The-Ave.US

Who wrote the following text?

a. UW college sophmore
b. Graduate student in the Evans School
c. Press agent for U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
d. Mayor Pike of Bellingham
e. Christine Gregoire

first person to post the correct answer will win an engraved Ave beer mug.

(answers must be posted and identified by author by November 1, 2011.

This week marks the eighth anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This year will also mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and six years since Hurricane Katrina. These events have forever changed the way we, as Americans, perceive our vulnerabilities to threats. They also changed how we prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from catastrophic events, whether a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

… our nation is more secure today .. , in part, because a simple, powerful idea has taken hold with individual citizens, communities, businesses, and governments at all levels across our country. The idea: that homeland security begins with hometown security. All of us have a role to play.

This is not a new notion. Making our communities stronger and more resilient has been a guiding principle for our homeland security efforts for some time. Making sure that our cities and towns, our suburbs and tribal lands, are in a perpetual state of preparedness requires collaboration. At the state level, we’ve seen strong homeland security partnerships — from the bottom up — grow exponentially over the last eight years.

To be sure, much work remains. We must continue to be vigilant in our communities as threats evolve and change. And, as many localities confront tough fiscal climates, we must continue to use collaborative, whole-of-government and whole-of-community approaches.

But let’s take this opportunity to recognize the successes over the last eight years from the hometown perspective.

Last year, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia attracted more than 500,000 visitors from across the world. More than half came from or through the United States.

Helping make the Olympics secure as well as successful was a collaboration of 40 public safety agencies, from federal to local, in the U.S. and Canada. We brought those agencies together under one roof in Washington, at the Olympics Coordination Center at Bellingham, Washington Airport.

This remarkable collaboration increased our capabilities in way that are still resonating. It included:

• The expansion of the Shiprider program — which allows local law enforcement authorities from the U.S. and Canada to patrol border waterways together, allowing increased information sharing and situational awareness.
• The creation of an enhanced driver’s license and identity card program — increasing security and expediting the flow of people and goods.
• A stronger interoperable public safety communications system allowing for emergency responders to communicate more effectively among jurisdictions and disciplines within the state and along the international border.

In the eight years since DHS was formed, increased collaboration between the federal government and .. state, local, and tribal governments and law enforcement agencies, has undoubtedly made us more secure. But we know that our homeland security, just like our hometown security, is not a finish line we can cross.

Our security is a shared responsibility — and a long-term one. Leaders across the country recognize that security requires that we begin in our homes, our communities, our businesses, and our local municipalities. We must do it in collaboration with each other with a sense of shared purpose.

In a time of political polarization and economic difficulty, working together to make our communities more secure and resilient should be an effort in which we all come together. We can never eliminate all threats. But we can work together to prevent them, and bounce back quickly if a disaster does occur.