Overview

On April 26, 2004, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary James Loy spoke at the Kent State Symposium on Democracy. In his opening remarks he said, What will that future look like? We began to understand on September 11, 2001. That morning, we passed into a far more menacing frontier of warfare, with the potential for far more horrifying consequences. International terrorism had become the new totalitarian threat. While terrorism is not a new phenomenon, we must recognize that in the twenty-first century it is different, fundamentally different. It is not the localized terrorism of Ireland or even the Middle East. It is something very different and something much more sinister. We are only beginning to learn about it. Loy outlined some of the steps the government will be taking to improve homeland security in the near term, including:

• First, we will improve our information sharing and infrastructure protection, namely by improving partnerships within the government and with the private sector to strengthen vertical communication systems and significantly increase permanent protections around our nation s most vital assets.

• Second, many of us know that part of the tragedy of September 11th was that equipment didn t work across jurisdictions and disciplines. Fire department radios couldn t transmit to police department radios and the couplings that attach hoses to hydrants simply weren t compatible even between nearby neighborhoods.

• And so, we must work together to establish truly interoperable communications and equipment to give first responders the tools to do their jobs in a way that replaces...