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
Our goal is to deter any potential attack with multiple layers of security and, based on what I have seen and heard, I can tell you that the security plans and arrangements and commitment of federal, state and local officials is very, very strong,
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.
We're going to have an entry-exit system based on a machine-readable passport, so we'll be able to verify and validate they are who they claim to be,
We think, based on the initiatives that we've announced today, that we can absorb that cost.
Your characterization of it as being a significantly different threat environment, based on what we historically have heard, is absolutely correct, ... So there certainly is a diminution, reduction in the amount of intelligence, and the decibel level is lower.
The quality of this intelligence, based on multiple reporting streams in multiple locations, is rarely seen and is alarming in both the amount and specificity of the information,
I think we've accomplished a great deal in a short period of time, ... We have to be right a billion-plus times a year. ... The terrorists only have to be right once.
It is as reliable a source, group of sources that we've ever seen before.
I think there is a significant minority within the party that would either like it removed from the platform or at least a recognition that decent God-fearing people don't always have the same view on this,
We'll want them to pull in all that information and sort it out between rumor and suspicion and fact and speculation and misinformation and do an assessment, do an analysis and then communicate it -- if it's a real threat -- communicate that to state and local governments,
requesting some $36.2 billion clearly communicates this administration's commitment to investing in our Homeland Security.
Maybe that's very much the reason that you'd be worried about it, because you hadn't seen it before,
It all adds up to this: your country is ready, not waiting,
might require an added level of protection, an added layer of safety.