For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today joined former National Security Advisor General James Jones and former CIA Acting Director John McLaughlin in a panel discussion to highlight the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) work with international partners to strengthen global travel and trade networks, secure cyberspace, and combat global threats.
"In our globalized world, international security and economic prosperity are inextricably linked,” said Secretary Napolitano. “DHS is committed to working with our international partners to secure the global trade and travel networks that are essential to our economy.”
During her remarks, Secretary Napolitano underscored the Department’s close cooperation with international partners, including foreign governments, major multilateral organizations—such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, World Customs Organization and International Maritime Organization—and global businesses, to strengthen security, while facilitating the legitimate trade and travel upon which our economy relies.
Today, DHS has personnel stationed in more than 75 countries around the world, and in collaboration with the Departments of Justice and State, has signed Preventing and Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) Agreements with 21 Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries and two VWP aspirants to share information about terrorists and criminals.
The panel discussion was part of the Aspen Homeland Security Group’s winter meeting. Modeled on the longstanding foreign policy-focused Aspen Strategy Group and co-chaired by former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and former Congresswoman Jane Harmon, the Aspen Homeland Security Group is a bipartisan group of former government officials and policy experts in the field of homeland security and counterterrorism who provide recommendations to relevant policymakers.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.
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