Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridgeis an American politician who served as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003, and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. Prior to this, Ridge was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 August 1945
CityMunhall, PA
CountryUnited States of America
God forbid, there may come a time when the local authorities or national authorities will tell you that you've got to use them. But for the time being, we just don't want folks sealing up their doors or sealing up their windows,
if the Brazilian government thinks it's in their interests (to fingerprint and photograph Americans), so be it.
He is not one to parse. He has said he will serve out his term and that has not changed,
Terrorists are strategic actors, ... They choose their targets deliberately, and they choose them based on the weaknesses they observe in our defenses and in our preparations. They use speed and surprise to terrorize.
I just met a fireman who was trying to save somebody else's house when his went up in flames, ... In the operations center, there are a couple of people on duty today -- 12-hour shifts. They lost their homes, but they know they still have a job to do, and maybe their presence will help save somebody else's homes.
Clearly, we could provide enough security to put the mass transit systems out of business, ... Trying to find that balance is something we need to do.
Clearly, Canada is not going to send troops to Iraq. That's just a fact and you've made that decision ... so that's off the table. But maybe we re-engage on softwood, re-engage on missile defense. It's an opportunity.
The intelligence that we've received over the past several weeks is ... a series of general non-specific threats against the United States.
I hope that in a post-9/11, post-Katrina world, there wouldn't be a mayor in the nation who wouldn't go back to the drawing board and say, 'What have I done in terms of communication systems?'
I'm not sure we're ever going to be able to say that because we raised it from Yellow to Orange or because we modified, changed or enhanced security at this facility, at this bridge, at this tunnel, that it deterred a terrorist from acting,
I'm not trying to condone the sloppiness or inaccuracy of the work that was done, ... We saw that ourselves.
I'm honored to join the extraordinary team you've assembled to lead America. The size and scope of this challenge are immense ... an extraordinary mission. But we will carry it out.
In spite of everything we have done, we are only at the beginning of what will be a long struggle to protect this country from terrorism,
By and large, I think you're going to see any country that hosts Olympics -- it's a wide international stage -- to go to those lengths to provide maximum security,