2008 Woodie Awards
Tom Ridge breaks down homeland security issues
Julie Shapiro
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Tom Ridge, former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, learned early on that neither Republicans nor Democrats have all the answers. His mother was a Republican and his father was a Democrat. Ridge believes that both viewpoints are necessary to protect America from terrorism.
Ridge spoke in Baldwin Gym last night to nearly 400 Drew University students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees. He was the first Forum Speaker of the year.
The United States must prepare for a long fight against the "global scourge of terror," Ridge said. "America accepts the responsibility to lead this international effort."
Ridge listed four principles that direct the Department of Homeland Security. The first was risk management. "We need to accept that we cannot eliminate all risks," Ridge said.
Ridge's second principle was to integrate the nation. "We can't secure the whole country from inside Washington, D.C.," Ridge said. "We need to involve the whole country-to train, oversee and harmonize how to respond to tragedies."
Another Homeland Security principle is to "embed as much technology as we can wherever we can," Ridge said.
Ridge's final principle is to layer defenses. "We need to have backups," Ridge said. Particularly in airports, "we should put in defensive mechanisms, so that there is no single point of failure," he said.
The Department of Homeland Security also continually uses three lenses to filter its policies, and ensure that they are on target, Ridge said. When considering a potential policy, the department must ask: First, does it make us safer and more secure? Second, is it economically sensible? Third, is it consistent with the constitution and the rule of law?
Ridge began by addressing the question of economics. Borders are places where economics and security intersect, Ridge said. When Ridge refers to economics, he does not mean cost. "If it's expensive, it works and it's not disruptive, we ought to buy it and use it," he said. Rather, economics means considering the effects of new security measures. "The world is shrinking," Ridge said. "Competitiveness and interdependence are greater. We are connected in a global trading system."
In today's world, Ridge said we cannot make decisions about security independent from economics. After Sept. 11, America closed its borders, and the result was disastrous for the market economy, Ridge said. "We need to have secure borders but open doors," he said.
Ridge also explained how Homeland Security must ensure that its actions are consistent with the constitution and the rule of law. This is especially important because the fight against terrorism "has to be long term," Ridge said. "We're going to be at this for a while."
In light of this, Ridge asked the audience: "How much privacy are you willing to surrender to be more secure?"
"Some people say 'I'm not doing anything wrong, so go ahead and listen,'" Ridge said. "Am I willing to give up that part of my life? Absolutely not."
As people grapple with the question of where to draw the line on privacy, they must be careful to apply an equal standard, Ridge said. "You don't lead with two standards-you lead with one," he said repeatedly throughout the speech. The government should not ask incoming travelers to abide by regulations that U.S. travelers would not want to face abroad, Ridge said.
Ridge discussed several hypothetical security measures. He favors a national ID card, which would unite information that the government already collects into a plastic card. Ridge also foresees biological security, in the form of fingerprints and retina scans. "In 20 years, everything will be biometric," he said.
Ridge started his speech from behind the podium, but soon moved to the front to tell stories about finding his own transportation after years of depending on the Secret Service. Ridge's description of asking to borrow his son's car drew laughs from the audience. As Ridge left the house, his son reminded him to refill the tank.
Ridge began the body of his speech in a reserved tone. As he continued to talk, he grew more animated and gestured broadly.
A question-and-answer session followed Ridge's speech. A trustee questioned the validity of the color-coded terror threat system. "I was accused of politicizing the threat system on occasion," Ridge said. "When we go from one level to the next, politics is not involved." The threat level is not a unilateral decision, Ridge said, but is the result of a consensus of members of Homeland Security, whose decision is not always unanimous.
The trustee also asked how serious the current threat is. "It is a real threat," Ridge said. "But let's not get breathless about it. We've got to accept that eventually it will happen again." Meanwhile, the government should reduce the probability of an attack, and concern itself with other issues like crime and identity theft, Ridge said.
A student asked a question about the death warrants that Ridge signed as governor of Pennsylvania, 70 percent of which were for black people. Ridge responded by saying, "Obviously, you're opposed to the death penalty. I'm not." Ridge described the process he used to review each case before he signed the warrant. Some members of the audience interrupted Ridge with applause twice during his response.
Other questions dealt with cyber terrorism and racial profiling. "Racial profiling is wrong," Ridge said. "It's illegal, immoral and unlawful."
Reverend Richard J. Rice (CLA '54) and his wife Nancy Rice drove from White Plains to see Ridge speak. "I liked his common-sense approach," Nancy Rice said. "Let's deal with [terrorism] on a sensible level and not panic." While the speech was informative, it was very general, she said. "He gave us history but he's not in a position to do anything," she said.
The Rices also had other concerns regarding Ridge's speech. "We're very much opposed to the death penalty," Richard Rice said. "That was the part I most disagreed with." Nancy Rice added, "We have no business taking life away."
Evelyn Orgner, who received a masters degree from Drew in the '70s, approved of Ridge's talk.
"[Ridge's] knowledge was broad-his delivery was firm and also very credible," Orgner said. "I came with some skepticism to this lecture tonight, and all of my skepticism was swept away."
Orgner, who worked in the federal government, said "you have to protect the government in whatever you say, and [Ridge] did some of that in his delivery, but that's as it should be. He's there to protect us, and he's doing the very best he can."
Henry G. Parker III, a trustee, thought the lecture was excellent. "I'm a great admirer of Ridge," he said. Parker's favorite part of the lecture was "the summary of the degree of terrorism existing in the country today," he said.
Sophomore Toni Anne Corsi also enjoyed the speech. "I definitely thought it was interesting and informative," she said. "Students should be enlightened." Corsi particularly liked Ridge's discussion of globalization and national ID cards, and how he addressed diverse opinions and controversial issues, she said.
Junior Emily Smykla was disappointed with Ridge's speech, though she had low expectations to begin with, she said. "He only spoke for half an hour," Smykla said. "I expected him to speak more. I didn't expect to agree with him, but I expected the presentation to be more interesting. It was very disorganized-there was no argument." Smykla thought it was ironic that Ridge said the country is not run by fear, since the terror threat levels create fear, she said.
While on campus yesterday, Ridge held a classroom-style discussion with political science majors and minors. He highlighted the importance of being a public servant. "You need to celebrate public service rather than denigrate it," he said. Ridge also spoke candidly about bi-partisanship in current events, and answered student questions.
Before Ridge's appointment as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, he was governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001. Ridge also fought in Vietnam, where he earned the Bronze Star for Valor. In 1982, Ridge was elected to Congress, and he was re-elected six times. After Sept. 11, President George W. Bush appointed Ridge director of the newly created Office of Homeland Security. The office became a department in 2002, and Bush named Ridge secretary. In this position, Ridge's job was "to develop and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to strengthen protections against terrorist threats or attacks in the United States," according to whitehouse.gov.
During his introduction of Ridge, University President Bob Weisbuch told a story about the message that his 10-year-old son Gabe wanted him to deliver to Ridge. The Weisbuch family used to decorate their porch with a "ghoulish figure" on Halloween, until Sept. 11, after which Weisbuch felt that the decoration was inappropriate. This year, for the first time, Weisbuch brought the ghoul out again. Gabe wanted Weisbuch to pass along the following message: "Tell Gov. Ridge, thank you for Halloween this year."
Despite the long struggle against terror that Ridge foresees for the United States, Ridge remains certain of America's success.
"Americans don't live in fear," Ridge said. "It's not our nature. We live in freedom."