Napolitano Says WV Plays Role in National Security
Metro News 06/02/11
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during a meeting with reporters in Huntington Thursday that West Virginia is a key player in keeping the country safe. "West Virginia is home to a number of our assets," she said. "We have many of our continuation of government, continuation of operation type assets here in West Virginia. We have branches of the Department of Homeland Security located here in West Virginia." Napolitano was the keynote speaker at the fourth West Virginia Homeland Security Summit and Expo at Marshall University. The event, first organized in 2003 by U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, encourages information sharing and dissemination among police, fire, EMS and other emergency workers. Napolitano touted her agency's performance under her tenure. After the death of Osama bin Laden, she says, the country is much better off. "We are, in many respects, safer than we were prior to 9/11," Napolitano said. "We have built structures that didn't exist before. The West Virginia Fusion Center is an example of that." Nevertheless, Napolitano said there are continuous national security threats against the country that require vigilance. "We understand that this is an ever-evolving set of threats, and we always have to be thinking very proactively to stay ahead of our adversaries," she said. To prevent future attacks, Napolitano urged residents to abide by the saying "if you see something, say something." "You don't have to necessarily be in New York City or Washington D.C.," Napolitano said. "Vigilance is required across the country." Among those evolving threats are cyber attacks, said Rockefeller. "The largest threat to this nation's security is something called cyber security," he said. "What's stunning to me is how little it's known, how little people react to it when they hear it, and what an enormous a catastrophe it can be and already is." Rockefeller is pushing for passage of the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act, which would create a nationwide, interoperable wireless network for first responders. Emergency officials were unable to speak to one another during 9/11, Rockefeller said. "What our country calls for is a national, fully integrated, wireless, broadband program," he said. The two-day conference wraps up on Thursday.
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