Russ Knocke Quotations

There are certain evacuees who have been rescued from their nightmarish scenarios, and they have been taken to certain airports where they are waiting for airlifts and people are able to receive them, ... We are working more closely with state and local officials to develop a comprehensive plan while all the while airlifts from the New Orleans airport have continued.

We believe we've got the right mix of personnel in law enforcement for the federal government to meet the demands of public safety.

We were already operating under the National Response Plan.

The process for sharing this type of specific threat information with state and locals was consistent with protocols for how we share the information and for how that information is vetted by the intelligence community.

Had the intelligence community concluded the threat was imminent or credible, we would have followed ... different protocols.

There are no plans to raise the threat level at this time. These are rumors.

It didn't happen at the same time at all the different places.

I think we have been very, very clear. The focus, without hesitation, is on risk management. Homeland Security grants are now based on risk instead of spreading a little out for everyone.

It is not helpful for anyone, no matter how well intended they might be, to produce road maps that lead aliens into the desolate and dangerous areas along the border, and potentially invite criminal activity, human exploitation and personal risk.

Our undivided attention is placed on the victims of this catastrophe and seeing that they get the help that they desperately need. There is going to be a time and a place for the government and no doubt for Congress and the administration to really take a careful look at where the missteps were and assign blame.

We are not talking about DOD taking over federal response efforts to a catastrophe from start to finish,

We'd like to get to the point where we're not just training people and releasing them.

We are encouraging those states that want to work with us.

We're talking about an ultra-catastrophe, where the need is such that the military's training and assets would meet an immediate need in support of Homeland Security coordination of the federal government's responsibility and recovery efforts,

While the situation in the Superdome was nightmarish and not satisfactory to anyone involved, it was not a life-and-death situation and we had to focus our priorities where we could,

We've had a regular dialogue with first responders and discussed some of these issues with them. We're clearly an all hazards department and have taken significant measures to enhance preparedness and recovery capability since Sept. 11.

there is no indication of any nexus to terror.

We were racing against the clock and now it's clear the clock beat us.

At this point of time, we continue to move forward.

There will be plenty of time to assess what worked and what didn't work. Clearly there will be time for blame to be assigned and to learn from some of the successful efforts.

A this time there are no plans to adjust the terror alert level.

As we secure and shut down vulnerabilities, we know that terrorists will seek new ways to carry out their agenda. Rather than looking backward at yesterday's threats, we are building upon what we have already accomplished to meet evolving threats.

It's certainly not the case that the senior positions are rewards for political loyalty. There is experience in their background relevant for doing their jobs, whether in policy or management.

This is a unique circumstance. This is not like a business in the private sector or even other departments in the federal government. It's a unique department with a great sense of urgency for fulfilling its responsibility.

Apart from its obvious errors, it displays a significant misunderstanding of core aspects of the Katrina response that could have easily been corrected in the most basic conversations with DHS leaders.