William H. Frist: “my first statement refers to first responders and the tremendous progress made over the last several years in addressing…”

“my first statement refers to first responders and the tremendous progress made over the last several years in addressing responses to emergencies of all types. On Tuesday, the director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency came to Washington to brief me and the entire Tennessee delegation on our State's homeland security needs. It was fitting, I was thinking at the time, for him to be here on the day that we voted on the nomination of Judge Michael Chertoff. It has been 3 rac{1}{2} years since we were attacked on September 11. Since then we have taken significant steps to strengthen and improve in so many ways our homeland security, from information and technology to training and to overall preparedness. The Department of Homeland Security was established in March of 2003 and has been central in overseeing and coordinating all of these efforts. It is a huge job. I applaud Secretary Tom Ridge for his skillful leadership during those very uncertain times. Since the September 11 tragedy, we have taken a number of steps. We hardened cockpit doors on 100 percent of large passenger aircraft; 100 percent of all baggage is screened. We have deployed thousands of Federal air marshals and professionally trained screeners at our ports. We now screen 100 percent of high-risk cargo. We have also launched the US VISIT system which creates a database of pictures and finger scans of everyone entering the United States with a nonimmigrant visa.”