“Protecting our homeland from terrorist attacks and natural disasters must be the first priority of our federal government,”
Chet Edwards
“Securing our homeland is one of the most important things we do here in Congress, ... (The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks) taught us that we need to tighten our security across the board. The new Northern Border Air Base will go far in sealing up our Canadian border, and that's an important mission.”
Conrad Burns
“there was a growing threat of homeland attacks ... the nation lacked a clear strategy to prevent and protect against these threats ... and responsibility for homeland security was spread among too many agencies without sufficient coordination.”
Joseph Lieberman
“It is amazing that while Congress pumps homeland security money into protecting airports and their own Capitol Hill offices, they are simultaneously cutting funding to protect our nation's most valuable resources - the students and teachers in our schools.”
Curt Lavarello
“Northern Command's mission to protect the homeland against foreign threats is separate and distinct from its mission to provide support to civil agencies in the event of a terrorist attack of catastrophic proportions, ... So part of the confusion you're seeing is the natural shaking-out process as the Defense Department stands up a new command and adopts a new mission that most generals assumed with great reluctance in the first place, given that their forces and budgets were already stretched thin. In that sense, Admiral Keating's comments were probably less about someone gunning to take the lead, and more a reflection of how much support Northern Command will likely be asked to provide in the event of a real catastrophe.”
David Heyman
“Northern Command's mission to protect the homeland against foreign threats is separate and distinct from its mission to provide support to civil agencies in the event of a terrorist attack of catastrophic proportions. So part of the confusion you're seeing is the natural shaking-out process as the Defense Department stands up a new command and adopts a new mission that most generals assumed with great reluctance in the first place, given that their forces and budgets were already stretched thin. In that sense, Admiral Keating's comments were probably less about someone gunning to take the lead, and more a reflection of how much support Northern Command will likely be asked to provide in the event of a real catastrophe.”
“The organization's core elements still plot and make preparations for terrorist strikes against the homeland and other targets from bases in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border area.”
John Negroponte
