Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) says what it will take to create energy change, and why she believes energy change can be so beneficial. (1:28)

 

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Director of Homeland Security at the Center for American Progress Action Fund P.J. Crowley says that we must figure out how dangerous al-Qaida is right now. (0:54)

 

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In a discussion at the Center for American Progress (CAP), Former Director of the New York City Department of Emergency Management Jerome Hauer said there is “a loss of credibility” at the Department of Homeland Security. He said that the Bush administration has tried to “distract the public” on homeland security while not basing their warnings on solid evidence. Hauer said the American public does not like getting security warnings “on a regular basis,” and the next administration cannot look like they are “crying wolf.”

Former Assistant to President Bush on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Frances Townsend said that while the Bush administration struggled to communicate security issues, there is “no playbook to play off of.” She said that communication has to be improved at “a grassroots level.” Townsend said the next administration should form a communications plan quickly.

Director of Homeland Security at the CAP Action Fund P.J. Crowley said Al Qaeda has “the capability and the intent” to attack the U.S. on a big scale. He also criticized the Bush administration saying that while we lost up to $200 billion in the September 11 attack, we will spend over $1 trillion in our response. Director of the CAP Homeland Security Presidential Transition Initiative Michael Signer warned the public and the next administration saying “the threat level will likely be elevated during the new president’s first year.”

State Senator Jonathan Harris (D-Conn.), chairman of the Human Services Committee, said that two factors contributed to his state taking action in the “fight” against poverty: moral outrage and fiscal necessity. (more…)

Reuben Brigerty of the Center for American Progress says the defense establishment is asking itself how it can better advance US security interests and prevent conflict from emerging by engaging in non-kinetic, non-forceful military approaches. (0:28)

 

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Panelists discussed “Humanity as a Weapon of War,” a new report on the military’s role in humanitarian assistance written by Reuben Brigerty, at the Center of American Progress. Brigerty, Director of the Sustainable Security Program at CAP, said decisions being made at the Pentagon suggest the military is realizing that force alone is not an effective strategy in warfare.

Brigerty said his paper outlines the US military’s shift from a direct line of approach in times of conflict, a “kill or capture” technique, to a softer approach that recognizes the causes of insurgencies and works to alleviate them. He said the Department of Defense is beginning to see that humanitarian efforts are not only moral undertakings, but also national security operations. According to Brigerty, the US military benefits from humanitarian ventures by showing American goodwill to skeptical populations and by planting people in the field that can observe local sentiment. He also said the US public must realize, despite written evidence, that US security interests rely on diplomacy and the military equally.

Elisabeth Kvitashvili, deputy assistant administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, expressed discomfort with the military’s role in humanitarian efforts. She said USAID has called upon the military in the past to assist in a supportive role and added that civilian agencies like USAID and the Department of State should continue to lead development efforts. Kvitashvili said workers at the DoS and USAID have been trained development methods and that large-scale military participation in humanitarian assistance may cause recipients of aid to doubt the neutrality of non-military organizations.

Between cheers of support, former Senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) discussed ways to end poverty in the United States at the Campus Progress of the Center for American Progress Convention in Washington. Edwards urged college students in attendance to lead the fight against “America’s great moral shame,” 37 million Americans living in poverty, and to fight against President Bush’s “war on work.”

Edwards cited past efforts by Presidents F. Roosevelt and Johnson that helped to alleviate poverty, adding that the United States has failed to focus on poverty as a major issue for 40 years. He recommended fixing economic shortfalls by raising the minimum wage, increasing tax breaks, and restoring child tax credits to all taxpayers. Edwards said Americans should no longer tolerate hungry children, inadequate public education, lack of healthcare availability, and veteran suicide rates.

To involve students more in the fight against poverty, Edwards encouraged convention goers to become involved in Half in Ten, Edwards’s campaign dedicated to reducing poverty levels by half in ten years. Edwards told students not to sit on the sidelines and become active in helping those most in need.

Edwards also told students that youth movements have historically brought social change and encouraged youth to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and unite the country for change. He said the “two Americas” divide is growing and that the indifferences associated with it are turning into the status quo.

The fact that the U.S. government covers the travel cost of a family pet yet does not cover that of a domestic partner was brought up at a discussion held at the Center for American Progress (CAP). Unlike spouses of married foreign service personnel, domestic partners are ineligible for medical benefits, life insurance and are not even permitted to attend a two-day safety training course which the State Department offers to spouses.

Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, spoke during the discussion, recollecting when James Hormel became the first openly gay ambassador appointed by President Clinton to Luxembourg in 1999. Albright also considered former ambassador Michael Guest’s resignation as ambassador to Romania a big loss to U.S. foreign policy. Guest resigned from his post because his partner was unable to receive the same benefits that spouses of his straight colleagues were offered. Albright wondered how America could expect itself to be a leader in promoting civil liberties when it still discriminated its own people.

Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), also speaking at the discussion, pointed out that to an employee, health benefits are second in importance only to salary. Smith described how, in order to keep the best and brightest Americans working in the public sector, equal health benefits should be afforded to all. Also, Smith discussed his theory that a key to reducing health care costs is to widen the pool of those eligible, even if the “paradigms of families get shifted”.

The Center for American Progress held a discussion today on “The State of Homeland Security” with guest speaker Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the first ever Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. A panel discussion with other guests who are knowledgeable about homeland security followed his remarks.

Thompson outlined eight primary challenges that the Department of Homeland Security faces, including an effective border protection plan, an adequate budget, chemical security measures, communication with small companies and various departments, employee diversity, stabilizing management, reducing reliance on contractors, and maintaining national security without infringing on civil rights. He stated that there are currently 86 subcommittees with jurisdiction over the DHS, which is “too many” to maintain efficiency. Thompson called for bipartisan solutions to these problems, stressing that “when the bad people show up,” meaning terrorists, they are not going to ask about party affiliations.

Panelist Philip Crowley, CAP director of homeland security, explained growing pressure on the DHS to not only prevent attacks on the U.S., but also to anticipate and respond to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. He also said that the notion of a “War on Terror” should be retired because it is misleading and cannot be successfully waged or won. He noted that at the federal level, America spends twice as much defending Iraq than its own country and ten times more on offense than defense.