The Texas Engineering Extension Service's (TEEX), Emergency Services Training Institute (ESTI) will sponsor and host the 51st Texas Fire and Arson Investigators Seminar March 19-24, 2005 at the Omni Southpark, Austin, Texas located at South I-35 at Ben White.

The full brochure can be found online at http://www.teex.com/ESTI/documents/06_ArsonSeminar.pdf

REGISTRATION

To register, mail the registration form (found online) and $150 per person as directed to the Emergency Services Training Institute. Forms with payment must be received before March 6, 2006. Fees are not refundable after that date. On-site registration and check in will be conducted in the Omni Southpark Hotel on Sunday, March 19, from 2 to 5 p.m., and Monday, March 20, from 7 to 8 a.m.

PROGRAM TOPICS

" Executive Development
" Fatal Fire Examinations
" "Who's Minding the Store"
" CFI Online
" Legal Forms Update/Exchange
" Legal Updates "Evidence Labs"
" Interviews and Interrogations
" Managing Complex Multi-Jurisdictional Response
" Updates in Technology "Gizmos and Gadgets"
" BATS System
" Health and Safety Concerns of HazMat Incidents

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT FOR ADJUSTERS WILL BE REQUESTED FROM THE STATE BOARD OF INSURANCE FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK

CONCURRENT MEETINGS

All seminar registrants are invited to attend the following meetings:

" TEXAS FIRE MARSHALS' ASSOCIATION Monday, March 20, at 5 p.m.
" THE TEXAS CHAPTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ARSON INVESTIGATORS (annual business meeting) Tuesday, March 21, at 5 p.m.
" CFI EXAM CFI Exam will be administered on Wed., March 22, at 5:30 p.m.
" Texas Advisory Council on Arson (ATAC) (quarterly meeting) Thursday, March 23, at 5 p.m.

BANQUET

The annual banquet is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 23. During the banquet the Texas Advisory Council on Arson (ATAC) will present annual awards for outstanding accomplishments in arson prevention. Spouses and guests are cordially invited. Additional banquet tickets may be purchased for $20 each at the registration desk.

TWELVE

January Texas Fire World
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of State and Local Grant Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP), Office of Grant Operations (OGO) hosts several two day conferences for recipients and sub-recipients of Homeland Security Grants.
January 6, 2006
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of State and Local Grant Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP), Office of Grant Operations (OGO) holding several two day conferences for recipients and sub-recipients of Homeland Security Grants.

According to the Responder Knowledge Base (RKB), a non-profit organization providing free information first First Responders, states on their website that the purpose of the conference is to provide recipients and sub-recipients training and guidance in the financial management of SLGCP funded grants, as well as an opportunity to meet with the new Office of Grant Operations (OGO) staff and exchange ideas.

Conference Highlights include how to apply for DHS/SLGCP grants, the financial management requirements tied to these grants, grantee financial reporting requirements, monitoring and audit information and guidance, and audit requirements from the OGO. Federal regulations and requirements governing the recording/expenditure of program funds, OMB circulars, resources available, and other information will be shared as well.

These conferences are a great opportunity for your organization as a recipient of these Federal awards to become better familiar with the associated rules and requirements. The OGO will also be asking for input and advice from conference attendees on how to improve the grant award and management process from the Federal level. So, bring your ideas with you.

Registration for the conferences is free, however attendees are responsible for all costs associated with their participation in the seminar, including transportation, lodging, and meals. According to the RKB website (www.http://rkb.mipt.org/), grantees can use management and administration funds from SLGCP grant programs to pay for costs associated with attending this training class; however, you may want to confirm this with State guidance and requirements before booking flights.

Tentative conference locations and dates are listed below.

" February 2006 Los Angeles, CA
" April 2006 Washington, DC
" May/June 2006 Chicago, IL or St. Louis, MO
" July/August 2006 New York, New York
" September/October 2006 Washington, DC
" November 2006 Nashville or Memphis, TN

Additional information can be found by visiting the According to the RKB website at www.http://rkb.mipt.org/.
THIRTEEN

January Texas Fire World
Special Issue of Forest Service Newsletter Focuses on Katrina Lessons Learned
January 6, 2006
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"Hurricane Response Revisited - Lessons from Dennis, Katrina and Rita in 2005"
is now on the Lessons Learned Center Web site at: http://www.wildfirelessons.net/Scratchline.aspx.

This special edition of SCRATCHLINE (Issue 14) highlights many notable successes and difficult challenges faced by Members of the US Forestry Services Incident Management Teams (IMT's) while working at Operational and Logistics Staging Areas, Shelter Operations and Field Hospitals/Trauma Centers.

Highlights of the National Response Plan and Common Lessons from the Assignments are also featured. To learn even more, read the complete IMT Hurricane Response After Action Review (AAR) Rollups on the AAR page at:
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/AAR.aspx

FOURTEEN

January Texas Fire World
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Revises Legislative Priorities
January 6, 2006
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At its annual fall meeting in Galveston, Texas, last month, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) officially revised its legislative priorities.

The top legislative priority for the NVFC remains funding for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program (AFG). The purpose of the AFG is to bring fire departments across the country up to a base line level of readiness by providing funding to pay for equipment, vehicles, training, and education.

Since it was created in 2001, the AFG has provided fire departments with more than $2.5 billion in grants. For the second year in a row, Congress reduced funding for the AFG by at least $100 million, going from $650 million in FY 2005 to $545 million in FY 2006. The NVFC is disturbed by this trend and urges Congress to fully fund the AFG at its authorized level of $1 billion.

A new legislative priority for the NVFC is to clarify the tax status of Length of Service Award Programs (LOSAPs). LOSAPs provide benefits in the form of deferred payments to volunteers in firefighting and prevention services. Approximately 20 percent of the 800,000 volunteer firefighters in the United States today participate in LOSAPs. The NVFC has developed legislation that would simplify the requirements for service award programs and reduce the administrative burden on both governmental agencies and potential sponsors by using existing statutory and regulatory mechanisms.

Passage of the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act, the Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighter Assistance Act, the Supporting Emergency Responders Volunteer Efforts Act, and the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Act continue to be priorities for the NVFC. The NVFC was pleased to note that the United States Fire Administration (USFA) received a line item in appropriations legislation for the first time in the FY 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The NVFC believes that having a direct funding stream for USFA will allow for better transparency and help in our efforts to increase the agency's funding in future years.

Another new priority for the NVFC is passage of the Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Personnel Job Protection Act. This legislation, H.R. 3949, was introduced by Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE) on September 29, 2005. It would protect volunteer emergency services personnel responding to a Presidentially-declared national disaster from termination or demotion should they miss work for up to 14 days. This protection is similar to that provided to members of the National Guard. For further details on NVFC legislative priorities, visit www.nvfc.org.

FIFTEEN

January Texas Fire World
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Weighs in on Need for Improved Interoperability
January 6, 2006
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{Editor's Note - As Congress continues to debate how to go about transferring radio spectrum to first responders, The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and other major fire service organizations placed this open letter to Congressional Leadership in USA Today: The letter is shown with no editing on the pat of Texas Fire Would}

To:

The Honorable Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader
The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives
The Honorable Harry Reid , Senate Minority Leader
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader

On behalf of the one million men and women who serve our nation as firefighters and emergency services personnel, our organizations call on Congress to address one of the most critical issues facing our nation's first responders: to guarantee their ability to communicate whenever they respond to emergencies.

For the past ten years, our organizations have been urging Congress to reallocate 24 megahertz of radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band for public safety use nationwide. We have provided testimony to congressional committees discussing the challenges first responders faced at major incidents. In Oklahoma City during rescue operations at the Murrah Building bombing, incident commanders had to resort to runners to transmit messages. In New York City at the site of the World Trade Center attacks, similar measures were taken because of radio congestion, attributed to a lack of spectrum. As one of its recommendations, the 9-11 Commission called on Congress to set aside forthwith additional radio spectrum for public safety. And now we hear of widespread communication problems in the Gulf states in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

We cannot wait any longer for Congress to deliberate over this issue. Asking our first responders to place themselves in harm's way is a difficult decision by itself. But asking them to do so not knowing if they will be able to communicate is a risk we can no longer take.

Furthermore, additional spectrum will enable first responders to utilize new technologies such as environmental monitors, personnel location networking, health and vital signs sensors and on-scene video cameras. These technologies will help incident commanders make better decisions faster, reducing the number of firefighter injuries and fatalities.

Recent statements issued by congressional leaders, including Senator Frist, to address interoperability offer hope that Congress will bring resolution to this issue. Postponing the transition date will continue to jeopardize the safety of our rescue personnel and the victims they aid. Therefore, we ask you to support a transition date as close to December 31, 2006 as possible. This is the date Congress established in 1997. We need a date certain; not a soft date.

Please provide the leadership necessary so that voices of first responders can be heard.

SIXTEEN

January Texas Fire World
The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) Expresses Concerns Over "Unfunded Mandates" in the National Incident Management System (NIMS)
January 6, 2006
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The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has recently expressed concerns over what it calls "unfunded mandates" contained in the National Incident Management System (NIMS), NVFC Chairman Phillip C. Stittleburg sent a letter to FEMA Director R. David Paulison asking that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provide funding for annual firefighter physical examinations if they are required as part of NIMS.

The NVFC is concerned that DHS is considering adopting a revised version of NFPA 1582: "Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments", which specifies that firefighters must undergo a physical examination every year, as a requirement for NIMS compliance.

The NVFC supports improving mechanisms for monitoring the health of emergency services personnel. However, without federal funding, implementation of revised NFPA 1582 will prove cost prohibitive for many fire departments, and virtually all of the volunteer fire service.

Ideally, the NVFC would like to see federal funding cover the costs of implementation of NFPA 1582. At the very least, provisions should be made so that fire departments that are unable to afford annual physical examinations for their firefighters can still participate in NIMS.

SEVENTEEN

January Texas Fire World
Obituary for Richard Pratt Sylvia
January 6, 2006
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{Editor's Note - [The common line used I the fire service communications industry when announcing the passing of a firefighter regardless s of it's nature begins with "It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of" and then the announcement" goes on with the details. As a former fire and EMS Dispatcher I must use that same line in this article.}

It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Chief Richard Pratt Sylvia best known to this author as the former editor of Fire Engineering Magazine passed away at the age of 91.

Dick Sylvia (as he was known in the pages of that magazine) began as a volunteer firefighter with the Noroton Fire Department in Darien, Connecticut. He held many ranks in the department, including chief for eight years. He was also a member of the Connecticut Commission on Fire Prevention and Control.
In terms of journalistic credentials, when he graduated from Dartmouth College he started with the New Bedford Morning Mercury in Massachusetts, then moved on to the Bridgeport Post in Connecticut, then to the New York Sun, and finally to the New York World-Telegram as head of the night copy desk. He received a master's degree in government from New York University along the way.

In August 1966, Sylvia was appointed associate editor of Fire Engineering. His column, the Volunteers Corner, was one of the best-read pieces of fire service literature of its time-quoted widely, reprinted frequently, and used regularly by Fire Engineering readers. It ran 221 consecutive months, beginning in 1964. The editor at the time, Jim Casey, called Sylvia a walking encyclopedia on fire service matters.

In January 1981, Sylvia was named editor of Fire Engineering. The magazine won two prestigious Jesse Neal editorial awards for the business media with his participation. He retired in December 1982 at age 69.

Sylvia authored two books for Fire Engineering: Modern Suburban Firefighting (1983) and A Study Guide to Fire Service Hydraulics Questions and Answers (Second Edition 1971). Both of which this author has used both as a student and now as an instructor over the years.

Calling hours for Chief Sylvia were Friday November 11, 2005, from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Lawrence Funeral Home, 2119 Post Road, Darien, CT. The funeral service was held on Saturday, November 12, 2005, at 10:00 AM at Lawrence Funeral Home. Burial will took place at Nemasket Hill Cemetery in Middleboro, Massachusetts.

Memorial donations may be made to the Noroton Fire Department 1873 Post Rd, Darien, CT 06820. For additional information, contact Chief Mike Vitti at mvtncfd@yahoo.com or Past Chief Bob Buch at BBuch@ci.darien.ct.us or 203-656-7345.

{Editor's note 2 - In the past 5 years I've had the great luck and fortune to meet many of my "mentors" over the years, some like Dick Sylva I never met but yet they influenced me with their words and their style, other like Jim Page I got to meet and even come to call friend but I'm at the point in life where one goes to more funerals than they do weddings and we in the fire service seem to be loosing the "legends" very rapidly. If you have a mentor that is getting up there spend some time with them if you can because someday you won't be able to LNM}

EIGHTEEN

January Texas Fire World
Remarks by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff on DHS Accomplishments and Priorities.
January 6, 2006
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Remarks made at GW University in Washington DC on December 20, 2005.

{Editors Note - The following was provided via the US DHS Press Office via their web site and is unedited by the staff of Texas Fire World}

SECRETARY CHERTOFF: Well, I want to thank the Provost, and I want to thank Frank, and I want to thank the University for hosting me in this return engagement at George Washington.

It is true that I was here about nine months ago outlining a first draft of a vision for where the Department of Homeland Security might go. And of course, at that point, I had no way of foreseeing the challenges we would face in 2005, but at least we had a sense at that point of some of the broad outlines of what we would be trying to develop during the course of this year as we position ourselves for, really, the 21st century challenge of homeland security.

So it's particularly, I guess, opportune for me to come back to this site of my first major speech on the topic of homeland security to take a look backward to 2005, give you a kind of report on where the Department is as I see it, and some prediction of where I think we're going to go in 2006.

I don't think it's a revelation for me to say that for the Department of Homeland Security, 2005 was a year of change and challenge. The year brought changes in the form of new leadership of the department, as well as a comprehensive plan, which we call the Second Stage Review, to change the department's priorities, operations, and organizational structure.

The year also brought some significant challenges, most notably in the form of unprecedented and devastating hurricanes that stretched our existing capabilities beyond the breaking point.

As a result of both the changes and the challenges, we see once again what an enormous opportunity but also an enormous responsibility we have, as we fashion this still-young department, and as we help it to mature as quickly as we can into the department that will serve the country for the balance of the 21st century.

What's our best assets and our strongest resources? Well, I'm happy to say there's no question that it is the over 180,000 men and women who I am proud to call my coworkers in the field of homeland security. I have had a chance in the last 10 months to get out and about and meet and talk to and shake hands with literally thousands of men and women who serve the nation at the Department of Homeland Security from sea to shining sea, in the air, on land, and in Coast Guard cutters on both oceans.

For me, the true spirit of DHS is summed up by some of the individual stories of what our men and women have accomplished in this last year.

During Hurricane Katrina, Coast Guard Petty Officer Matt Laub and his team flew 16 separate helicopter rescue missions. They lifted hundreds of stranded survivors to safety -- some from flooded rooftops, others from weakened balconies, and all facing rising flood waters. In all, Matt and his comrades saved 153 people.

Border Patrol agent Raymond Rivera risked his own life in a joint operation to break apart human smuggling rings in Nogales, Arizona. His actions led to the arrests of more than 100 illegal migrants, the seizure of more than 50 vehicles, and more than two dozen felony prosecutions.

Charles Dille and his team of TSA screeners worked non-stop over a 28-hour period to load more than 7,000 Katrina survivors onto airplanes at the New Orleans airport so they could be evacuated to safety.

These DHS employees, and thousands more like them, represent the best of this department. They are professional, they are tireless, they are dedicated, and all of them have made tremendous personal sacrifices for a cause greater than themselves.

To all of my colleagues gathered here today and to those stationed all around the country and overseas, I want to thank you for your hard work during the year 2005.

By any measure, it was a remarkable year for the department, in terms of what we faced. Across our country, we made significant strides protecting vital infrastructure and assets, preventing security breaches, ensuring safe travel and trade across our borders, protecting privacy and civil liberties, and expanding critical partnerships at every level.

At our borders, we caught more than one million illegal migrants attempting to enter our country. We seized more than $100 million in counterfeit goods, and prevented more than 2 million pounds points of illegal drugs from reaching our communities. We also stepped up interior enforcement efforts, arresting 1,600 illegal gang members and convicting 1,300 human traffickers and 5,700 drug smugglers.

By the end of this year, 2005, we will have fully implemented the biometric entry portion of the U.S.-VISIT system at 115 airports, 14 seaports, and 150 land ports of entry. This will strengthen our ability to allow legitimate travelers to come and go easily while we are still able to detect potential threats with greater speed and accuracy.

This completed rollout of U.S.-VISIT marks a major milestone for the security of our nation. We've also strengthened identity document security requirements and established more vigorous entry procedures for those requiring visas and those traveling through the western hemisphere.

To protect our skies, we've adjusted screening procedures and enhanced technology to counter the increasing threat of explosives. We've given our federal air marshals greater flexibility so they can blend into their surroundings and maintain their cover during airline flights. Here in Washington, we reopened Reagan National Airport to limited private and commercial aircraft, but under stringent security guidelines. And we also -- and this is probably the most popular decision I made during the year, eliminated a post-9/11 requirement that kept passengers in their seats coming in and out of Reagan National for 30 minutes.

All of these items I've discussed embody the principle of common-sense risk management that I outlined here when I spoke to you in March. And now we're going to put our money where our mouth is, as far as risk management is concerned.

To ensure that our homeland security efforts are targeted to areas of greatest risk and need, we have integrated additional risk-based criteria into our grant-making formulas. Now, any, federal, state or local entity that receives a homeland security grant has to demonstrate how that funding contributes to our national preparedness goals and enhances specific capabilities of the region and the nation. And later this week, I anticipate announcing the first wave of grants that will benefit from this enhanced, risk-based formula.

Partnerships, of course, are also critical to our success at home and abroad. We've made unprecedented efforts to reach out to state and local governments in the past years. In August, we hosted a first-ever national meeting between senior DHS leadership and state homeland security advisors and state emergency managers. We held this working meeting, actually, before Hurricane Katrina, because we recognized that, of course, all wisdom doesn't reside in Washington, and there's a tremendous amount of wisdom, creativity and also responsibility that has to reside at the state and local level. We're going to work to expand these partnerships with state and local leaders and the private sector as we move forward, particularly in the area of catastrophic planning.

We also continue to actively build partnerships overseas. With our neighbors in Canada and Mexico, we launched the Security and Prosperity Partnership to achieve better coordination on issues affecting our shared borders. These efforts have yielded agreements to developing a joint trusted traveler program, and to work together to address common threats. In Europe, Asia, and across the globe, we continue to expand vital screening, data-sharing, and cargo inspection programs to dismantle threats before they reach our shores.

Now, earlier this year, over the summer, I announced the results of a comprehensive review of our entirety of the department's operations, policies and structures, which we called the Second Stage Review. And I'm pleased to report that many of the challenges that we identified that needed to be made under this review have been made, and I want to thank Congress, because Congress acted earlier this year to appropriate the money to let us do that.

Among the things we've accomplished -- and some of them were recommended by people who have studied the issue in this room -- were a department-wide policy office, a strengthened and integrated intelligence shop with a chief intelligence officer and a larger role in the intelligence community, the ability to plan and the ability to conduct joint operations across the department, and a renewed focus on preparedness at every level.

Over time, these improvements are going to enhance and strengthen our ability to operate effectively as one department, particularly in emergency situations like those we saw in the hurricanes of this past autumn.

Ultimately, this is part of a significant step forward in getting the department out of the initial start-up phase, which has been accomplished over the last couple of years, and into the kind of organizational structure, system and process that will guide us for many years to come.

Moving forward, our goal is very simple: Build on the areas in which we've been successful, and continue to learn lessons where we have improvements that need to be made, and then put those improvements into effect.

So we meet 2006 with urgency and purpose. And now I want to talk a little bit about three principles which will drive our programs and our philosophy in the weeks and months ahead: working together as a team, following the discipline of risk-management, and turning adversity into opportunity.

Well, one lesson we have to take to heart is the importance of teamwork. If we are to really be a Department of Homeland Security and not a collection of individual components, we have to come together as a team and take full advantage of the tremendous assets, resources and capabilities at our disposal. Well, that's easier said than done. And here, I'm going to do the somewhat unusual thing of departing from the prepared text and talking a little bit just kind of almost conversationally about what I think we need to do in the area of teamwork-building.

What is a team? A team comes together to achieve a goal. And so the first step in our building a team at DHS is to be very clear about what our missions are and very oriented on what the outcomes are. The test of our success will be measured only by what we accomplished, not just by the effort that we put into it. And I want to tell you, when I look back on my own experience, I have a very clear sense of what it means to bring agencies together as a team.

In the '80s, one of the major initiatives of the Department of Justice was the war against organized crime. And of course, you all know the mafia had been around since the '30s. And there were decades of government efforts to break the back of the mafia that were not particularly successful. I've got two FBI directors here who remember this very well and were very instrumental in the changing strategy.

Well, what did we do? We stood back and we analyzed organized crime as a system. And we recognized that what mattered wasn't how we collected a lot of statistics in terms of output -- how many arrests we made, how many searches we accomplished, how many wiretaps we put up. What mattered was, what was the impact and the effect we were having on organized crime: Are we truly breaking the structure and the back of organized crime? And with that mission focus and a definition of the goal, the FBI and the Department of Justice retooled its strategy, and it started to look at a measurement of success that was, what is being accomplished.

And we quickly learned that in order to understand how to achieve success, we needed to look at every element of the enforcement process and analyze how it contributed to the goal of eliminating the top leadership and the biggest earners that were part of organized crime. And as we began that process, what became clear is, no effort mattered unless it contributed to the result of convictions and long sentences and forfeitures of illegal money and liberating labor unions and legitimate institutions from the grip of organized crime.

So we started to build intensive plans with very clear defined roles and responsibilities, in which everybody understood that the law enforcement efforts, the work in the laboratory, the searches, the wiretaps derived their meaning only in terms of their contribution to the ultimate success of conviction and sentence.

And that worked. I would venture to say the Department of Justice achieved unparalleled success in the 1980s and afterwards in transforming organized crime. And it happened because we learned to work as a team, clear understanding of what the goal was, clear understanding of how every piece contributes to achieving that goal, and then unifying everybody in the pursuit of that goal. The question was no longer, have I done my job; the question became, have I made my contribution to the completion of the mission.

Well, I think that's a pretty good template for what we do at DHS, and I think the reason DHS was established by Congress and signed into law by the President was to bring that mission focus and that teamwork approach to the big challenges we have in this country.

Right now we're facing a huge challenge at the border with illegal migration. Let's not kid ourselves; we've been digging ourselves into this hole for over 20 years. This has been talked about in the '80s, in the '90s, and in 2000. And we have that problem now maybe looming more largely than ever -- certainly a bigger issue for the public, I think, than it's ever been.

How do we address that problem? We can't afford to turn away from it, and we can't afford simply to use techniques that haven't worked. Well, I think our approach here in DHS is to bring the kind of mission focus and team approach that worked when we focused on organized crime to play into the challenge of dealing with illegal migration. The President has made it very clear that has to be our mission: securing the border and addressing illegal migration. And now our responsibility is to translate that mission into a clear set of goals and a team to make that happen.

Well, we did it by launching something we call the Secure Border Initiative, which was the result of planning, execution and evaluation that's been undertaken not by individual components, but components brought together as a team. And I think it's a good template for how we're going to move forward in other respects.

Let's talk about planning. We got together not only Border Patrol, who had real operational experience on the border, we brought our investigation agents, our detention and removal officials, the people who are responsible for arranging to get apprehended migrants back to their home countries. We got them all together in a group and we said, let's map and analyze the system. Let's remember that our goal is not just catching people at the border, or locking them up. Our goal is getting them from the point of apprehension back to their home countries, and doing it with sufficient regularity and precision that we will actually deter people from coming across, because they will come to realize that when they cross the border illegally, they will be caught and sent home again.

And so we looked at the entire process by breaking it down piece by piece. We analyzed where there were sometimes blockages in the process. Sometimes they're very simple things, like finding ways to compress the amount of time it takes to send somebody back to their home country so we don't have to detain them for months at a time.
And then we built a very rigorous and specific plan all across the system, from apprehension to return, to make sure that we could line up all of the elements of the team, everybody's position clear, and with a clear focus and understanding of how those positions contribute to the achievement of the overall mission.

How do we execute it? Having built the plan, we made it clear to the component head that this was going to be the template that they would be expected to use in moving forward. We got them together in regular meetings to plan and monitor the actual implementation of this integrated initiative.

And then we did the third thing. We built a set of tools to evaluate how we're doing. Every week, I sit with the Chief of the Border Patrol and the Chief of Customs and Border Protection and the Chief of ICE and the other significant players in this effort, and we go over exactly how we're doing in terms of apprehensions by country, how quickly we are able to move people back to their home country, what are the obstacles in terms of processing people, what are the obstacles in terms of getting resources to where they need to be, what are the additional tools we need to keep moving forward. And that process of constant review and evaluation means that, having set the goal, we are always marshaling our resources in a way that makes sure we achieve it.

Now, we've already started to show some real accomplishments. Some of them are in the area of resources. We've now got 1,700 additional Border Patrol agents who are going to be deployed to the southern border over the next year. In the last year, since I came into office in 2005, we have gotten the authorization to train and hire 1,500 agents nationwide. We've finally given the green light to finishing that border fence, that border infrastructure system near San Diego, which languished in litigation for probably close to a decade. And we've deployed new technology, including unmanned aerial vehicles, to give us better tools to assist our Border Patrol agents to carry out their missions.

We've also accomplished, in some less visible ways, by increasing the bed space in our detention facilities and by compressing the time it takes to remove people from the country when they're here illegally, using expedited removal, we have dramatically cut the time we need to process people that we get from certain countries that we apprehend from certain countries. And as a consequence, for the first time, we're beginning to see more people being sent back to their home countries than we're catching coming in from those countries.

That statistic is ultimately the measure of success. In order to be able to move to the ultimate goal of detaining and holding everybody we catch at the border who comes across illegally, we have to make sure that our exports of illegal migrants exceeds our imports of illegal migrants. And we're going to continue to watch that every week to make sure we are moving forward to that goal.

To me, the Secure Border Initiative, with all of these tools -- joint planning, joint execution, and joint evaluation -- is the way forward, not only to finally coming to grips with and addressing this intractable problem of illegal migration, but it is the way forward for everything that we will do in this department. Whether it's preparedness, whether it's dealing with cargo containers coming in, whether it's dealing with intelligence reform, we've got to operate in a unified way with a joint plan, joint execution, and joint measurement.

Now let me talk about risk management. I remember standing here about ten months ago, nine months ago, in March, talking about risk management as the principle that would guide our department. And of course, we all know that means we look at threat, vulnerability and consequence as the template for allocating our resources and ensuring we're getting the best protection for our homeland security dollars.

Now, when I did that, there was a lot of applause in the room and then there were a series of editorials and articles that were written afterwards saying how great that was, and I didn't find a single person who disagreed with that. But I knew, as you know, that while everybody likes talking about risk management in theory, when you apply risk management in practice, people don't necessarily like the way it plays out. And the fact of the matter is, we have begun to apply risk management, not in theory but in practice.

Risk management means not risk guarantee. It doesn't mean we protect every single person against every risk at every moment in every place. And that means we make tough choices. And tough choices means focusing on the risks which are the greatest. And that means some risks get less focus. I understand -- and I know all you understand -- that to each individual, the risks that touch him or her personally are the most urgent and of greatest concern. But I know you also know that as someone who has responsibility for making decisions that touch on all Americans, I have to weigh, with limited resources, the allocation of resources based on the greatest risk, and that means some people are going to be disappointed.

So it's not surprising to me that as this year has gone on, risk management has often been a virtue that is applauded in theory but actually criticized in practice. I am here to tell you that notwithstanding the criticism, and in full recognition that I am going to make people unhappy sometimes, I'm still going to abide by risk management, because I think that is my responsibility to the public at large.

And I'm going to give you an example of that in something that has been in the news lately, and that is the retooling we are doing at TSA. When I came on board, TSA was much criticized for being rooted in the threats that we faced on 9/11, with no adaptation to any changes in the threat picture, with a very rigid way of making decisions, and almost a comical way of deciding who is a risk and who is not a risk. And I'm not going to say that we have completely addressed those concerns or we have reached an end state. But we have started to do some things, I think, that do respond to the need to be more risk- focused and more rational in the way we do our work at TSA.

First of all, we've gotten consequence-focused. 9/11 taught us that perhaps the greatest danger, or the greatest consequence that can happen when a plane is hijacked is when it becomes a weapon of mass destruction. We all remember than 19 hijackers used box-cutters or knives to get into cockpits and take over planes. Experience also tells us that another risk with big consequences is when a plane gets blown up. And we've dealt with that issue, we've seen that play out over decades of dealing with terrorism. And we also acknowledge that there are risks that happen every day in airplanes when you have a passenger who gets a little violent, or maybe has too much to drink, or is disturbed and threatens to attack or assault someone on the crew. But we do have to assess which are the greatest risks and which have to be the principle focus of TSA.

In the wake of 9/11, TSA did a lot of things to deal with that very top risk, which was plane as weapon of mass destruction. We hardened cockpit doors, we licensed federal flight deck officers to carry weapons, we dramatically increased the flight air marshal program, and we did a lot more screening at the entrance to our airports, to the gates. What that has done is it has really reduced the risk that someone is going to get into a cockpit and take a plane and make it a weapon of mass destruction.

We have to take account of that change in risk. If we're not, we're not adjusting to meet the new threats. At the same time that that risk went down, we see an ever-increasing sophistication in the kinds of explosive devices that we encounter all over the world. And we have to train our screeners now to become more alert and more adept at detecting devices that are not as obvious at they might have been ten years ago, and that means looking, for example, at the way detonators operate and different kinds of chemicals that can be part of explosives.

So TSA made a very deliberate and careful study of the amount of time and effort screeners were putting into looking for potential weapons that could be used to get into a cockpit, as opposed to explosive devices. And judging the difference in the risk, based on some very concrete steps that had been taken to secure those cockpits and make sure people cannot take over airplanes, the common-sense judgment, backed up by reliable data, was, we ought to shift our focus away from some things like nail scissors or sewing scissors or little screwdrivers, and into areas like increased training and increased focus on possible explosive devices.

This was, to my mind, an example of adjusting risk based on changes in vulnerability, changes in what our protocols are, and, therefore, changes in consequence. And I think that while people may disagree -- and I know there's vigorous disagreement about this change and this increased focus on explosives and less focus on nail scissors or sewing scissors -- I think we've got to be doing this kind of thing if TSA is going to live up to the promise of being a risk management focused organization.

Now, I think that the experience we've had with TSA teaches us a couple of other lessons. First of all, some of the criticism about the change on the nail scissors has been, well, if you allow people to come on with nail scissors, you have the possibility of passengers getting unruly and using nail scissors to attack a flight attendant or attack another passenger. Well, I acknowledge that as a possibility. But I want to come back to the original foundation of TSA. I don't think TSA was stood up in order to deal with what are serious but nonetheless non-terrorist related threats on aircraft. TSA was stood up and was given the authority to impose restrictions on passengers because there was a particular high risk threat from terrorists. TSA owes it to the public to keep that mission focus.

If you look at the history of government programs -- particularly programs that deal with restrictions for security -- they have a tendency to get mission creep. You start out by saying, we're going to put this program into effect for a really serious risk, and then pretty soon people start to migrate the risk into all kinds of other areas. We've seen that with some of our database screening. It started out as an anti-terrorism program, and then pretty soon people were saying, well, we should use it to get people who are fugitives in drug cases, or deadbeat dads. And without denying that all of these are worthy goals, mission creep is a problem with the integrity of our programs because it undercuts the promise we make to the public when we impose a restriction. And that promise is we're going to do only what is necessary to restrict you to deal with the threat that we have identified.

So to me, again, what TSA has done here, it has kept faith with the American public by saying, we're not going to do mission creep; we're going to keep focused on the original mission.

And, finally, I think it's important that we lighten up restrictions sometimes. We did, in fact, lift the 30-minute rule out of Reagan. We did, in fact, open the door to some private aviation into Reagan. We did, in fact, allow a little bit more flexibility with respect to what you can bring on a plane. The message to the American public has to be this: We are constantly retooling and reevaluating the measures that we put into place because we want to make sure we're not over-protecting, just as we want to make sure we're not under-protecting. If we can lighten up, we're going to do it. We're not just going to put the heavy hand of the government on the scale pushing downward; sometimes we're going to put the light hand pushing upwards. I think that's a philosophy that the American public understands.

We're going to continue to do smart things in TSA. We're going to inject an element of randomness into searches. That's something which has been proven overseas to be, and proven in the New York City subways to be a useful technique in making sure that terrorists can't predict what we're going to do. We're now looking at behavioral pattern recognition as a way of increasing the tools that our screeners have in identifying people who may be threats. That's a technique that's used overseas in other countries and has worked well.

The message here is always going to be we're not going to lay the heavy hand of the government on simply to lay the heavy hand on. We're going to lay the smart hand of the government on; we're going to retool; we're going to reevaluate; we're going to keep focused on the mission and we're going to try to do our job in a way that is consistent with American liberty and American prosperity.

Finally, let me turn to the third principle: turning adversity into opportunity. No discussion of 2005 would be complete without talking about Katrina and Rita. These hurricanes demonstrated weaknesses in our preparedness, response and recovery efforts at all level of government, federal state and local. And while so many of our employees and agencies distinguished themselves with tremendous acts of heroism and devotion to duty, I have to acknowledge candidly that one agency still bears a burden in the aftermath of that storm. This was by far the largest disaster ever faced by FEMA. And let me be very clear about it, it was a catastrophe that was truly without precedent; a catastrophe that this agency had never faced before.

Despite the heroic efforts of many FEMA employees, this agency continues to face enormous criticism. So I want to be very clear about something. To the men and women of FEMA, let me say this: This department supports you a hundred percent; we acknowledge the extraordinary effort put in by FEMA employees who worked literally day and night to do what they could, sometimes with very inadequate tools, in order to help people who were in distress. We had people who were living in the Superdome with evacuees, who were suffering with the evacuees. And I think we deserve -- they deserve our acknowledgment of their heroism and sacrifice. (Applause.)

So this agency faces a little bit of a tough time now. And I have to tell you, I'm sure it's not pleasant to see FEMA being made the butts of joke -- be the butt of jokes and the butt of criticism even now, months after the hurricanes. But the challenge in this adversity is an opportunity. It's an opportunity to dramatically retool FEMA and make it better -- not because the people aren't terrific, but because we need to give the people the tools they are entitled to have to carry out their mission. So out of this challenge and out of this adversity we will rebuild and we will retool FEMA -- maybe even radically -- to increase our ability to deal with catastrophic events.

Now, when we talk about retooling FEMA, we're going to do it in a way that's focused on people -- the victims of the disasters that we are here to serve and the dedicated people who sacrifice so much to serve those victims. Our effort is going to be designed to empower the men and women of FEMA to act with efficiency and urgency, to cut some of the bureaucracy out, and to let them do their job where it's most needed, as quickly as possible. We don't want to stifle the people in the field with unnecessary bureaucratic process and procedure; we want to make sure we have accountability, we want to be responsible stewards of the public funds, but we want to make sure we can act quickly to save lives and address people's anxieties and concerns on the spot, as quickly as possible and as thoroughly as possible.

This is a big effort. We're working now with the White House, which of course is conducting a comprehensive lessons-learned in Katrina. But I am convinced that out of this review, in very short order, we're going to announce measures that will allow us to build the capability of FEMA into a 21st century organization, one that can deal with the routine hurricane -- if there is such a thing -- but also one that can deal with a catastrophic event, maybe an event that comes only once a hundred years, maybe one that will come next year, but one we surely have to be able to face and ready to respond to in a 21st century fashion.

So I think in the next weeks you will be seeing that we come forward with some specific plans to strengthen FEMA's logistic systems, give the leadership of the department better situational awareness about conditions on the ground, and to improve our customer service, our service to the people, who, after all, are our clients, the people who suffer when they are the focus of a catastrophe.

So these are just some of the areas we're going to explore in 2006, but we do anticipate some very significant, far-reaching changes in FEMA to get ourselves ready for hurricane season in 2006 and whatever else nature or human beings have to throw at us.

As the year draws to a close, I guess I'd like to echo some remarks I made when I spoke in March. I said that as a nation, we have every reason to be resolute about our fight against terror, every reason to be optimistic about our ability to enhance security but also preserve liberty, and every reason to act urgently in doing both of those things.

For me, the experiences of 2005 have surely tested our capabilities, but they have demonstrated our resolve. They've strengthened our determination, increased the urgency of our efforts, and underscored the solemn responsibility that all of us have to face on behalf of the American people.

I look forward to working with you, with those who are part of DHS and those who are merely admirers and supporters in 2006, as we continue to protect our nation against all hazards, manmade and natural, and as we carry out our other important duties in protecting the homeland.

Thank you. I wish you the best for the holiday season and a very happy New Year.

NINETEEN

January Texas Fire World
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) urges Americans to
Make Emergency Preparedness Their New Year's Resolution
January 6, 2006
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"RESOLVE TO BE READY IN 2006" the new buzz in DC

On December 31, 2005 nearly half of all adults in this country will make at least one New Year's resolution. Today, as part of its successful Ready campaign, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security encouraged Americans to make a resolution that is both important and easy to keep, preparing for emergencies.

"As 2006 approaches, we continue to look for innovative ways to empower families and businesses to prepare for emergencies," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "In this time when Americans are making resolutions to better their lives, the message of preparedness is truly fitting. Making an emergency plan for their home or business is just one of the simple steps individuals can take to help ensure that they are as prepared as possible if an emergency occurs."

In a recent national survey conducted by The Ad Council, 80 percent of Americans agreed that taking some simple steps to prepare could help protect themselves and their families in the event of an emergency. However, only 58 percent had made an emergency supply kit, developed a family emergency plan or learned more about potential threats, the three steps recommended by the Ready campaign. A survey of small businesses found more than 90 percent recognized the importance of business emergency preparedness. But, less than 40 percent said their company had an emergency plan in place.

By visiting www.ready.gov, individuals and businesses can learn how to prepare their families and workplaces for emergencies including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks. Materials, including family communication plan templates and sample business continuity plans, are available on the website providing Americans with the resources needed to make New Year's resolutions that will bring piece of mind.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security promotes individual emergency preparedness through the Ready campaign and Citizen Corps. Ready is a national public service advertising campaign produced by the Advertising Council in partnership with Homeland Security. The Ready campaign is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks. Individuals interested in more information about family and business preparedness can visit www.ready.gov or call 1-800-BE-READY to receive a "Get Ready Now" brochure. Citizen Corps, Homeland Security's grassroots effort, localizes preparedness messages and provides opportunities for citizens to get emergency response training; participate in community exercises; and volunteer to support local first responders. To learn more and to get involved, contact your nearest Citizen Corps Council by visiting www.CitizenCorps.gov.

TWENTY

January Texas Fire World
Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) Meeting Rescheduled
January 6, 2006
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The Texas Commission on Fire Protection meeting originally scheduled for February 9, 2006 has been rescheduled for February 21, 2006. The meeting will be held in the William B. Travis State Office Buildin