I’m not going to address a number of the issues we are discussing with Congress in the press. I’ll just tell you that we are committed to strengthening work site enforcement.

We were already operating under the National Response Plan.

Apart from its obvious errors, it displays a significant misunderstanding of core aspects of the Katrina response that could have easily been corrected in the most basic conversations with DHS leaders.

I don’t believe there is one critical error. They are going to be some missteps that were made by everyone involved.

We take these allegations very seriously, and we will cooperate fully with this ongoing investigation.

We’ve had a regular dialogue with first responders and discussed some of these issues with them. We’re clearly an all hazards department and have taken significant measures to enhance preparedness and recovery capability since Sept....

A cursory phone call to DHS would have revealed that the catastrophic annex is designed for ‘no-notice’ or ‘short-notice’ events, where no personnel or supplies have been pre-positioned, which was clearly not the case in...

We are investigating internally, We take any leak, or potential leak, of classified material very seriously.

I think we have been very, very clear. The focus, without hesitation, is on risk management. Homeland Security grants are now based on risk instead of spreading a little out for everyone.

Since 9/11, as a nation, our preparedness has increased dramatically. We need to ensure that in major metropolitan areas, preparedness is an all-hazards preparedness. So we’re going to have a look at these individual plans...

We are not talking about DOD taking over federal response efforts to a catastrophe from start to finish,

Further, the preliminary report falsely implies inaction by DHS and FEMA before landfall. In fact, the clear record shows that state officials expressed satisfaction with the federal government’s asset pre-positioning and other pre-hurricane assistance during...

The intelligence community has not found any evidence to substantiate the threat information.

It’s not just a director that we’re looking to bring on board. We’re looking at a package of senior veterans that can come in and really help to lead the agency and continue to retool...

We are encouraging those states that want to work with us.

Lucia Pinochet is no longer in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security. She is returning, this evening, to the country of her last departure.

This is a unique circumstance. This is not like a business in the private sector or even other departments in the federal government. It’s a unique department with a great sense of urgency for fulfilling...

While the situation in the Superdome was nightmarish and not satisfactory to anyone involved, it was not a life-and-death situation and we had to focus our priorities where we could,

I’m not sure what is shocking about this video. There’s really nothing new or insightful from it.

That was the trigger,

I would tell you it is hard to see how Mike can make that argument with a straight face after he testified he willfully kept the secretary and the department out of the loop.

Like any relationship, you recognize you can always find ways to grow and strengthen those ties, and we’ve been interested in doing so. We hope to move on it very quickly.

We agree with the concept that we should provide incentives to encourage security practices that go beyond mandated law and regulation.

They were training to help the life-savers.

aiding those in need and getting about the reconstruction and rebuilding process.

Had the intelligence community concluded the threat was imminent or credible, we would have followed … different protocols.

I completely disagree with the notion that race is a factor or that their socioeconomic status is at all a factor … This is a catastrophe, … We’re here to save. We’re here to help...

The Coast Guard and [the Customs Service] have the authority from a law enforcement perspective, and they have the assets?the guns and the boats?to ensure security at our ports.

Our undivided attention is placed on the victims of this catastrophe and seeing that they get the help that they desperately need. There is going to be a time and a place for the government...

We take these allegations very seriously.

We’re the first to admit that there’s more that we want to accomplish. But I think it’s disingenuous to make the suggestion that somehow only marginal progress has been made.

We are quite confident in the procedures that are in place.

These were administrative, clerical and support functions.

There may well be situations where it merits the Red Cross holding back while our personnel go in first. But our priority is meeting the immediate life-saving and life-sustaining needs of those who’ve gone through...

The process for sharing this type of specific threat information with state and locals was consistent with protocols for how we share the information and for how that information is vetted by the intelligence community.

We are making substantial progress in implementing several core management initiatives, including strategic management of human capital, competitive sourcing, improved financial performance, expanded electronic government and budget and performance integration.

The department is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation into the allegations against Brian Doyle. We take these allegations very seriously.

There was a real sense of urgency.

Part of this new office will be to undertake the necessary steps to address any outstanding issues relating to the reimbursement of past hurricane relief efforts. These groups were essential and will continue to play...

We’ll apply these lessons learned from Katrina and these other various reviews to the way forward as we get ready for June.

We don’t mind naming the countries that are not cooperating, and we’re starting with the biggest offender. This is a part of an overall effort to restore integrity to our immigration system.

We believe we’ve got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public safety.

One of the top priorities of the department going forward is to retool FEMA to ensure that it is a 21st century agency with 21st century capabilities,

There is no known nexus to terror or criminal behavior. We believe this to be environmental.

We’re in the process of participating in a large after-action report. We’re deeply committed to finding out what worked and didn’t work, and apply those lessons learned going forward.

We have significantly improved preparedness capabilities for natural disasters and for acts of terror since 9/11. We are an all-hazards department, and FEMA does benefit significantly from being a part of the department.

no indication of a nexus to terrorism.

there is no confusion, no chaos, there’s just immediate action and results.

It’s time to stop playing around with the organizational charts and to start focusing on government, at all levels, that are preparing for this storm season.

It’s certainly not the case that the senior positions are rewards for political loyalty. There is experience in their background relevant for doing their jobs, whether in policy or management.