Homeland Secretary Statement on Bin Laden's Death

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano:

The death of Osama bin Laden is an important success not only for the United States, but the entire world. Our efforts to combat terrorism, however, do not fixate on one individual, and we remain completely focused on protecting our nation against violent extremism of all kinds.
We remain at a heightened state of vigilance, but the Department of Homeland Security does not intend to issue an NTAS alert at this time. I have been clear since announcing NTAS in January that we will only issue alerts when we have specific or credible information to convey to the American public. However, our security posture, which always includes a number of measures both seen and unseen, will continue to respond appropriately to protect the American people from an evolving threat picture both in the coming days and beyond.
I commend the President and offer my gratitude to the men and women who defend and protect our nation at home and abroad, whether they wear a military or law enforcement uniform or serve as one of thousands of unsung heroes in the intelligence and homeland security community. It is true that we are stronger and safer than we were on 9/11 – not only because Osama bin Laden is dead, but because of the unflagging dedication and hard work of so many people throughout the world committed to freedom and security.

Napolitano on the Ground in Alabama

Napolitano's Update on Homegrown Terrorist Threat

Reach the whole testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security here.

....Over the past two years, we have seen the rise of a number of terrorist groups inspired by al-Qaeda ideology – including (but not limited to) al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) from Yemen, al-Shabaab from Somalia, and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – that are placing a growing emphasis on recruiting individuals who are either Westerners or have connections to the West, but who do not have strong links to terrorist groups, and are thus more difficult for authorities to identify. We saw this, for instance, in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is accused of attempting to detonate explosives aboard a Detroit-bound plane on December 25, 2009; and Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to detonate a bomb in Times Square in May of last year. These groups are also trying to inspire individuals in the West to launch their own, smaller-scale attacks, which require less of the advanced planning or coordination that would typically raise red flags. The logic supporting these kinds of terrorist plots is simple: They present fewer opportunities for disruption by intelligence or law enforcement than more elaborate, larger-scale plots by groups of foreign-based terrorists.

This threat of homegrown violent extremism fundamentally changes who is most often in the best position to spot terrorist activity, investigate, and respond. More and more, state, local, and tribal front-line law enforcement officers are most likely to notice the first signs of terrorist activity. This has profound implications for how we go about securing our country against the terrorist threat, and requires a new kind of security architecture that complements the structure we have already built to protect America from threats coming from abroad.

Napolitano Speaks on Border Security at University of Texas El Paso

"Our approach is working," says Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Watch 

Napolitano Outlines Super Bowl Security

White House Forum on Environmental Justice Video

Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius and Janet Napolitano are a few who spoke at the forum on environmental justice:

Part 2
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Part 4
Here is the question and answer period:

Gibbs and Napolitano's Press Briefing Aug. 13

12:10 P.M. EDT

MR. GIBBS: Good afternoon. Welcome to the White House. Before we get started, I have one quick announcement. On Sunday, August 29th, President Obama will travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The visit will include remarks by the President at Xavier University of Louisiana. Members of the President’s Cabinet who have worked to speed recovery and restoration efforts in the region also will be in New Orleans to mark the anniversary. We will have more on that trip obviously as it gets closer.

Next, we are joined today by Secretary Napolitano. As you know, just a little while ago, with Secretary Napolitano, the President signed into law a border security bill that puts more agents and more equipment along the Mexican border. And she is here to talk about that, our efforts to bolster the border region since coming into office. And I will turn it over to the Secretary.

SECRETARY NAPOLITANO: Thank you. Well, thank you. Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for being here today. I was very pleased to be with the President earlier as he signed a bill providing $600 million in additional resources to further strengthen security along the Southwest border. We applaud Congress for acting in a bipartisan manner to take quick action on this bill. I'd like to especially thank leaders Reid and Pelosi, and also Schumer and McCaskill.

The legislation adds permanent resources that will continue to bolster security along the Southwest border, supporting our efforts to crack down on transnational criminal organizations, and reduce the trafficking of people, drugs, currency and weapons.

The bill is important in two respects. First, it adds new resources to the border. Second, it makes permanent many of the assets that this administration has surged along the border during the past 18 months.

Now, let me pause there for a moment. I have worked on border issues as a public servant for 17 years, starting in 1993, as United States state’s attorney in Arizona, then the attorney general of Arizona, then the governor of Arizona, continuing through today as the Secretary of Homeland Security. What’s significant about this bill, in addition to its contents, is that it passed something with bipartisan support that gives us the resources to continue efforts that were well underway, and demonstrates that the border is not and should not be a political issue; it is a matter of national security in which we all, both parties, have a stake.

And on that score, even before the President signed this bill, the administration had already devoted more resources to the Southwest than any point in American history. These efforts are making a difference. And they are the reason why everything that is supposed to be going up is going up, and everything that is supposed to be going down is going down.

Seizures are up and rose across the board last year. Apprehensions for illegal crossings are down. For the first time ever, we are screening 100 percent of southbound rail. Criminal alien removals are at an all-time high. We've added more technology, manpower, and resources to the border than ever before.

This is a long-term, systematic effort to defeat the cartels and to continue to secure the border. The administration is dedicated to that approach. And that's why the President ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to the border, and it’s why he asked Congress for this supplemental funding. Read the rest here.

Obama Welcomes WNBA Phoenix Mercury to White House

Obama Administration Calls on BP to Commit to Pay for Oil Cleanup

Janet Napolitano and Ken Salazar, Secretaries of Department of Homeland Security and Interior Department, respectively, write a letter to BP's chief executive Anthony Hayward. Read the letter here.

Based on these statements, we understand that BP will not in any way seek to rely on the potential $75 million statutory cap to refuse to provide compensation to any individuals or others harmed by the oil spill, even if more than $75 million is required to provide full compensation to all claimants, and BP will not seek reimbursement from the American taxpayers, the United States Government, or the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for any amount.

Obama Meets With Cabinet on Oil Spill

Statement from Robert Gibbs on the meeting:

The Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP oil spill presents us with challenges on a number of fronts – from capping the flow at the well head and containing the spill on the ocean’s surface, to controlling the impact of the oil on the coastal shoreline and on the precious wetlands and fisheries in the area. President Obama remains committed to bringing any and all available resources to the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier today the President met with a number of Cabinet members and senior staff in the White House Situation Room to review BP’s efforts to stop the oil leak as well as to decide on next steps to ensure all is being done to contain the spread, mitigate the environmental impact and provide assistance to affected states, including individuals, businesses, and communities.

As we continue to evaluate different options to stop the flow of oil, the President impressed upon his team two things in the meeting today: first, the importance of engaging independent experts in the fields of science and technology; and, second, bringing every perspective to the table to identify potential solutions.

The President was pleased to hear that some of Energy Secretary Chu’s ideas have helped us better understand the dimensions of this serious problem and he asked Secretary Chu to lead a team of top administration officials and government scientists to Houston this week for an extensive dialogue with BP officials to continue to aggressively pursue potential solutions. Throughout the week, the President will continue to dispatch additional Cabinet officials to the region. As the President has made clear before, BP will be paying for all costs of stopping the spill and cleaning it up, and we will aggressively pursue full compensation for damages.

In addition, to deal more generally with the harms created by oil spills, the President has requested that we send legislation to Congress to toughen and update the law surrounding caps on damages.


The principals participating in the meeting included:

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
United States Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen (National Incident Commander for this event)
Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen
Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security John Brennan
National Security Advisor General Jim Jones
EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe (Administrator Jackson is currently in Louisiana)
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli
Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner
OMB Director Peter Orszag
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology John Holdren
DPC Chair Melody Barnes
CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley
Assistant to the President for Cabinet Affairs Chris Lu

No oil on Mississippi beaches but no beachgoers:

Napolitano's Update on Shahzad

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Napolitano: Oil Spill Could Turn Into Unprecedented Disaster

BP officials and the oil rig officials should be required to do community service with environmental organizations in addition to paying the clean up bill. They don't seem to understand the ramifications of the oil on the environment, so perhaps a little sensitivity training would help.

Booms made from donated salon hair is helping to sop up the oil. Find out how to donate here:

Napolitano and Salazar on Meet the Press May 2

Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano talks about the Times Square bomb scare last night. They both discuss the oil spill. Obama is headed to the gulf today to assess cleanup efforts. For updates on the oil spill, the EPA has an informational site.

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Obama Heads to Gulf May 2

No other details yet.

BP To Pay For Cleaning Up Oil Spill

BP is desperate for help in cleaning up, which means this is one nasty spill. The White House has declared the spill of "national significance," freeing up aid, according to CNN. Robert Gibbs, Janet Napolitano and other officials are briefing the press as of 12:54 pm here. The oil is not a uniform slick and is turning into "tar balls."

VENICE, Louisiana - As military officials consider joining the battle against the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration said Thursday that the cost of the cleanup will fall on BP, the company in charge of the rig that exploded.

White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said President Barack Obama has directed his administration to confront the oil spill aggressively. The military is working to determine how its array of aircraft, ships and equipment might be able to assist the cleanup operation.

"We'll take help from anyone," Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of BP's exploration and production unit, said on NBC's TODAY show.

"We're not interested in where the idea comes from, what we're interested in is how do we stop this flow and how do we stop it now?" Suttles said.

But time may be running out: Oil from the spill had crept to within 12 miles of the coast, and it could reach the shore as early as Friday.MSNBC

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Here is some great information on the science and history of oil spills and how this one is effecting wildlife.

Q: How do oil spills impact wildlife?

Oil slicks, like the one currently floating in the Gulf, affect wildlife by coating their bodies in the water-repelling gunk. Since it floats, all sorts of marine animals, even birds, can take a hit. And fish sometimes mistake the floating slick for food and so are attracted to it, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

When birds' feathers get coated with oil, they lose their ability to trap air and repel water, meaning the animals can't maintain body heat. The result: hypothermia. Marine animals, such as sea otters, which depend on their clean fur coats to stay warm, can also become hypothermic, according to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.

Currently, the oil rig is currently well offshore, though experts have said any turn in winds and currents could send oil toward coastal wetlands where plenty of animals live. In addition, a pod of sperm whales is known to feed in the area of the oil well where the Deepwater Horizon sank, according to news reports.

Q: What percentage of U.S. oil comes from offshore rigs?

According to the Minerals Management Service, offshore drilling in U.S. territorial waters accounted for 30.2 percent of U.S. oil production in 2009 (379 million barrels of oil), and 11.4 percent of U.S. natural gas production (1.6 trillion cubic feet or about 12 trillion gallons).

Q: What is crude oil?

Most of the oil products in the United States are made out of crude oil – the rough, unprocessed form of oil. Gasoline, heating oil, petroleum and diesel fuel are all made from crude oil. Depending on the stage of processing, any one of these oils can get spilled into the environment. If the spill happens during the extraction process, crude oil is leaked. However, if the spill occurs after the crude oil has been refined, diesel fuel or petroleum is leaked. If the spill happens when a tanker's fuel supply is punctured, gasoline – another refined crude oil product - would seep into the environment.

Q: What type of oil spill causes the most harm?

Gasoline and diesel fuel molecules are smaller than crude oil molecules. Because of this, gasoline and diesel spills evaporate more quickly. However, these oils are highly toxic to living things, and can kill organisms that breathe in their fumes or absorb these oils through their skin.

Crude oil and other so-called heavy oils are dangerous in a different way. Although they are less toxic, they are thick and gluey and can smother living creatures. By covering the feathers of birds or the fur of marine mammals, these oils prevent the animals from maintaining their normal body temperatures, leading to death from hypothermia. And these oils don't evaporate, so they can remain in the environment for much longer.

Napolitano Calls Arizona Immigration Law Misguided

Former Ariz. governor and current Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says it's a difficult bill to enforce in a racially neutral way. I'll say.

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Obama to Pick Next Supreme Court Justice by May 26

The Obama cabinet

President Barack Obama will nominate a replacement to fill the Supreme Court seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens no later than May 26.

But a senior administration official said it’s “entirely likely” that the president’s pick will come “well before then.” The Hill

The possible nominees include:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Elena Kagan, 49, the U.S. solicitor general; Diane Wood, a U.S. appeals court judge in Chicago; Merrick Garland, a U.S. appeals court judge in Washington, D.C.; and Sidney Thomas, a judge on a San Francisco appeals court. WaPo

I'm going to take a wild guess for fun and say it will be none of those or it's Janet Napolitano, which means he'd have to find a new Homeland Security Secretary.
Today, Obama wishes the retiring Justice, John Paul Stevens, Happy 90th Birthday.

Obama To Speak on Security Review Summary Jan. 7

Update: See Obama's remarks here.

Live stream. Up next Janet Napolitano.

JOIN THE LIVE CHAT

VISIT WHITEHOUSE.GOV

Update: Obama's remarks have been postponed until 4:30 pm.

Obama has a lot of meetings today, including one with Bill Clinton, and at 3 pm eastern, he will speak about the unclassified security review on the failed underwear bomb plot. Obama's remarks will be live streamed at WhiteHouse.gov. I'll post video later. Janet Napolitano will speak at the daily press briefing, which will be live streamed at 3:45 pm at WhiteHouse.gov. More information is trickling out, including the fact that the CIA discovered who the bomber was while he was on the plane. Apparently, the report will be shocking.

White House national security adviser James Jones says Americans will feel "a certain shock" when they read an account being released Thursday of the missed clues that could have prevented the alleged Christmas Day bomber from ever boarding the plane.
President Obama "is legitimately and correctly alarmed that things that were available, bits of information that were available, patterns of behavior that were available, were not acted on," Jones said in an interview Wednesday with USA TODAY. Read more.

Joe Scarborough Has a Spasm Over Napolitano

Anyone who still believes that Janet Napolitano--who said "the system worked"--actually meant that, is just being making political hay. I didn't take it that way but then again, I don't think that the Obama administration is weak on terror or that it's engaged in nefarious activities. Many wingnuts think exactly that. Joe Scarborough is not a wingnut, but rather a moderate conservative who usually at least makes an attempt to be reasonable.

Not this time though.

Obviously the system didn't work. Napolitano is obviously not an idiot, therefore a reasonable person can conclude that she didn't mean the system worked.
The day after her Sunday appearance on Meet the Press, she clarified what she meant-- that the system response following the incident worked. Obama backed her up in his speech. Even Bush's former intel chief Michael Chertoff backed up Napolitano, saying she was competent and highly qualified.

Janet Napolitano's head is not going to roll.

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Brennan Backs Obama on Meet the Press

All signs point to the fact that Cheney is just a terd.

I'm not a fan of name calling but Cheney has earned the name. Furthermore, he's the one who is dangerous because he has sway over wingnuts. What we don't need is violent wingnuts. We have other extremists to fight.

On Meet the Press, Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan says he's disappointed in Dick and comes out strongly for Obama. "I see it on his face," he said of Obama's resolve to fight Al Qaeda.

Two former Bush administration intelligence officials, Michael Chertoff and Michael Hayden, also showed support for the Obama administration's efforts against terrorism as well. Chertoff says he has confidence in Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Hayden said minus some political differences, he's confident that the Obama administration is doing its best to fight terrorism. Hayden says that everyone (Dick) needs to calm down, stop hyperventilating and let Brennan do his work without the blame games. In other words, the real work can't get done in that environment, so stop politicizing terror. See that video below.

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The full interview with Brennan.

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The Bush administration was already trying to reduce detainee numbers at Guantanamo

Chertoff and Hayden. Hayden says "we are faced with a learning enemy."

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin says Obama has made strides in getting more help from the international community. The roundtable: