[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7211-7212]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JANE HOLL LUTE

  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I rise today to express my deep gratitude 
and best wishes to Ms. Jane Holl Lute for her service as Deputy 
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, over the past 4 
years.
  Ms. Lute arrived at DHS in April 2009 with an already impressive 
public service record that included over 30 years of distinguished 
service, including time in the U.S. Army during Operation Desert Storm. 
She served on the National Security Council staff under both President 
George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton. Ms. Lute held senior-level 
positions within the United Nations, UN, where she oversaw logistical 
and administrative support to UN peacekeeping operations worldwide and 
coordinated efforts to build sustainable peace in countries emerging 
from violent conflict. Her record of achievement extends to her 
academic accomplishments. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from 
Stanford University and a J.D. from Georgetown University. I would be 
remiss if I did not mention that she achieved many of these 
extraordinary accomplishments as a single mother. Impressive indeed.
  As Deputy Secretary of DHS, Ms. Lute has served as the Department's 
second-highest official and chief operating officer, responsible for 
the day-to-day business and management of the third largest department 
in the Federal Government of the United States. Comprised of more than 
240,000 employees and operating with an annual budget of over $56 
billion, DHS works to secure our Nation, while enhancing Federal, 
State, and local capabilities to prepare for, respond to, and recover 
from threats and disasters of all kinds.
  Throughout the past 4 years, Ms. Lute has committed herself 
wholeheartedly to the mission set forth in DHS's Quadrennial Homeland 
Security Review, QHSR, which is to ensure that our Nation is a safe, 
secure, and resilient place where the American way of life can thrive. 
Against a backdrop of continued and evolving threats and hazards of all 
kinds, Ms. Lute has worked determinedly to fulfill the challenging and 
wide-ranging mission of the Department.
  To that end, Ms. Lute has worked closely with the many partners in 
both the public and the private sector who play an essential role in 
keeping our Nation safe. This includes all levels of government, law 
enforcement, private industry, and most importantly, individuals and 
communities, who have proven time and time again that they are our 
greatest allies and the key to our success. This bottom-up approach to 
homeland security reflects the manner in which Ms. Lute has helped lead 
DHS during her time at the Department. As I see it, her focus has 
always closely mirrored two of my core values--to figure out the right 
thing to do and do it, as well as to focus on excellence in everything 
we do.
  Under Ms. Lute's leadership, DHS also made significant progress in 
aligning operations with smart and efficient strategy through 
publication of the QHSR, the Nation's first ever comprehensive review 
of America's strategy for homeland security, followed by the Bottom-Up 
Review, which is DHS's effort to align programmatic activities and 
organizational structure with the mission sets and goals identified in 
the QHSR.
  In her role as Deputy Secretary at DHS, Ms. Lute made it a priority 
to institute the sound management practices that have helped place DHS 
on solid financial, programmatic, strategic, and organizational 
footing. Perhaps most notably, Ms. Lute's efforts helped DHS earn a 
qualified audit opinion on all Fiscal Year 2012 financial

[[Page 7212]]

statements, a first for the Department and in record time for such a 
large and new department. Ms. Lute also helped to implement the 
framework for Integrated Investment Life Cycle Management to ensure 
that the DHS budget of nearly $60 billion is spent wisely and 
efficiently.
  Like a true leader, Ms. Lute has the vision to plan ahead and address 
future challenges. One of Ms. Lute's hallmark achievements at DHS has 
been her early focus in the area of cybersecurity. As Ms. Lute has said 
herself, it is impossible to imagine a safe, secure, and resilient 
Nation without a safe, secure, and resilient cyberspace. In particular, 
Ms. Lute oversaw all Departmental efforts to strengthen the nation's 
cybersecurity, including policy, planning, operations, and budget. 
Through the numerous transitions in the Department's cyber governance 
structure, Ms. Lute was a steady, reliable, informed, and persistent 
voice on cyber matters, and she helped ensure that cyberspace would 
remain civilian space.
  In order to ensure our Nation's success in cybersecurity, Ms. Lute 
personally led the implementation effort to improve the Department's 
ability to build a world-class cybersecurity workforce and to ensure a 
strong pipeline of talent for the future. Ms. Lute also helped promote 
a Continuous Diagnostics and Monitoring capability, which will enable 
Federal agencies and other organizations to see and respond to day-to-
day cyber threats. These efforts and others have contributed directly 
to a stronger national cyber ecosystem.
  Ms. Lute's accomplishments are not limited to domestic operations. 
Her familiarity with international negotiation was of great value to 
DHS and her efforts abroad have helped enhance security practices here 
at home. As the lead negotiator for the U.S. Passenger Name Record 
Agreement with the European Union, she secured a landmark new data-
sharing agreement with the European Union that increased the security 
of air travel while protecting civil liberties and privacy. In these 
negotiations, she bridged fundamental differences between how Europeans 
and Americans view privacy through tenacity and perseverance. These 
same traits are seen in her approach to the Department's bilateral 
relations as well. She expanded cooperation with our British and German 
allies through the Joint Contact Group and Security Cooperation Group, 
forged stronger ties with India through the Homeland Security Dialogue, 
and she opened the door to frank discussions with China over cyber and 
port security.
  The commitment to secure our Nation and create a more resilient 
America is a goal that is shared not only among Members of Congress and 
the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, but also 
among everyday citizens. That security is ensured by the men and women 
who step forward each day and say ``Send Me.'' Ms. Lute once told me 
this is the very credo the men and women of DHS embrace in every 
crisis. So today, I sincerely thank Deputy Secretary Lute for her 
public service and for her extraordinary service over 3 decades to keep 
our Nation safe. She leaves behind a strong legacy of ``just get it 
done'' leadership, paving the path for future leaders and employees at 
DHS. I, for one, will remember her fondly for her commitment to 
ensuring American homeland security and for living DHS's ``Send Me'' 
attitude. Jane Holl Lute is a role model for us all.

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