Statement by Press Secretary Matt Chandler on Secretary Napolitano's Upcoming Visit to Paris, Qatar, and the UAE.

The reality of limited resources requires law enforcement – at all levels- to use resources strategically and wisely to accomplish their mission. Given estimates that more than ten million people living in the United States are subject to removal, Secure Communities is a critical tool that assists ICE in better focusing its resources on apprehending and removing high priority aliens, including convicted criminals and egregious immigration law violators.

It is an honor to appear before you today on behalf of FEMA to discuss our response and recovery efforts in Pennsylvania before, during, and after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. In my testimony today, I will discuss our successes, challenges, and lessons learned from these two disasters and FEMA's ongoing efforts to apply lessons learned to improve the way we do business.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will travel to Paris on Dec.1-2 to join her counterparts at the G6+1 Ministerial Meeting and discuss the Department’s efforts to combat transnational crime, secure cyberspace and ensure a more safe, secure and resilient global supply chain. The G6+1 groups together the Interior Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom (the G6) with the United States.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano joined Attorney General Eric Holder today for the biannual U.S.-European Union (EU) Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial at the U.S. Department of Justice to discuss international collaboration on counterterrorism and homeland security issues with EU Vice President and Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström, Polish Deputy Minister of Justice Igor Dzialuk, Polish Deputy Minister of Interior Piotr Stachańczyk, and Danish Minister of Justice Morten Bødskov.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced a new partnership between the DHS “If You See Something, Say Something™” public awareness campaign and Major League Soccer (MLS)—highlighting the Department’s partnership with the sports industry to ensure the safety and security of the employees, players and fans.

A top priority for DHS is improving the communications capabilities of those who are often the first to arrive at the scene of a disaster site—the Nation’s emergency responders. Public safety personnel must have access to reliable and instantaneous communications at all times to effectively coordinate response and recovery operations. The Department recognizes that establishing emergency communications is not solely a technology problem that can be solved with just the “right” equipment or the “right” communications system. All of the critical factors for a successful interoperability solution—governance, standard operating procedures, training and exercises, and integration of systems into daily operations as well as technology—must and are being addressed through the collective work of our programs.

FEMA is continuously working with its partners at DHS, private industry, other federal agencies, state, local, and tribal governments to improve the capability and interoperability of emergency communications. This Whole Community effort also includes innovations in the way we send and receive information to the public before, during and in the wake of disasters.

Today, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security and lead negotiator for the United States government Jane Holl Lute issued the following statement upon initialing an agreement between the United States and the European Union on the transfer and future sharing of Passenger Name Records (PNR).

In the past eight years, S&T has undergone many changes and continues to evolve. The extraordinary breadth and diversity of DHS’s missions requires S&T to address a wide range of programs including Components’ near-term needs for new operational capabilities and improved operational effectiveness, efficiency and safety. S&T also has responsibilities related to understanding and creating solutions to biological and chemical threats, and to conducting the research and development (R&D) required to meet homeland cyber security needs. Investments in near-term, incremental solutions must be balanced against investments in potentially game-changing technologies that will take longer to mature.