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Evacuee Support Concept of Operations Template
"The Evacuee Support Concept of Operations Template is designed to assist states and local jurisdictions in creating an Evacuee Support Concept of Operations that is scalable and sustainable to supplement the State Emergency Operations Plan. The template provides a foundation that can be expanded upon using the Evacuee Support Planning Guide, other Federal guidance, and the wealth of information and expertise available in the emergency management community, to create an effective, hands-on State and/or local operational tool. Recognizing that each has its own requirements, this template provides generic text that states or jurisdictions can make distinctive to their own needs and communities by adding to and/or replacing the generic text with specific details. Alternatively, States or jurisdictions may elect to copy some of the text from specific sections for use in other documents."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2009-07
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No Child Left Behind Act: Enhancements in the Department of Education's Review Process Could Improve State Academic Assessments, Report to the Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, U.S. Senate
"The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) requires states to develop high-quality academic assessments aligned with state academic standards. Education has provided states with about $400 million for NCLBA assessment implementation every year since 2002. GAO examined (1) changes in reported state expenditures on assessments, and how states have spent funds; (2) factors states have considered in making decisions about question (item) type and assessment content; (3) challenges states have faced in ensuring that their assessments are valid and reliable; and (4) the extent to which Education has supported state efforts to comply with assessment requirements. GAO surveyed state and District of Columbia assessment directors, analyzed Education and state documents, and interviewed assessment officials from Maryland, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Texas and eight school districts in addition to assessment vendors and experts. GAO recommends that Education (1) incorporate assessment security best practices into its peer review protocols, (2) improve communication during the review process, and (3) identify for states why its peer review decisions in some cases differed from peer reviewers' written comments. Education indicated that it believes its current practices are sufficient regarding our first recommendation and agreed with GAO's other two recommendations."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2009-09
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State Department: Wide Range of Emergency Services Provided to American Citizens Overseas, but Improved Monitoring is Needed, Congressional Requesters
"In 2008, the Department of State (State) estimated nearly 5 million U.S. citizens lived overseas, and 64 million trips were taken overseas by U.S. citizens. Since protecting and serving U.S. citizens abroad are among State's chief priorities, State must be prepared to provide emergency assistance to Americans abroad. This report describes (1) what services State provides to U.S. citizens who are the victims of crimes, suffer accidents, or otherwise need emergency services; (2) how State is prepared to assist U.S. citizens who are in need of emergency services; and (3) how State monitors the assistance it provides to U.S. citizens in need of emergency services. To ensure State has accurate, reliable data to monitor and evaluate its provision of emergency services worldwide, we recommend the Secretary of State direct State's Bureau of Consular Affairs to (1) provide guidance on information to be entered into the ACS system to ensure data are consistently captured and reflect workload; and (2) improve the reporting function in the ACS system. To ensure American citizens can easily find emergency contact information, we recommend the Secretary of State (1) require posts' main Web site pages to include emergency contact information; and (2) periodically test the accuracy of this information. State agreed with our conclusions and recommendations."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2009-09
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Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: S. 1194: Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011
This Cost Estimate of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provides an analysis of Senate Bill 1194 (S. 1194): Coast Guard Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011, which "would amend various laws that govern the activities of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). The bill also would authorize appropriations totaling nearly $16.4 billion through fiscal year 2014, primarily for ongoing USCG operations during 2010 and 2011. CBO estimates that appropriating the amounts specifically authorized by the bill (or estimated to be necessary to carry out title V) would result in discretionary spending of about $16 billion over the 2010-2014 period."
United States. Congressional Budget Office
2009-09-24
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Government Performance: Strategies for Building a Results-Oriented and Collaborative Culture in the Federal Government, Statement of Bernice Steinhardt, Director Strategic Issues, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate
"Since 1997, periodic GAO surveys indicate that overall, federal managers have more performance information available, but have not made greater use of this information for decision making. To understand the barriers and opportunities for more widespread use, GAO was asked to (1) examine key management practices in an agency in which managers' reported use of performance information has improved; (2) look at agencies with relatively low use of performance information and the factors that contribute to this condition; and (3) review the role the President and Congress can play in promoting a results-oriented and collaborative culture in the federal government. This testimony is primarily based on GAO's report, Results-Oriented Management: Strengthening Key Practices at FEMA and Interior Could Promote Greater Use of Performance Information, which is being released today. In this report, GAO made recommendations to the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Interior for improvements to key management practices to promote greater use of performance information at FEMA, the National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, as well as at Interior. Both DHS and Interior generally agreed with these recommendations. The testimony also draws from GAO's extensive prior work on the use of performance information and results-oriented management."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Steinhardt, Bernice
2009-09-24
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Troubled Asset Relief Program: Status of Efforts to Address Transparency and Accountability Issues, Statement of Gene L. Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the United States, Testimony Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, September 24, 2009
From Dodaro's statement: "I am pleased to be here today to discuss our work on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), under which the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), through the Office of Financial Stability (OFS), has the authority to purchase or insure almost $700 billion in troubled assets held by financial institutions.1 As you know, about 1 year ago, Treasury was granted this authority in response to the financial crisis that has threatened the stability of the U.S. banking system and the solvency of numerous financial institutions. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (the act) that authorized TARP on October 3, 2008, requires GAO to report at least every 60 days on findings resulting from our oversight of actions taken under the program.2 Our statement today draws on the 7 reports we have issued to date under this mandate and on ongoing work.3 Our next report, planned to be issued early next month, will include a detailed progress report of TARP programs and activities over the past year."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Dodaro, Gene L.
2009-09-24
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Homeland Security: Federal Protective Service Has Taken Some Initial Steps to Address Its Challenges, but Vulnerabilities Still Exist, Statement of Mark L. Goldstein, Director Physical Infrastructure Team, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, September 23, 2009
"To accomplish its mission of protecting federal facilities, the Federal Protective Services (FPS), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), currently has a budget of about $1 billion, about 1,200 full-time employees, and about 15,000 contract security guards. This testimony is based on completed and ongoing work for this Subcommittee and discusses: (1) challenges FPS faces in protecting federal facilities and (2) how FPS's actions address these challenges. To perform this work, GAO visited FPS's 11 regions, analyzed FPS data, and interviewed FPS officials, guards, and contractors. GAO also conducted covert testing at 10 judgmentally selected level IV facilities in four cities. Because of the sensitivity of some of the information, GAO cannot identify the specific locations of incidents discussed. A level IV facility has over 450 employees and a high volume of public contact."
United States. Government Accountability Office
Goldstein, Mark L.
2009-09-23
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Policies and Procedures Governing Invocation of the State Secrets Privilege
From the Attorney General: "I am issuing today new Department of Justice policies and administrative procedures that will provide greater accountability and reliability in the invocation of the state secrets privilege in litigation. The Department is adopting these policies and procedures to strengthen public confidence that the U.S. Government will invoke the privilege in court only when genuine and significant harm to national defense or foreign relations is at stake and only to the extent necessary to safeguard those interests. The policies and procedures set forth in this Memorandum are effective as of October 1, 2009, and the Department shall apply them in all cases in which a government department or agency thereafter seeks to invoke the state secrets privilege in litigation."
United States. Department of Justice. Office of the Attorney General
2009-09-23
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Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: H.R. 3290: September 11 Family Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act of 2009
This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Cost Estimate provides information about H.R. 3290, which would "grant permanent U.S. residence to certain spouses and dependents of aliens who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Enacting this legislation could affect direct spending of immigration fees by the Department of Homeland Security and the cost of certain federal assistance programs."
United States. Congressional Budget Office
2009-09-21
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NRC Information Notice 2009-01: National Response Framework
"The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this Information Notice (IN) to inform licensees and certificate holders of the National Response Framework (NRF), which replaced the National Response Plan (NRP) in 2008. This IN describes how Federal departments and agencies will use the NRF in their response planning so that licensees understand and are better prepared for a coordinated Federal response to an event at their facility. The NRC expects that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate."
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
2009-01-22
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Schools for Strategy: Teaching Strategy for 21st Century Conflict
"Education in strategy is feasible and important. Few are the would-be strategists who are beyond improvement by some formal education. However, for such education to be well directed, it needs to rest upon sound assumptions concerning the eternal nature, meaning, and function, yet ever shifting character of strategy, and the range of behaviors required for effective strategic performance. This monograph strives to shed light on these fundamental matters. Dr. Gray emphasizes the necessity for strategic education to help develop the strategic approach, the way of thinking that can solve or illuminate strategic problems. He advises that such education should not strive for a spurious relevance by presenting a military variant of current affairs. Also, the strategist will perform better for today if he has mastered and can employ strategy's general theory. The monograph is relatively optimistic, in that it argues the case for strategy being both possible and, in some helpful measure, teachable."
Army War College (U.S.). Strategic Studies Institute
Gray, Colin S.
2009-11
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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Gibbs, Ron Bloom and Ed Montgomery [July 29, 2010]
In this July 29, 2010 White House press briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Ron Bloom and Ed Montgomery take questions on WikiLeaks' publication of classified documents, BP's cleanup and containment of the Gulf Coast oil spill, and Arizona's new immigration law, among other topics.
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-07-29
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President Obama Signs Kentucky Disaster Declaration [July 23, 2010]
"The President today [July 23, 2010] declared a major disaster exists in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and ordered Federal aid to supplement Commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, flooding, and mudslides beginning on July 17, 2010, and continuing. The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in Pike County [...] and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster. Federal funding also is available to Commonwealth and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, flooding, and mudslides in Pike County."
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-07-23
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Statement of National Security Advisor General James Jones on Wikileaks [July 25, 2010]
In this July 25, 2010 White House statement, National Security Advisor General James Jones condemns the disclosure of classified documents released by Wikileaks. Jones states that the "irresponsible leaks will not impact our ongoing commitment to deepen our partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan; to defeat our common enemies; and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people."
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-07-25
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Readout of the President's Briefing on the Preparations for Tropical Storm Bonnie and its Impacts on the BP Oil Spill Response [July 23, 2010]
This July 23, 2010 White House readout describes a briefing received by President Obama from "Deputy National Incident Commander Rear Admiral Pete Neffenger on the ongoing administration-wide response to the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, and by FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] Administrator Craig Fugate and Deputy FEMA Administrator Rich Serino on the preparations for potential impacts of Tropical Storm Bonnie along the Gulf Coast."
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-07-23
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President Obama Signs Idaho Disaster Declaration [July 27, 2010]
"The President today [July 27, 2010] declared a major disaster exists in the State of Idaho and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding during the period of June 2-10, 2010. Federal funding is available to [...] the counties of Adams, Gem, Idaho, Lewis, Payette, Valley, and Washington."
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-07-27
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President Obama Signs Oklahoma Disaster Declaration [July 26, 2010]
"The President today [July 26, 2010] declared a major disaster exists in the State of Oklahoma and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding during the period of June 13-15, 2010. Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding in the counties of Beaver, Cimarron, Lincoln, Logan, Major, Oklahoma, and Texas."
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-07-26
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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs [August 3, 2010]
In this August 3, 2010 White House press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton takes questions on BP's cleanup and containment of the Gulf Coast oil spill, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Administration's lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law, among other topics.
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-08-03
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Press Gaggle by Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton aboard Air Force One en Route Atlanta [August 2, 2010]
In this August 2, 2010 White House press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton takes questions on BP's cleanup and containment of the Gulf Coast oil spill, Iraq, and Afghanistan, among other topics.
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-08-02
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Mitigating Insider Sabotage and Espionage: A Review of the United States Air Force's Current Posture
"The security threat from malicious insiders affects all organizations. This problem is difficult due to the fact that there is no definitive profile for malicious insiders, organizations have placed trust in these individuals, and insiders have a vast knowledge of their organization's personnel, policies, and information systems. The purpose of this research is to analyze to what extent the United States Air Force (USAF) security policies address this problem. The policies are reviewed in terms of how well they align with best practices published by Carnegie Mellon University and additional factors this research deems important, including motivations, organizational priorities, and social networks. This research offers actionable recommendations that the USAF could implement in order to better prevent, detect, and respond to insider attacks. The most important course of action is to better utilize its workforce. All personnel should be trained on observable behaviors that can be precursors to malicious activity. Additionally, supervisors need to be the first line of defense, monitoring for stress, unmet expectations, and disgruntlement. This research also proposes three new best practices regarding screening for prior concerning behaviors, predispositions, and technical incidents; issuing sanctions for inappropriate technical acts; and requiring supervisors to take a proactive role."
Air Force Institute of Technology (U.S.)
Leach, Erika C.
2009-03-26
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Deceiving Adversary Network Scanning Efforts Using Host-Based Deception
"In this research we demonstrate the usefulness of manipulating system traffic to deceive an attacker's operating system (OS) fingerprinting as part of their network scanning efforts. Specifically, we address whether host-based OS obfuscation has merit and application as an integral part of Air Force network defense and whether the technique warrants, further research and application development. We accomplish this objective was accomplished through a literature review and a proof of concept evaluation of a selected OS obfuscation tool against selected OS fingerprinting tools under current Air Force network configuration. Our focus areas in the literature review include: how to characterize the scanning phase of an adversary attack, a survey of current OS fingerprinting and obfuscation tools, and description of current AF network concepts. To evaluate effectiveness of a candidate OS tool, we setup an experimental network environment that simulates adversarial network scanning. The results of our study are: a) that current OS obfuscation tools designed for Windows OS are capable of providing some OS obfuscation on AF networks; b) that the current tools need to be evaluated for impacts on network maintenance tools and processes, to include future initiatives like IPv6; and c) that the current tools need to improve OS fingerprints and add options to force inconclusive results from fingerprinting tools."
Air Force Institute of Technology (U.S.)
Murphy, Sherry B.
2009-06-09
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U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy in Afghanistan: A Report to the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, Second Session, July 2010
"Afghanistan has been a source country for narcotics since the 1500s. Since 2001, poppy cultivation has risen dramatically and Afghanistan has become the world's largest producer of opium. Opium gum is harvested from the bulbs of poppy plants by scoring each plant with a knife. The labor-intensive process of scoring each individual poppy bulb takes place on over 300,000 acres and employs approximately 1.6 million Afghans. The opium gum is chemically manufactured into morphine and finally converted into heroin. The narcotics trade is now a major source of revenue for terrorists. The Taliban has evolved into a narco-cartel that operates heroin processing labs and provides protection to traffickers. The vast amount of drug money has trumped ideology as the Taliban cashes in on heroin sales. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates the Taliban's take to be several hundred million dollars a year, enough to fund the insurgency and expand their drug empire."
United States. Congress. Senate. Caucus on International Narcotics Control
2010-07
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Protecting Yourself During a Dirty Bomb Response: An Awareness Level Training Tool for Skilled Support Personnel
"1)This training tool is an awareness-level health and safety resource for 'skilled support personnel' who will participate in a dirty bomb response. 2) This tool will help workers understand at an awareness level: what a dirty bomb is, the basics of radiation, how to protect against radioactive contamination and other hazards associated with a dirty bomb response. 3) Trainers may use this tool to aid in the development of a dirty bomb awareness level course or other awareness level materials (fact-sheets, table-top activities, etc.)"
National Institutes of Health (U.S.); National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
2008-01
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Homeland Security: Addressing Weaknesses with Facility Security Committees Would Enhance Protection of Federal Facilities, Report to Congressional Requesters
"To accomplish its mission of protecting about 9,000 federal facilities, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) currently has a budget of about $1 billion, about 1,225 full-time employees, and about 15,000 contract security guards. However, protecting federal facilities and their occupants from a potential terrorist attack or other acts of violence remains a daunting challenge for the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Protective Service. GAO has issued numerous reports on FPS's efforts to protect the General Services Administration's (GSA) facilities. This report (1) recaps the major challenges we reported that FPS faces in protecting federal facilities and discusses FPS's efforts to address them and (2) identifies an additional challenge that FPS faces related to the facility security committees (FSC), which are responsible for addressing security issues at federal facilities. This report is based primarily on our previous work and recent FPS interviews. GAO recommends that the Secretary of DHS direct the Director of FPS to work in consultation with other representatives of the FSC to develop and implement procedures that, among other things, outline the committees' organization structure, operations, and accountability. DHS concurred with GAO's recommendation."
United States. Government Accountability Office
2010-08-05
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Secretary Napolitano Announces New Community-Based Law Enforcement Initiatives in Conjunction with National Night Out [August 3, 2010]
"Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced a series of initiatives to support state and local law enforcement and community groups across the country in identifying and mitigating threats to their communities and expanded DHS' 'If You See Something, Say Something' campaign to the Washington, D.C., area in conjunction with National Night Out, an annual anticrime campaign involving citizens, police and neighborhood groups. 'Homeland security begins with hometown security, and our efforts to confront threats in our communities are most effective when they are led by local law enforcement and involve strong collaboration with the communities and citizens they serve,' said Secretary Napolitano. Secretary Napolitano was joined at today's event by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy Lanier, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Police Chief Michael Taborn, and Homeland Security Advisory Council Chairman Judge William Webster. The new measures announced today, detailed here (PDF - 2 pages, 25 KB), are based on recommendations made by the Homeland Security Advisory Council's (HSAC) 'Countering Violent Extremism' Working Group--comprised of chiefs of police, sheriffs, community leaders and homeland security experts--on ways DHS can better support community-based efforts to combat violent extremism in the United States."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Press Office
2010-08-03
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Office on Violence Against Women Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecution Grants Awarded to the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
"The Office of the Inspector General has completed an audit of the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement grant (grant number 2004-WR-AX-0048) awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to the West Virginia Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). OVW awarded the 2-year, $552,334, grant to DCJS on August 2, 2004. The grant program is designed to strengthen the safety of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, and child abuse by creating and enhancing collaborative partnerships between criminal justice agencies, victim services providers, and community organizations to respond to such crimes. OVW provided a two year supplemental award, dated September 12, 2006, for $552,334. We conducted our audit to determine whether: claimed costs were allowable, supported, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and terms and conditions; and grant objectives were achieved. Our audit found that DCJS generally complied with grant requirements, and is in the process of achieving the grant objectives. However, DCJS charged $21,088 of labor costs, which is not in compliance with the requirements of Office of Management and Budget Circular A-87, $4,984 in associated fringe benefit costs, and $11,256 of unsupported other direct costs. Further, we noted the grantee made errors in both Financial Status Reports and semi-annual Progress Reports; and DCJS does not have a mechanism in place to measure the impact of grant funded services on victims of domestic violence. Our report contains 8 recommendations. We discussed the results of our audit with DCJS officials and have included their comments in the report as applicable."
United States. Department of Justice. Audit Division
2010-07
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Partnership Program Benefits Taxpayers as well as Private and Public Sectors
"A recently announced initiative at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), called the SECURE (System Efficacy through Commercialization, Utilization, Relevance and Evaluation) Program is part of an overall effort at the Department to create a 'Commercialization Mindset' by leveraging the fact that while DHS has a limited budget compared to the Department of Defense, it does have something much more valuable -- a large potential available market comprised of the seven DHS operating components (USCIS, TSA, FEMA, CBP, ICE, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Secret Service) and other large ancillary markets such as the diverse, yet substantial first responder market. The SECURE Program is based on the premise that the private sector has shown that it is willing and able to use its own money, resources, expertise and experience to develop and produce fully developed products and services for DHS. When an attractive business case can be made related to large revenue/profit opportunities, which certainly exist at DHS and its ancillary markets. The private sector requires two vital pieces of information from DHS: 1. detailed operational requirement(s), and 2. a conservative estimate of the potential available market(s). This information can then be used to generate a business case for possible private sector participation in a program or project."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate
Cellucci, Thomas A.
2008-09
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Remarks by the President after a Briefing with Admiral Thad Allen and Local Officials on the BP Oil Spill [June 15, 2010]
On June 15, 2010 President Barack Obama visited Florida and was briefed by Admiral Thad Allen and local officials on the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill. Obama spoke to business owners, local officials, and state officials to find out how to respond effectively.
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-06-15
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Remarks by the President at a Gulf Coast Briefing in Gulfport, Mississippi [June 14, 2010]
In his June 14, 2010 remarks, President Barack Obama discusses the Gulf Coast oil spill. He talks about coordination of cleanup efforts and adequate compensation for damages and losses.
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-06-14
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Remarks by the President to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill [June 15, 2010]
On June 15, 2010 President Barack Obama gave an address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House. He specifically speaks of the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill in the Gulf Coast. In addition to discussing the response efforts, President Obama also discusses the need to limit the country's addiction to fossil fuels and regulations on the industry.
United States. Office of the White House Press Secretary
2010-06-15
