When Secretary Janet Napolitano used the word “man-made disaster” to describe the current terrorist threat facing Americans, you would have thought that she understood that terrorists aren’t machines and are in fact human. It comes as a surprise then that the Obama Administration is rumored to have set its laser on killing the DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s human factors research budget. What is “human factors research”, you ask? It is a fancy term for studying the way humans behave and interact—humans like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab—the man now dubbed as …
As if the Obama Administration and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano didn’t have enough tough issues to handle with the total failure of the post-9/11 system to keep a terrorist with a bomb off our airplanes, the LA Times reports that the Obama Administration is more committed than ever to push for amnesty in 2010. That is madness. Let’s take a step back and consider where things stand. First, the economy remains on very fragile ground with millions of Americans out of work, the next pack of home foreclosures to hit, …
Refusing to interrupt his Hawaiian golf vacation for almost three full days after the Flight 253 attack, President Barack Obama finally emerged on December 28th to assure the American people that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was “an isolated extremist” and that he had already “been charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft.” Continuing to treat the incident like a common law-enforcement problem Obama referred to Abdulmutallab as the “suspect” five times and promised he would “not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable.” Perhaps Obama should …
Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on the topic of transportation security. What she said about cargo security was something that everyone else in the homeland security community has been saying for the past two years. There are a number of serious challenges that stand in the way of the 100 percent scanning mandate. The private sector has known this for a while. These innovators understand that you can’t be perfect (aka scan 100 percent of cargo) without the right technology. And Napolitano …
Citizens and shopkeepers not doctors and nurses will be the most important “first responders” for getting through this year’s flu season, which thanks to the swine flu (H1N1) looks like it could be one of the worst on record. That is the conclusion of a recent Heritage research paper, Swine Flu: What every American Should Know: Individuals, families, businesses, and community groups,” the study concludes, “can help to mitigate the effects of the flu season. Their plans should focus on contingencies if individuals need to stay home from school or …
As widely noted, President Barack Obama has comprehensive immigration reform on his 2010 legislative agenda. Given the policy changes made during his first nine months, it is clear that President Obama sees reform through the prism of perceived Hispanic votes and union payback. First, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano changed the worksite raid policy of deporting illegal immigrants caught during raids to giving those illegals temporary work permits to cooperate with DHS. Beyond the legal weakness in buying cooperation, does anyone really believe that the illegals released with work permits will …
The Corner‘s Marc Thiessen notes that on The Today Show this morning, while trying to defend Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to re-investigate allegations of detainee abuse by the CIA, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said: “I’m a former United States attorney. I’m a former [state] attorney general, a prosecutor. . . . I would never second-guess a prosecutor.” Watch: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmYvbItysPY[/youtube] The key fact that Napolitano is leaving out here is that second guessing a prosecutor is exactly what Holder is doing. Former-President Bill Clinton chief of staff …
H-1B visas allow foreigners, who have an undergraduate degree or higher, to work in the United States. Currently only 65,000 visas can be issued each year, a number which is far too low. Yet, when President Obama talks about “comprehensive immigration reform,” the discussion is anything but comprehensive. President Obama has raised the specter of adding another hot button issue into the national debate. At the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast the President said that he is “…committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform…” but he was silent on the matter of …
Yesterday, the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced to the House Homeland Security Committee that FEMA would remain a part of DHS. While it is not surprising that Napolitano made the decision, given her inclination towards having FEMA stay put in her January confirmation hearing, it has likely rankled a few folks bent on returning FEMA to its Clinton-era cabinet-level status. But keeping FEMA at DHS is the right decision. FEMA is having tremendous success under DHS leadership—and there have been countless examples that demonstrate this case—from the California …
DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING – Sen. Sessions returns from vote–more questions for Napolitano. Swings back to comprehensive immigration reform. No surprise–he has a different take than Sen. Leahy. Napolitano emphasizes stress on courts from processing illegal immigrants. Too many cases. But doesn’t this mean Bush enforcement efforts were working? Great hearing, but I am definitely concerned about Congress’s agenda on immigration….
