Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoff
Michael Chertoffis an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security under Presidents George W. Bush andBarack Obama, and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. He previously served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as a federal prosecutor, and as Assistant U.S. Attorney General. He succeeded Tom Ridge as United States Secretary of Homeland Security on February 15, 2005...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublic Servant
Date of Birth28 November 1953
CountryUnited States of America
I don't endorse those views, ... I know the city was totally overwhelmed. My own view is I have to get my own house in order. That's what I'm focused on.
My own view is this, I've got to get my own house in order, ... I am not here to judge others. I did not have a problem with state and local officials.
We're going to have to go house to house in this city. We're going to have to check every single place to find people who may be alive and in need of assistance,
We are not going to be able to have people sitting in houses in the city of New Orleans for weeks and months while we de-water and clean this city,
I'm not going to judge others, ... I've got my own house to put in order.
As you know, the president has established the 'White House Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Response.' He will meet with us tomorrow to launch this effort. The Department of Homeland Security, along with other Departments, will be part of the task force and will assist the administration with its response to Hurricane Katrina,
There are a lot of things that didn't work well. We are not where we need to be as a nation in the area of preparedness.
While it is very important to focus an enormous amount of attention and effort on what is going on here, we can't afford to let our guard down in respect to other threats that might happen,
There has been a huge development overnight ... the historic French Quarter, dry last night and it is now filling with water. This is water from nearby Lake Pontchartrain; the levees failed overnight.
We've certainly learned a lot of lessons from Katrina, from Rita. Rita was better than Katrina. We're doing a better job planning. We're closer - more closely aligned with the Department of Defense. These things would be positive things if we were to have another attack.
We urge all Americans to take some simple steps to prepare for emergencies, including getting an emergency supply kit, making a family emergency plan and learning more about how to respond to emergencies that could affect your area,
We cannot hermetically seal 7,000 miles of land borders and keep out 100 percent of illegal crossers, ... But we can create such a high likelihood of interdiction that it will have a strong and unequivocal deterrent effect on those who wish to cross illegally.
We cannot afford to let our guard down,
We certainly have to fill out the ranks of FEMA in terms of its senior level with experienced staff.