Phil Gingrey: “The protection of the names of WHINSEC students and staff is both a privacy and security issue, with broader…”

“The protection of the names of WHINSEC students and staff is both a privacy and security issue, with broader implications for our international security cooperation. Publicizing the names of WHINSEC students in their home countries, where in some cases there are active guerilla or narcotrafficking insurgencies could expose these students to threats to their personal safety and, indeed, to that of their families. This could include hostile attention from nations, organizations and individuals that may wish to do harm to the United States, its friends and its allies. Such publication, Madam Chairman, could serve as a disincentive to foreign students who would otherwise want to attend WHINSEC, and it could discourage nations from sending their students to the institute. This would undercut the effectiveness of WHINSEC as a tool for building hemispheric security cooperation and communicating the democratic values and the respect for human rights that we champion.”