James Loy Quotations

It's a difficult budget climate. Where one comes up with the extra dollars to make a concentrated investment in port security is a very serious question.

There's no doubt that we have, as we always do in the nation, reacted to the reality of 9/11 here in the country as an aviation incident. There are other vulnerabilities to be dealt with.

Recent information from ongoing investigations, detentions, and emerging-threat streams strongly suggests that al-Qaeda has considered using the southwest border to infiltrate the United States. Several al Qaeda leaders believe operatives can pay their way into the country through Mexico and also believe illegal entry is more advantageous than legal entry for operational security reasons.

But, ... we can now do so effectively and when necessary so as to make certain that we get these vessels to stop.

Because of the focus in the last four years, we would be better prepared for

We have always used a full range of options (including force) from our ships, ... What's new here is that this force is now available to us from these special helicopters.

Our goal was, and remains, to stop these boats without having to resort to warning shots or disabling fire,

It's extremely important that we bring clarity to this question of 'who's in charge' long in advance of an actual crisis, or else the potential for chaos and delay on the scene will be very real if, God forbid, we are actually confronted by one of these nightmare scenarios. So this is not an abstract argument, ... While the Defense Department will have the legal responsibility to assist civil authorities, when requested, in the event of a serious crisis -- and indeed has resources, troops, and capabilities that no other agency can duplicate -- the new rubric outlined in the National Response Plan clearly identifies the secretary of Homeland Security as the guy at the top making judgments about how the federal government will respond.

We have no choice but to open any bags that raise concern,

The notion that we should not have our ports operated by foreign companies is ludicrous, and indicates someone is not understanding how the global marketplace works today.