**Summary of Meeting by Teleconference -- Public Session**

**U.S. Department of Homeland Security**

**Homeland Security Advisory Council**

**February 18, 2004**

**Meeting Summary:**

This summary describes the discussions and actions of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Advisory Council
(HSAC). The meeting was held via teleconference in open session from
approximately 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Wednesday, February 18, 2004.

The HSAC held this public teleconference for the purposes of finalizing
its recommendations to the Department on the development of a National
Homeland Security Award for Excellence, based on the proposal submitted
to the HSAC by the HSAC Award Working Group. The HSAC discussed and
approved a letter to the Secretary presenting the HSAC's final
recommendations on the award.

**Participants:**

*[Council Members in Attendance]{.underline}:*

Joseph J. Grano, Jr., Chair

Judge William H. Webster, Vice Chair

Dr. Lydia Thomas, Chair of the Award Working Group

Richard Andrews

Norm Augustine

Frank J. Cilluffo

Dr. Jared Cohon

Herb Kelleher

Mayor Patrick McCrory

Sidney Taurel

**U.S. Department of Homeland Security Representatives:**

Christopher J. Furlow, Homeland Security Advisory Council, Executive
Director

Jeff Gaynor, Homeland Security Advisory Council Staff

Mike Miron, Homeland Security Advisory Council Staff

Candace Stoltz, Homeland Security Advisory Council Staff

Katye Balls, Homeland Security Advisory Council Staff

Erica Bomsey, Office of General Counsel

**Public Attendance:**

Approximately 15 members of the public listened in on the
teleconference.

**HSAC Meeting Called to Order**

**CHAIRMAN GRANO:** I would like to call the meeting to order. I'm Joe
Grano, Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, more commonly
known as the HSAC. I'd like to welcome members of the HSAC participating
on today's call, as well as members of the public who are listening.

Members of the public are in a listen-only mode, but as always, may
submit written comments to the HSAC at the end of today's call. We will
provide you at the end of the call with contact information.

I\'d like to now ask members to please acknowledge their presence. For
the sake of time, I will not announce titles. So, we could begin please
with William Webster.

**\[The following members were present for the call.\]**

Joseph J. Grano, Jr.

Judge William H. Webster

Dr. Lydia Thomas

Richard Andrews

Norm Augustine

Frank J. Cilluffo

Dr. Jared Cohon

Herb Kelleher

Sidney Taurel

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Let me briefly discuss the purpose of this call. As
you know, when

the HSAC held its inaugural meeting in June 2003, one charge given to us
by Secretary

Ridge was to make recommendations on the establishment of a Homeland
Security

Award for Excellence. One that could recognize outstanding leadership,
performance

and ingenuity among all Homeland Security stakeholders, and frankly to
promote best

practices.

At our October public meeting in Detroit, the HSAC began discussions of
this issue. A Working Group, ably chaired by our colleague, Dr. Lydia
Thomas, was established in November 2003 to accelerate our work.

At our December 2003 public meeting in Miami, the HSAC had the
opportunity to discuss the working group's initial findings and to
deliberate on the matter. For today\'s members of the public who are
listening, please note that both of these meetings were, in fact, open
to the public.

The working group has now submitted its final draft recommendation to
the HSAC, and we\'re meeting today to consider their work with the goal
of making our final recommendations to the Secretary. In keeping with
our *Federal Register* notice and our obligations, our discussions today
will be limited by all members to the topic dealing with this award.

Members were forwarded copies of the working group\'s final draft, but
before we deliberate, I\'d like the Award Working Group Chair, Lydia
Thomas, to provide a report and overview.

Lydia, I\'m going to ask you to refer to the document, if you would, and
I would like you to begin obviously with the draft of the letter that
you\'ve provided to all of us for Secretary Ridge.

So, Lydia, I turn it over to you, please.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. First, let me
thank all

of the working group members, both those on the HSAC as well as members
of the State

and Local Official and Emergency Response Senior Advisory Committees
that

participated. We certainly did have a terrific team, and I think we
enjoyed working

together, and I hope that you find the products that we have produced
today satisfies the

request that we received from the Secretary, as you stated.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Well, Lydia, on behalf of everyone on the HSAC, please
extend our

thanks and our appreciation for the fine work.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Thank you, I will, sir. We have submitted a draft
letter.

The letter, in essence, says: that we have taken the Secretary\'s
request to heart; we have worked through the process of putting together
a Homeland Security Award for Excellence; that all of the materials
associated with those recommendations are attached to the letter; and
that we, in essence, stand ready to continue on and do whatever else we
can to facilitate this process.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Now fellow members, please understand this letter has
not been

sent as yet. May I ask if there\'s any commentary as to the draft?

**FRANK CILLUFFO:** I think it is fine.

**\[There were no objections from members.\]**

**JOSEPH GRANO:** OK, that being the case then, Lydia, please go to
final, and we\'ll

send the letter on to the Secretary.

Could we move please to page one of the recommendation document?

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Let me summarize. Mr. Chairman, from the
standpoint that

since everyone has had the document, I will give all of the highlights,
and then certainly

take comments on any areas that anyone may continue to question.

The first and foremost thing is that we believe that the award as it is
currently structured and recommended to the department and to the
Secretary is consistent with the President\'s National Strategy for
Homeland Security. We also believe that as the award program is rolled
out over time, this entire process will serve to enhance the nation\'s
level of preparedness, particularly at the state and local level, and in
the private sector, including public private partnerships. And it should
encourage all to participate.

We have emphasized throughout the process, and certainly in this
document, that this should be a non-bureaucratic, simple process, yet
elegant in its ability to highlight the exemplars that we believe are so
important to the furtherance of our Homeland Security. We believe that
the award program should be centered in the Department, that there be a
budget and staff commensurate with the prestige that we believe this
award deserves. We have recommended that this be a Presidential-level
award, and that indeed that award will be given by the President at the
White House whenever possible.

What I would like to do is go page by page and ask whether you have
questions on either the recommendations for the award, which are found
on page one or the recommendations for the award process found on page
two and three. The award and the award process.

Are there any comments or suggestions or questions with regard to the
award itself? If you recall, for those of you who may not, we had
indicated that the Department should select a title of the award,
although we gave some examples of award titles that we believed were in
the spirit that the Secretary had requested.

**HERB KELLEHER:** I think the one -- the one I like the best is the
Patriot Award, because I think anybody that helps to protect the
homeland is a patriotic individual or organization. I think that it
should have a short, impactful name.

I guess number two would be something as simple as the Homeland Security
Award.

Number three would be the 9/11 Award, just to remind everyone, you know,
what happened on 9/11 and why we\'re engaged in the process of trying to
protect the homeland.

And then perhaps as a theme line after, the title of the award,
something along the lines For Leadership and Keeping our Homeland
Secure, or For Leadership in Fostering Homeland Security.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** I happen to land where you did in terms of utilization
of the word

patriot. So, Lydia, I pass that on to you. I think the Patriot Award,
the connotation therein I think has sustainability, and I think it fits
very well with what we\'re trying to do.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Well, that is the first item there. We can also
note the current draft.

**RICHARD ANDREWS:** I would echo the comments of Herb and Joe. I think
that\'s the title that has the most resonance for me.

**CHRISTOPHER FURLOW:** Mr. Chairman, this is Chris Furlow. If we want
to accept these recommendations to go into the final recommendation, we
need to determine that today.

If we would like to add these, we just need to ensure that they\'re
included and have the approval of the HSAC today so they can be included
in that final recommendation.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** In all fairness to the public who do not have the
benefit of the documents, the names that have come up in terms of
recommendations: the first is Patriot Award for Excellence in Homeland
Security; second is Excellence in Protecting the Homeland; third,
Excellence and Support of National Security; four, Excellence in
Securing Freedom Award; five, Golden Guardian Award; six, Enduring
Freedom Award.

I\'d like to make a recommendation to the fellow members that our first
recommendation should be Patriot Award for Excellence in Homeland
Security. Can I get a consensus?

**FRANK CILLUFFO:** I second, Mr. Chairman.

**RICHARD ANDREWS:** Yes, I would agree with that.

**HERB KELLEHER:** Second as well.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** OK. Any arbitrary opinions? OK, there\'s our first

recommendation relative to the document.

OK, let\'s go to page two, please.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Page two, we also recommended that, as I said,
this award be given by the President at the White House whenever
possible. And we also believed that an award date be selected that was
representative of what we were trying to accomplish. And we just
provided a series of examples and elected as an option for the
department to make the final selection.

The dates that we provided were: September the 11th; September the 12th;
November the 11th; and November the 25th. And for those who may not
recall, that was -- that date is important because that was the signing
of the Homeland Security Act creating the Department of Homeland
Security.

**JUDGE WILLIAM WEBSTER:** It\'s on page two, still under this section,
the suggestion, and I certainly favor the number one choice for the
name. But in the event that we find that -- or others find that the word
patriot\'s been preempted by some other set of circumstances making it
unavailable, I would suggest consideration that language that follows
patriot, Award For Excellence in Homeland Security, be appended to
numbers five and six.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Meaning you would expand it to suggest Golden Guardian
Award

for Excellence in Securing ...

**JUDGE WILLIAM WEBSTER:** Yes, sir.

**SIDNEY TAUREL:** I would recommend personally September 12th, because
I think this date illustrates a sense of urgency and I think that\'s the
right message to send here as we are creating those exemplars of good
work in homeland security.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** I would suggest Veteran\'s Day myself for a different
reason. I believe that Veteran\'s Day will be taking on a much higher
profile within our country. And I think the collaboration of the private
sector -- citizens, business, et al -- in support of this effort is a
double benefit in honoring veterans as well. So, that\'s my suggestion.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** If I may, while I don\'t disagree with either you
or Sidney, which highlights one of the reasons why there are a series of
dates there. But there\'s one other element that I think that it\'s
important for us to consider, and that is that the reason that we listed
them all was not only because we thought that all of them were very
symbolic, but because we\'re suggesting to the Secretary that this be a
Presidential-level award and that it be given at the White House. It\'s
just a thought that they would need some flexibility around the date
that is selected in order to perhaps accommodate the additional
requirements.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** I think that\'s an excellent point. Not to dig in on
my point of view, but for sure the President\'s somewhere in this
country on November 11th will be engaged in recognizing veterans, and
that\'s part of the rationale that part of that ceremony could include
this award. But again that\'s just one man\'s opinion.

**FRANK CILLUFFO:** I think that all the dates obviously bring about
some significance. And I think that Lydia\'s point to give a series of
potential dates is a good option. I think September 12 shows that this
is the new norm; this is marshalling and mobilizing our nation\'s
resources for a new war that\'s going to be with us for quite some time.
Veterans Day obviously is significant, and the actual signing of the
bill is.

I think that if there\'s sort of agreement that all days have some
significance and importance, and I don\'t know if we need to zero in on
the actual date itself.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Well, Frank, you bring up a good point. Lydia, would
it be at least possible perhaps to reflect the summary form of Frank\'s
commentary with each date as to why we considered those dates? I thought
he just did a wonderful job articulating how one might connect it with a
specific date, and could we expand that as to why we highlighted these
particular dates for consideration?

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Sure, September the 11th we did not explain
because we thought it was -- you know, was self-explanatory. September
the 12th we did explain in the paper. The 11th we didn\'t for the same
reason, every -- it\'s Veteran\'s Day. And the 25th we did, but we can
certainly go back and put parenthetical phrases behind each to make sure
that it\'s clear why we have suggested those days.

We could certainly request that one of those days at least be selected,
and you know, it may even vary from year to year. I would prefer,
obviously, that it remain, you know, one of these days be selected, and
it becomes the award date for this particular award. But you know, that
we may be being a little bit too restrictive on the Department.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Chris, is that protocol that we\'re suggesting, is
that amenable to the

Department?

**CHRISTOPHER FURLOW:** Yes.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** OK. Then we will put forth all of the dates with a bit
better descriptor as to why we came up with them, a little bit more
rationale, and let the department in concert with the White House in
deciding the final date. Is that agreeable to everybody?

**\[There were no objections from members.\]**

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** We also believe that it was very important for all
of the individuals who receive recognition to have visible recognition
of their award that they can take away with them that is more than a
plaque on the wall. We wanted a medal to be struck, and to have that
medal also duplicated in a lapel pin that individuals could proudly wear
showing that they had indeed been the recipient of this very high-level
award.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Would a fair analogy be, Lydia, the Freedom Medal?

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Yes.

As far as the process itself is concerned, also on page two, I think the
thing that we tried to hammer home most is that the award application
process be very simple, be straightforward, not place any undue burden
on the applicant, and that there not be any barriers to entry associated
with funding.

**JARED COHON:** How many applications do you project we\'re going to
get?

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS**: It will obviously depend quite a bit on how the
final criteria are constructed. It is not our intent or that we imply
anywhere in this document that we intend for this to be an award that
would generate tens of hundreds of thousands of applications, not even
perhaps several hundred a year, I would assume that there would probably
be, in the first year in particular, 50 or less.

As we said, we are clearly looking for exemplars, processes and
procedures and acts that can be duplicated around the country. We do not
expect that many novel occurrences, not only in this particular instance
or in any instance for that matter.

And so, the fact that we\'re asking the process be simple does not in
any way imply that we expect the act to have been necessarily simple.

**JARED COHON**: I agree with the simple process, but I think it also
needs to demonstrate that process does matter and that there be a
rigorous methodology put in place.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** If you go through that a little more and reflect
on the conversation that we\'ve had about this, it was our intent that
there is a blue-ribbon panel set up.

**JARED COHON**: Excellent, just for the public to know that process
does matter.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** It matters a great deal, that their singular
responsibility would be this award process.

**MAYOR PATRICK MCCRORY**: One comment I remember in Miami, too, someone
made was don\'t make this into a Baldrige type award -- that is to keep
it simple.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Yes, I\'m the author of that comment.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** What we were concerned about was not that people
-- or anyone would take this lightly, we are not implying that
whatsoever. What we\'re saying is that we would not like to see an
organization, an individual or whomever who has indeed something that is
genuinely important to this nation not be able to bring it forward
simply because they don\'t have the ability to put together the a
\$250,000 package that it takes sometimes to get to some of these very
large awards. We are not criticizing the other awards, we understand
them, but they are in place for a different reason.

We believe that this one should be able to be performed, if you will, in
our state and local governments, in the private sector, in partnerships
with them, by sitting there looking at a very clear, crisp, clean
process that allows the organizations or the individuals to respond in a
clear, crisp fashion such that their contribution to making the nation
safer is abundantly clear and deserving of recognition.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Obviously there\'s a prerequisite of having a
communications and branding plan, which you do allude to, prior to
understanding what the funding costs would be. But was there any
discussion as to what this might cost the department?

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** Yes, sir. It was in a prior document, because
every year, you know, there are new funding requests putting down a
number in concrete we thought to be ill advised. But we were talking
about somewhere between three to five individuals, and that the process
within the department would probably range on the order of six to
\$750,000.

As I briefly mentioned, we believe that in order to make sure that there
is a level playing field, there are a group of esteemed individuals who
are charged with the selection that the Secretary appoint, in essence, a
blue-ribbon panel. This panel would be charged with reviewing each and
every response, such that we don\'t get variances as a function of the
reviewers.

If indeed it turns out that there is an overwhelming response that we
did not anticipate, the award group within the Department would ensure
that the meaning behind having a blue-ribbon panel and a leveling of the
playing field, is not lost.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** I think that\'s self explanatory, and I compliment you
and the group on your recommendation relative to the importance of the
branding plan. I\'m going to assume, unless I hear otherwise, that we
agree with the recommendation that the Department\'s Public Affairs
Office take the lead in the development of the branding and
communications plan.

OK, that\'s excellent. So, Lydia, I guess that pretty much summarizes
your recommendations?

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** That wraps it up, sir. The only final point that I
would make is that there is a Department of Homeland Security
Foundation, and that we have suggested that the Foundation work with the
Department to further this award process in any way that is suitable and
is helpful to the Department and is within their scope.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** I think that\'s a very good recommendation into
itself, and I thank you for that. And I want to again express our thanks
to you, Lydia, and please extend our heartfelt thanks to all the members
of the working group. We know the amount of time committed and the
additional time that they\'ve committed to the project. So, please pass
on our appreciation to everybody involved.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** I will certainly do that Mr. Chairman, and I would
be remiss if I were not to quickly add that it was the sense of the
Working Group that we stand ready as this process is rolled out within
the Department to be of continued assistance. We would very much
appreciate the opportunity to interact with them as the plans go forward
and to continue to support the effort.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Well, on behalf of the HSAC, we would like you to
continue in terms of that protocol and be our link. So, I will recommend
that you continue that, and I thank you for volunteering again.

**DR. LYDIA THOMAS:** You are more than welcome. This is a great effort.
We believe it\'s very important, and most of the time it\'s also been a
great deal of fun.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** Well, listen, as we bring our deliberations to a
close, I\'m going to ask Chris Furlow to direct the staff to make the
noted changes to the drafts and to produce the final recommendations of
the council to the Secretary for immediate submission. Chris, you
prepared?

**CHRISTOPHER FURLOW:** Absolutely, sir. We are ready to roll.

**JOSEPH GRANO:** As you all know, there are many awards that are
presented by the government and private sector organizations. I think we
all agree that none have the potential to be so important to both
security and freedom of our fellow citizens. The fact that this is not a
federal strategy, it\'s a national strategy, and anything we can do to
acknowledge its importance and the commitments from all of our citizens
I just think is dynamite. And this will go a long way in getting the
attention of the public, as well as the private sector in terms of
businesses, municipalities, et al.

I think it's also fair to say that this is a beginning. It will take
some time for the development of the ultimate award, the dates to the
medals -- everything that was stated today.

I do believe we've produced a great foundation. I think the department
can build on that foundation. And again, I think that this is another
positive step in advancing the President's National Strategy for
Homeland Security.

So, on behalf of Secretary Ridge, I want to thank everybody for their
contribution to what's transpired today.

With that, we'll bring the meeting to a close. Members of the public may
comment to the HSAC in writing. Our address is: Homeland Security
Advisory Council, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington,
D.C., 20528.

In addition, minutes of this meeting will be posted on the HSAC Web
site, once compiled and certified. And the website may be found at
www.dhs.gov under the "Components" link.

For compliance purposes, our meeting notices are posted in the *Federal
Register*, and I would like to thank everybody for their participation
this afternoon.

With that, we will close the meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you
very much.