition to being born here, coming to New York at this time, on this date, and having the honor of speaking with first responders and law enforcement officials such as yourselves, has a special significance for me. And of course, this Office of Emergency Management, built after the old one was destroyed on 9/11, is a good example of the kind of resilience and determination that New Yorkers are known for.

This date and this place are also vivid reminders of why we have a Department of Homeland Security. Tomorrow, each of us in our own way will remember that day – the heroism of the first responders like you – and the thousands of lives lost when we were attacked.

I know that for some of you here this morning, these memories are all too real. You were among the policemen, firemen, and emergency personnel who ran toward the Towers as they were burning so that you could save others. Some of you stayed in the days and weeks ahead, working on the pile – memorializing those who were gone. All of you lost colleagues, friends, loved ones. Every American joins you in mourning those we lost – here in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania.

So tomorrow is also a reminder that each of us bears a unique sense of responsibility to one another, to our communities, to our states, and to our nation. Whether you are a police officer on the street, a firefighter, a doctor, a businessman, a student, or a stay-at-home parent, you – we – are the very backbone of our nation’s homeland security. We are all interconnected in the effort to protect this country.

Right around this time last year, I gave a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations here in New York where I described a new framework for how we’re approaching homeland security. It didn’t involve a complex restructuring of DHS or big, flashy new programs. In fact, we streamlined operations, prioritized efficiency, and organized ourselves around our core missions.

Our starting point was the idea of interconnectedness and mutual responsibility. The question we kept asking was: “how can we do a smarter and better job of broadening the collective mission of protecting the homeland?” And our answer was this: we do it by seizing every opportunity to build a bigger and stronger security team and then equipping that team to succeed.

Therefore, over the past year and a half, I have made one of my very top priorities for DHS to get information, to get tools, and to get resources out of Washington, DC, and into the hands of the men and women serving on the front lines. That includes you – the first responders – but it also includes citizens, community groups, and our partners in the private sector.

This may not generate big headlines. But this hometown-centric approach has a big impact on our ability to be effective – and more important – to support you in the field.

The approach I outlined last year is bigger than just one Federal department, even a huge one like DHS. And putting into practice the notion that homeland security begins with hometown security, frankly, has implications for us all.

I said in that speech last year that we had an “urgent need to refocus our counter-terror approach to make it a shared endeavor to make it more layered, networked, and resilient – to make it smarter and more adaptive.” I said we needed to enlist a broader societal response to the evolving threats we’re facing – and that requires strengthening partnerships, and focusing on values like resilience and shared responsibility. And I said that individuals, families, communities, and businesses all have important roles to play.

This represents a shift for our country. In a sense, this harkens back to when we drew on the tradition of civil defense and preparedness that predated today’s concerns. In another way, however, it makes all of us responsible for being informed about the kinds of Twenty-First Century threats we face today.

Building a culture of preparedness and resilience across the country is a significant endeavor. And it is, indeed, still a work in progress. But I'm here today – a year later – to say that we have made progress. And we need to be making progress because the myriad threats against our nation have not gone away.

Indeed, they have grown even more dynamic. So, I want to share that progress with you, and let you know what I see coming down the road for us.