[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 13 (Monday, January 28, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E79]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF THE CENTER FOR HOMELAND DEFENSE AND SECURITY AT THE NAVAL 
               POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 28, 2008

  Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to advise my colleagues of the 
5th anniversary of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, 
located at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. NPS has 
always been at the forefront of military graduate education for all the 
military Services and no more so than 5 years ago, when the School was 
selected by the Department of Homeland Security to fill a critical gap 
in graduate level education for our current and future leaders of 
homeland defense and security.
  Since 2002, the Center has graduated nearly 200 students from the 
ranks of our Nation's first responders--public health, law enforcement, 
fire, emergency management and other disciplines that make up homeland 
security, and from almost every State in the country. The highly 
competitive application process and the rigorous academic excellence of 
the master's degree program ensures that Center graduates are having a 
significant impact on protecting the Nation. Moreover, the success of 
the Center in Monterey compelled the Department of Homeland Security in 
June 2007 to establish the DHS Homeland Security Academy in the 
National Capital Region. NPS was again called upon by DHS to replicate 
the Center's success by providing faculty and curriculum for DHS 
employees at the second site in West Virginia. At that time, FEMA 
Administrator Paulison said the following, ``The NPS master's program 
has a proven track record of building a national network of leaders who 
work across agency and jurisdictional lines to solve problems and 
protect the American people. We are very pleased to be able to leverage 
this successful program and offer more opportunity for DHS employees to 
learn in a setting that mirrors homeland security across the Nation.''
  Success has many fathers and I would like to pay special tribute to 
two former NPS leaders who were instrumental in bringing the Center to 
NPS--Provost Dick Elster and Associate Provost Paul Stockton. Their 
recognition that NPS offers a highly qualified, multi-disciplinary 
academic faculty, together with Dr. Stockton's willingness to do the 
hard work necessary to develop a Homeland Security master's degree 
curriculum--literally from scratch--coupled with the school's inherent 
relationships with the COCOMS--in this instance NORTHCOM--reinforced 
former Secretary Ridge's decision to select the Naval Postgraduate 
School for one of our Nation's most important homeland security 
education missions.
  There are many other partners, stakeholders, and sponsors who have 
influenced the success of the Center and who deserve recognition, 
including current Center Director Glen Woodbury and David O'Keeffe, who 
leads the DHS Homeland Security Academy in Shepardstown, WV, along with 
the current president of NPS, Admiral Oliver and Provost Dr. Ferrari. 
All of these folks will continue to lead the Center into the future 
with the same success that has been achieved in these last 5 years.

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