Word: chertoff
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Later in the day, the Department of Homeland Security raised the threat level for the nation’s transit systems to code orange, which is the second highest level of alert. Although officials had received no specific threats against U.S. cities, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that he remained “concerned about the possibility of a copycat attack...
...Chertoff wants to sharpen the focus at airport and border screening stations, too. He is pushing the expansion of registered traveler programs that would allow individuals to volunteer to have their past travel records checked out so that, barring a red flag, they can be processed quickly through airports and border crossings. "That gives us more resources to focus on people who we might have more questions about," he says...
...issuing alerts, Chertoff says he doesn't want "to get up in front of the public and say the sky is falling if it's not." At the same time, he appreciates the value of a vigilant public. There have been recent cases, he says, in which a citizen "noticed something about the way people were purchasing or how they were behaving" and reported it to authorities. When those details were linked to another piece of intelligence "that gave us the opportunity to prevent another attack...
...Since Chertoff's nomination was first announced, Washington insiders have been mystified as to why he gave up a lifetime appointment as a U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit Judge to take over an unwieldy new bureaucracy with limited power. Chertoff says the answer is simple: 9/11. In the aftermath of the attacks, he says he realized that to be a part of helping the country respond was "the most important challenge of my generation...
...Barreling down the highway in the back of a black Ford Explorer, on his way to a meeting with immigration officials at Dulles airport, Chertoff is musing about why on Earth he took this job. "You don't take this job because you think you are going to wind up getting a pat on the back." He pauses and brings his hand up to his close-cropped beard. "It is the nature of the job that success is not really noticeable...