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Kristi Noem pledges training, equipment and readiness as Homeland Security secretary
Summary
At a Department of Homeland Security welcome event, Secretary Kristi Noem told agency employees she will prioritize training, equipment and preparedness and said the department will exercise its legal authorities to protect the homeland.
Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking at a Department of Homeland Security welcome event, said she will prioritize equipping the department with training, equipment and other resources so employees can “perform with excellence.”
Noem told employees she was “so thrilled to be a part of the family at the United States Department of Homeland Security” and said her priority as secretary is to ensure staff and their families are safe while the department protects the country. She said she will push to provide “the training, the equipment and the resources to make sure you're prepared for every single situation you find yourself in.”
The remarks opened after ceremonial elements including the presentation of colors by the DHS Joint Color Guard, the National Anthem performed by TSA's Tabitha Mazenberg, and an invocation by Commander Robert Mills, deputy chaplain of the U.S. Coast Guard. Acting Deputy Secretary Kari Hoffman introduced Noem.
Noem framed readiness as the central aim of her leadership. “If you want people to perform with excellence, you have to equip and prepare them to do so,” she said. She urged staff to think ahead and pre-position resources, recounting a childhood anecdote she said taught her to “think three steps ahead.”
On the scope of the department's responsibilities, Noem said broadly that DHS has jurisdiction over people entering and leaving the country, products that enter and leave the country and the internet, and that the department will “exercise all legal authorities that we have to protect this country.” The transcript does not specify which statutes, regulations or specific legal authorities she was referring to.
Noem also positioned the department as both a first line of defense against foreign threats and as a responder that provides comfort after disasters. She said the department’s work should be done “with excellence” and that leadership must give employees what they need before they ask for it so operations are more efficient.
After her prepared remarks Noem opened the floor to questions and offered to meet with attendees individually during the visit. No formal actions, votes or policy orders were recorded in the event transcript.
