President’s Homeland Security Web Page Changes

Well, now that the President has completed his first 100 days in office, there has been a significant change, nay a complete change, in the Homeland Security webpage on the WhiteHouse.gov web site. Gone is the list of the policy stances on a wide range of homeland security issues; a list that came to the White House site from the Obama campaign web site. There is now a brief review of accomplishments to date and a much smaller list of homeland security objectives. The new list of homeland security objectives is now limited to:

Defeat Terrorism Worldwide; Strengthen Our Bio and Nuclear Security; Improve Intelligence Capacity and Information Sharing; Ensuring a Secure Global Digital Information and Communications Infrastructure; Promote the Resiliency of our Physical and Social Infrastructure; Pursue Comprehensive Transborder Security; and Ensure Effective Incident Management.

Where the old web page promised to “work with all stakeholders to enact permanent federal chemical security regulations” the new web page provides an even more generic approach to chemical facility security. Under the heading of “Promote the Resiliency of our Physical and Social Infrastructure” it states:

“We will invest in our Nation's most pressing short and long-term infrastructure needs, including modernizing our electrical grid; upgrading our highway, rail, maritime, and aviation infrastructure; enhancing security within our chemical [emphasis added] and nuclear sectors; and safeguarding the public transportation systems that Americans use every day.”

It may not be entirely fair to infer from this degraded statement of intent that chemical facility security has been placed on the back burner of this administrations overloaded policy kitchen, but there has been little mention of chemical facility security from this administration, either in the campaign, the transition, or in it’s first 100 days. Lets hope that that will change.