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Guest Commentary: October 9, 2001
Homeland Security:
The Difficult, We Do Immediately; The Impossible Takes a Little Longer The Honorable Tom Ridge
The attack of September 11th changed our nation in so many ways, starting with the lives of the thousands of victims and their families. It changed the lives of our men and women in uniform, who are courageously defending our nation today.
It changed the course of my own state, Pennsylvania, which now has a new governor. And it changed the way we look at homeland security, defending our borders from an attack and ensuring our preparedness should one occur.
Americans should find comfort in knowing that millions of their fellow citizens are working every day to ensure our security at every level -- federal, state, county, municipal. These are dedicated professionals who are good at what they do. I've seen it up close, as Governor of Pennsylvania.
But there may be gaps in the system. The job of the Office of Homeland Security will be to identify those gaps and work to close them. The size and scope of this challenge are immense. The President's executive order states that we must detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, an extraordinary mission. But we will carry it out. ...
And we will operate from a few basic principles.
First, candor. No one should be wary of coming forward when they see a problem. It's the only way to define a solution. The urgency of our task dictates candor about our challenges and confidence in our ability to solve them.
The second, cooperation. We must open lines of communication and support like never before, between agencies and departments, between federal and state and local entities, and between the public and private sectors. We must be task-oriented. The only turf we should be worried about protecting is the turf we stand on.
Finally, we will continue to secure liberty, as we secure this nation. Liberty is the most precious gift we offer to our citizens. It's what the terrorists fear most, what they tried to destroy on September 11th. We will work to ensure that the essential liberty of the American people is protected, that terrorists will not take away our way of life.
It's called Homeland Security. While the effort will begin here, it will require the involvement of America at every level. Everyone in the homeland must play a part. I ask the American people for their patience, their awareness and their resolve. This job calls for a national effort. We've seen it before, whether it was building the Trans-Continental Railroad, fighting World War II, or putting a man on the moon.
There are some things we can do immediately, and we will. Others will take more time. But we will find something for every American to do. My friends in the Army Corps of Engineers remind me of their motto: "The difficult, we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer."
That's the attitude we need. The task before us is difficult, but not impossible.
Note: Tom Ridge is Director of the newly created Office of Homeland Security. The above commentary has been adpated from comments Director Ridge made shortly after he was sworn into office at the White House, October 8, 2001.
