Tom Ridge Gives Upbeat Report on Nation's Security

    Nov. 22, 2004
    Air travel, the nation's borders and its seaports are more secure than before Sept. 11, 2001, says Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge

    Source Colorado Springs, Rocky Mountain News via NewsEdge Corporation

    Air travel, the nation's borders and its seaports are more secure than before Sept. 11, 2001, the Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge assured reporters Wednesday. Ridge held a brief news conference after touring two military components of the nation's bulwark against terrorism, NORAD and the Northern Command, both headquartered here.

    As the holiday season approaches, Ridge sought to assure travelers that advances have been made to safeguard their journeys.

    "Post 9/11, from the curb to the cockpit, there's a series of defenses and measures that make commercial aviation far, far safer than ever before," he said.

    "You've got explosive technology detection, professionally trained screeners, thousands of air marshals, hardened cockpit doors, and we are training pilots who want to be trained in the use of firearms to maintain control of the aircraft if they breach that barrier," Ridge said.

    His department has also developed a "national targeting center" with watchlists to identify persons of interest flying to the United States.

    Ridge said his department has tightened the nation's border security with "thousands more people."

    Ridge's Department of Homeland Security is a civilian agency with the primary responsibility for protecting the U.S. against terrorist attacks within its borders.

    It was formed after 9/11, consolidating all or parts of 22 federal agencies as diverse as the Transportation Security Administration, Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to organize border and internal security and emergency responses.

    Its agencies are intertwined with NORAD, which patrols the nation's domestic air space, and the military's new Northern Command, which analyzes intelligence worldwide to identify threats.

    Ridge suggested a further sharing of intelligence between his department and the two military commands.

    Ridge sidestepped questions about his possible resignation as President Bush reorganizes for his second term, saying he would not discuss his plans before disclosing them to the president.