This morning DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano made her first appearance before the House Homeland Security Committee. As one would expect, Chairman Bennie Thompson set a cordial tone in his opening statement and the rest of the committee members, including the Republicans, did nothing to alter that tone. She is making a good first impression and her ability to answer questions directly seems to be appreciated.
The best answer of the morning, however, came in response to an inquiry by Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-Or) who tried to force Napolitano to cave in to Congressional micro-management that all maritime cargo must be inspected in foreign ports by 2012. Secretary Napolitano was forthright and direct in telling DeFazio that her initial assessment was that “2012 is not going to work.”