For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010
I welcome today’s report by the DHS Inspector General, which recognizes the hard work of the United States Secret Service over the past two years to make necessary changes to the agency and further secure the White House complex. These steps were taken in response to recommendations made by the Protective Mission Panel in December 2014, which I established after the September 2014 fence jumping incident to conduct an independent assessment of the Secret Service and the security of the White House complex.
While there is always more work to be done, I am pleased that the Secret Service, under the leadership of Director Joe Clancy, has made significant progress in implementing the panel’s recommendations. As noted in the IG report, the Secret Service has improved communication within the workforce, increased hiring, committed to more training and better articulated budget needs. In addition, the National Academy of Public Administration reported yesterday, after conducting an independent review at the agency’s request, that the Secret Service has made significant improvements in a relatively short time. The Secret Service has done all this while operating under the increased demands of a presidential election year, which has included providing protection to presidential and vice-presidential candidates and leading security for the Republican and Democratic national conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
I am confident that the Secret Service will keep building on these improvements and continue to demonstrate why it is the finest protection agency in the world.
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