Plainsman1963

Personal
Birthdate: October 6, 1949 (Richmond, Va. )

Hometown: Richmond, Va.

Spouse: Roxane Gilmore

Religion: Methodist

Education
University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1977
University of Virginia, 1971
John Randolph Tucker High School
Experience
Military Service:

United States Army
Public Service / Elected Offices:

Chair, Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, current
Chair, Republican National Committee, 2001-2002
Governor of Virginia, 1998-2002

Attorney General of Virginia, 1994-1998

Commonwealth's Attorney, Henrico County, Va., 1988-1994

On the Issues

Lit_Match

Governor Jim Gilmore
Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Forum
March 31, 2006

In our first year, the Commission assessed the risk to the U.S. of a terrorist attack. When it came to a conventional attack, we reported that was highly probable. There had already been the first World Trade Center bombing, the bombing of the Kobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. And there was the Oklahoma City bombing too. It was very clear to us that America was in the crosshairs, and that we would likely be attacked on our own soil in the future. We declared that the first step in making ready was to determine up front: “Who is in charge?” We felt strongly that there needed to be a national strategy for dealing with this threat. That was 1999.

In our second year, we reiterated the need for a national strategy. And by a national strategy, we didn’t mean a federal strategy. We urged that a national strategy is federal, state, and local. This was a radical approach for a federal commission, and was largely ignored by all authorities, and by the Press who considered Homeland Security far too theoretical, and who turned their attention to more compelling issues, like Monica Lewinsky. Nevertheless, we proposed:

The creation of an office in the executive branch to develop and implement a national strategy to combat terrorism;
and Better coordination and information sharing among the federal intelligence agencies.

In the third year of the commission, the year 2001, we focused on five areas:

Empowering state and local governments with the tools to work with the federal government to stop terrorist attacks;
Bolstering the nation’s health assets in order to respond to a chemical or biological attack;
Securing our critical infrastructure and protecting our cyber-assets;
Clarifying the appropriate role of the military in homeland security;
Strengthening immigration and border controls to restrict the movements of terrorists crossing our borders and operating within our borders.

Each year we were required by law to present our report on December 15th. But, in 2001, we finished early and sent it to the printer during the first week of September. One week later, the event occurred that changed our lives and transformed our nation forever.

At the time of the 9/11 attack, I was Governor of Virginia.

That morning, in the Governor’s mansion, I watched, and like you, I knew we were under attack.

I took immediate action by picking up the phone and activating Virginia’s Emergency Operations Center. I gave orders that any incident of gunfire anywhere in Virginia was to be reported to the operations center. I placed the National Guard on alert. I then went immediately to my office in the Capitol and soon learned that the second state attacked was Virginia. Not a lot of people think of it that way, but the Pentagon is in Virginia. Who responded? Police, fire, rescue, and emergency services from Virginia, and later surrounding states.

Later that morning I received a call from the Commander of the Atlantic fleet, notifying me of ship movements. I held press conferences several times that day, and addressed the people of Virginia that night, to reassure them of what was being done. I visited the Pentagon, and visited those injured in the hospitals of Northern Virginia. Such are the duties of State and local officials who shoulder the responsibility of safety in the communities.

The September 11 attacks led to the extension of the commission for two more years, but we went forward without one of our members. Ray Downey of the New York City Fire Department was killed at the World Trade Center. In the fourth year, we assessed the intelligence community. We recommended the creation of the National Counter Terrorism Center -- a vehicle for the intelligence groups to come together and be in a better position to coordinate and share information. We pointed out that in 2002, there was still no national strategy.

In our fifth and final year, 2003, we expressed concern, serious concern, that the urgency of homeland security was not taking hold. We also began to have a serious concern about the protection of civil liberties in the United States in a time of great fear and anxiety. Frightened people will give up liberty for security. The enemy of liberty is fear. We should never allow the actions of terrorists to cause us to surrender the commitment to liberty that makes us uniquely American.

And perhaps most important, the 5th report outlined how essential the private sector, community organizations and citizens were to preparedness, response and community recovery. We recognized that government was not large enough, nor does it have enough money or employees to effectively prepare and respond to all threats, everywhere and all the time. We are “they.”

That was 2003. The focus of the nation on Homeland Security began on September 11, 2001. Now it is 2006. Where are we in the state of our preparations and in our state of mind? Much progress has been made by the faithful Federal Employees, especially of the Department of Homeland Security, who labor to exhaustion to try to make us safer. Much progress has been made in airline and maritime security, although border protection remains ahead, and yet to be done.

__________________
Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)

Plainsman1963

Another one bites the dust.