Michael Chertoff Security Quotations

If confirmed, I pledge to devote all my energy to promoting homeland security and all our fundamental liberties.

I've known Rob for many years; he is an outstanding public servant and will be greatly missed here at the department. I appreciate the commitment and service he has shown in directing our border security efforts.

The department intends to build an integrated border security system.

We face an extraordinary threat to our national security and physical safety of the American people of a character that, at least in my lifetime, we have never faced before,

You can be assured that before a deal is approved we put safeguards in place, assurances in place, that make everybody comfortable that we are where we need to be from a national security viewpoint.

The world is not going to stop moving because we are very focused on Katrina. Part of the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security is to deal with all hazards, everything that's out there, and to continue to be able to keep our eye on everything that may happen in the future,

As far as my agency is concerned, port security really rests principally with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection.

This 30-minute seating rule was a sensible measure when first applied, ... Now, almost four years later, significantly enhanced layers of security ranging from hardened cockpit doors to air marshals make it reasonable to eliminate this requirement.

We make sure there are assurances in place in general. Sufficient to satisfy us that the deal is appropriate from a national security standpoint.

We have decided to stand back and take a look at how do we address this problem (of border security) and solve it once and for all, The American public is rightly distressed about a situation in which they feel we do not have control of our borders. ... We need to have a comprehensive solution.

This new People Access Security Service, or PASS system card, will be particularly useful for those citizens in border communities who regularly cross northern and southern borders every day as an integral part of their daily lives. We're talking about essentially like the kind of driver's license or other simple card identification that almost all of us carry in our wallets day in and day out.