Thank you. I also want to thank Senator Rockefeller for bringing us together today at this important homeland security summit. It is a pleasure to be here.
The FBI is indeed lucky to have a very special relationship with West Virginia. As you know, our Headquarters are in downtown D.C., but in many ways West Virginia is our second home. Clarksburg is home to our Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Fairmont hosts the Internet Fraud Complaint Center. And West Virginia University is a very close partner, having worked with us in designing the nation’s first degree programs in forensic identification. Thousands of FBI employees and their families work and live in West Virginia, and they are just as committed, as you are, to keeping this state safe and free.
I want to begin by thanking everyone here for serving on the front lines of homeland security. Dealing with terrorist threats is not the job many of you signed up for – but you have met the challenge. Together we are out there every day tracking terrorist threats and ensuring the safety and the security of your communities. And, I know that many agencies are doing all of this with reduced budgets and even reduced workforces. Thank you for what you are doing to protect West Virginia and to protect America.
West Virginia does have a number of special areas of concern in terms of homeland security.
You have a number of federal facilities, and I know that you have already coordinated with them on potential emergency response efforts.
In Charleston, first responders have been working closely with the local chemical industry to ensure that they are prepared for any contingency. A Jefferson County postal facility had its ow – – n biological weapons scare recently, with white powder that thankfully did not turn out to be Anthrax.