Everyone please sit down. Know we have people trickling in, but we are starting anyway. Ok. Welcome to the Wilson Center to those who are physically here and those who will be watching us on cspan and by other means. Harman, the president and ceo of the Wilson Center and former member of congress who is proud of her role in helping create the department of Homeland Security. Today we are pleased to cohost ural Homeland SecurityExperts Group meeting with support from the miners association, american airlines, and mckinsey. It is the group of the best americann the Homeland Security. It was found over 10 years ago and is now rebooted and housed at the minor corporation. Secretary and my dear friend Michael Chertoff and i are honored to be cochairs, and rob walker is the newly minted director. Mission is to offer independence, nonpartisan advice to key government officials as they face hard security programs, raise awareness, and offer solutions. We are nonpartisan and we hope we add value. Sitting in our audience today are some of the most Brilliant Minds sharing more than 1000 years, i am not making this up of service and u. S. Security posts. Household names like Charlie Allen, suzanne spaulding, lisa monico, and i want to pay tribute to an extraordinary patriot, general mike hayden. [applause] mas jane i could take all day and thank all the rest of you, but thank you for your service. I used to say that the group is made up of the mothers and fathers of Homeland Security. Most of us were instrumental in standing at the department and staffing it. But over time, i have to be honest that we are the grandmothers and grandfathers of Homeland Security. We are sprightly and as passionate as ever about the mission. The Wilson Center is also delighted to host i guess it is called the state of homeland. The state of homeland addressed by our current secretary of Homeland Security, three of his statesssors, also, gave of homeland addresses here over the last five to six years. It is my pleasure to introduce former secretary Michael Chertoff who will introduce our current secretary. Please welcome him. [applause] mr. Chertoff it is great to be here and to see a lot of familiar faces and in particular, welcome the acting secretary of Homeland Security, chad wolf, to address this meeting. Confirmedwolf was last november and he was then at the same time designated as acting secretary. He brings to the job a lot of experience going back to the in 2001,the tsa back and he has served at various levels of tsa. He has worked on Security Issues both in the private and public sector. He came back as deputy chief of staff and chief of staff of the department before ascending to his role, and he is a recipient of the Homeland Security distinguished Service Medal which is a high honor. We welcome secretary wolf. Overview andus an then we will have time for discussion and questions. I am happy to invite the acting secretary to the stage. [applause] sec. Wolf lets see if i can get this right. Thank you, secretary chertoff, congresswoman harman, for the kind introduction. It is great to be here with the Homeland SecurityExperts Group where colleagues, experts, and thought leaders can currently address the most pressing threats to the homeland. Asers continue to serve mentors and friends to the department leadership. A few of you have stood in this role, and often refer to the example that you have set for the Threat Landscape that is more complex and dynamic. On behalf of the department and me personally, i want to thank you for all of you for lending your expertise, your insights to making our country more safe and secure. Thank you. As acting secretary, my priorities are guided by determination to ensure that the department is robust, resilient, and forward leaning in 2020 and beyond. 360 degreerovide a view of the current dhs priorities. As i walk you through these threats, you will hear some missions you are familiar with. We have been doing some work that you might have missed that do not always make headlines. One example is earlier this week, we formally rolled our first ever strategy to combat human trafficking, the importation of goods produced with forced labor, and Child Exploitation. These horrific crimes do not just threaten americans personal and Public Safety, but they threaten our physical and virtual borders, our prosperity, and our National Security. It is why dhs is at the forefront of combating this evil. Actionategy outlines 40 items the department will work towards. Our work formally established this mission as a department priority, allowing it to be addressed accordingly in the months and years to come. There are a variety of issues like this one that may not rise to the highest threats of the departments but are nevertheless important and critical to what we do. The media may not focus on it, but rest assured, the men and women of dhs are determined, focused, and heads down every day doing the work to keep the Homeland Security. With that, lets jump into the top threats. In light of recent national event, i will begin from the threat emanating from certain nationstates, iran, china, and russia. Each country has a different motivation and end goal, ball attempt to undermine our interest but all attempt to undermine our interests. Lets start with iran. There is no credible or specific threat to the homeland from iran, however, giving what we know about their capabilities and motivations, the department continues to operate with an enhanced posture. Summer 2019, the department aegan working on contingency plan. Have been ready and we remain ready to initiate various protective measures immediately should the need arise. Given these events, for the first time in history, we have taken the extra step of issuing a National Terrorism advisory system bulletin, driven by a specific event. It was the right decision. Bothulletin was issued to inform and reassure the american public, state and local governments, private stakeholders, and dhs was actively monitoring and preparing for any credible threats. We remain specifically vigilant regarding cyber enabled attacks from iran against u. S. Based targets including critical infrastructure. Looking to the long term, it is china who remains our most significant and persistent strategic adversary. Toworks the threaten the u. S. s power and dominance from within the system using covert and overt means. Be it our academic and scientific communities or Silicon Valley to aggressively expand its ability to shape information in the chinese narrative abroad. Beijing will continue to use overt legal, political, and economic endeavors to further pressure and shape the information environment. Covertly, it employs a number of tactics to undermine our influence in standing around the world. Persistentr most threat in the cyber realm. It is pursuing a longterm hole of nation effort to threaten undermine the United States. While we value our partnership with beijing to promote global prosperity, we are working to hold the chinese bad actors accountable. Theon is being taken across executive branch including dhs to use regulatory tools appropriately, to respond to the threat it poses such as the committee on foreign investment, and team telecom. Dhs, we are focused on leveraging the unique authorities, data, and missions to counter beijings longterm objective. When i step in the position, i found each component addressing the chinese threat in their own silo, and in most cases, perhaps not coordinating as much as they could across the department. A siloed approach is not efficient. As a result, we have decided to address and this includes but is not limited to the protection of critical infrastructure, supplychain integrity, immigration security, maritime security, and countering foreign influence, cybersecurity, and counterintelligence. We will identify and prioritize threats that match our resources and capabilities accordingly. We will be able to quickly identify any vulnerability gaps and determine where any Additional Resources are needed as they are needed. It is the type of planning that goes on behind the scenes daily. It does not make the headlines, but it is critically important to make sure we are positioned to respond to any threat quickly. Lets move over to russia. Unlike china, russia does not seek to weaken our economy are surpass us on the world stage but they focus on actions of undermining the american way of life. We expectin 2016, russia to interfere in the 2020 elections and undermine our Democratic Institutions. The state and local officials who run our elections are prepared. We are working with our federal partners to make sure those officials in the front lines of our elections have the information they need to combat russian interference. We are working to make sure the American People understand how russians seek to undermine confidence in our election. The simple steps they can take to avoid amplifying foreign influence campaigns. Dhsre prepared in 2018 when established classified and unclassified war rooms. These connected local officials and all 50 states, political parties, social media, and agencies across the u. S. Government including dod, fbi, and the Intelligence Community. It helps to make the 2018 elections the most secure. In 2020, we are doing this and more. That is to prevent our adversaries from degrading faith in our democracy. Let me move onto Election Security more specifically. Election security is front of mind for many of us as we go into 2020. From the white house down, the department and u. S. Government more broadly his later focus on this issue. Under the leadership of director we have been working diligently around the clock to ensure the election systems are secure and resilient. Thanks to their efforts, we are working with the government and state and local Election Officials better than before. This is in contrast to 2016 when we were in contact with few to none and we had relationships with few to none. This is providing these partners with information, technical assistance, resources, and tools to promote resiliency of their systems. Localction day, state and Election Officials could bear the risk of their systems so we are doing what we can now to ensure they are secure. Voters play a crucial role and elections. In elections. We recognize the potential effect of targeted attacks on our elections both real and claimed. We will continue to educate targeted populations to make them less receptive to misinformation campaigns, and continue to work with partners to prepare and practice exercise from potential disruptions. As all Homeland Security operators and experts, 100 security is never realistic. We are focused on building more resilient election systems and processes, and encouraging states to audit Election Results by paper. 20, over 90 of votes will have a corresponding paper ballot. We can do more. Border security. Our number one duty as a country is to not only know who is coming into our country but what is coming in. Transnational criminal organizations work on a daily basis to funnel people and illegal contraband such as drugs, money, and weapons into the u. S. Border security is National Security and we are prioritizing it as such. We have seen and experienced the last several years it is our security that is closely linked with the stability to our partners to the south. Working with our Central American partners, we have built a historic regional framework to reduce the reach of Transnational Criminal Organizations and ensure those who are seeking protections can do so closer to home. U. S. Support to build their capacity and also promoting regional safety and security by sharing information to combat Transnational Criminal Organizations. The coalition is founded on a basic premise to secure region, to stable and prosperous region. We will provide opportunities for the youth of those countries to represent the future of those countries. Signed 12e agreements with guatemala, honduras, and el salvador. This will lead to further partnership and prosperity in the region. We are working closely with the Development Finance organization as wellify investments as increase Economic Opportunity in the region. In addition to promoting economic securities, such investment also counters influence from our adversaries in the region. It just makes sense. Where we have a strong presence, our strategic adversaries will not. We could all agree that we would prefer not to have countries like china and russia establishing that influence in our backyard. International engagement is only one component of the strategy to address the Border Security crisis. Over the last several months, we put together a strategy that is working. We have ended catch and release, eliminating the incentive to exploit children for entry into the United States. We have cracked down on asylum fraud across the board, working tirelessly to restore enforcement of federal statutes enacted by congress. Lastly and most critically, we have expedited and continued construction on the border wall system. When we ask our agents on the ground what will it take to fully secure the border, there is no ambiguity in their answer. Number one on the list is a border wall system. miles under construction in over 200 miles in the preconstruction phase. Today we remain on track to complete the construction by the end of this calendar year. We have decreased illegal crossing seven months in a row for the First Time Since 2008, and will continue to take action against Transnational Criminal Organization that threatens american safety. While we have achieved Great Success the past couple of months, we remain in crisis of over 40,000 apprehended every month crossing the border illegally. This is not sustainable and we must do more. Let me speak to the mission that has been synonymous with the Department Since inception, counterterrorism. Since 9 11, we have achieved significant successes to attack the homeland significant successes including raising the baseline of security. Aviation threat, tsa and dhs worked with International Partners to raise a security baseline around the world. Today, commercial aviation is more secure because of the actions we took. Raise dhs is working to the global place global baseline for security. We are transparent and upfront with every country on the criteria and information we require. There are no surprises. We are a small number of countries that lack the will or capability to adhere to the criteria, travel restrictions may become necessary to mitigate the threat. Travelbe clear restrictions are not based on the faith of the citizenry of the regions of the world these citizens reside, but the countries otherwise pose an elevated risk to the safety of our country. We do not leave room for error. As we continue to address the threat of terrorism, we also concede to see the threat of domestic actors. Americans trends of driven by violence ideologies, and attack with little warning creates a unique challenge. Times,eat israel and at unpredictable and has serious the threat is real and at times unpredictable and has serious ramifications. The position of the department to confront this evolving threat was released last fall. Address the evolving challenges today. I want to call out the frameworks focused on enhancing prevention and resilience. This calls for a whole of approach and build up points. The framework explicitly recognizes the need to support and protect our most vulnerable populations, particularly our yout. Our youth. We are glad to provide additional funding in fy 20 to advance our work. We are working aggressively to a developed an Implementation Plan that will be ready in the coming weeks and the plan will serve as a twoyear action documents, running from fy 20 to fy 22 to lay out steps and milestones for dhs along the way. Lastly, i want to mention the urgency of this threat to our faithbased communities and houses of worship. We are responding. Acting in the recommendations on the prevention of violence against faithbased communities. I want to thank the subcommittee for their work on this important issue, and we are moving out quickly but smartly on these. As each one of these threats show, dhs professionals are operating in a complex and dynamic environment. Throughout all of the work that we do, we continue to emphasize the importance of transparency, the protection of civil rights and civil liberties, and the perfection of data. It is an honor and privilege to lead dhs and the mission to protect American People, but it is true, no one agency can tackle these issues alone. Robust partnerships are critical to the this the securityrom Cyber Companies to