United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-10-31 monographic deposited born digital 17 p. GA 1.5/2:GAO-02-208 T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T P0b002ee1803a415b 000538851 f:d02208t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T GAO-02-208T Defense capabilities Terrorism Strategic planning Safety regulation Emergency preparedness Postal service Diseases Pentagon World Trade Center (NY) DOD Domestic Preparedness Program Testimony A02401 Because of the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, terrorism rose to the top of the country's national security and law enforcement agendas. Moreover, as military operations continue in Afghanistan, letters containing the anthrax bacteria have turned up in congressional offices, federal agency buildings, post offices, and several media companies. On October 29, 2001, the Attorney General indicated the need to be prepared for still more terrorist incidents. The threat of such incidents comes with great uncertainty given the changing nature of terrorist attacks over the last decade--ranging from food poisoning in Oregon, to a truck bomb in Oklahoma, to suicide airline hijackings in New York, to anthrax-laced letters in the District of Columbia. The Department of Justice is working with state and local governments to complete risk management tools for the domestic preparedness program. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has advised GAO that these will be limited to threat assessments only and will not include other important aspects of risk management that GAO advocates. Despite these inconclusive results, the federal government can benefit from risk management. Risk management is a systematic and analytic process to consider the likelihood that a threat will endanger an asset and to identify actions that reduce the risk and mitigate the consequences of an attack. An effective risk management approach includes a threat assessment, a vulnerability assessment, and a criticality assessment. Such an approach could help the nation prepare against threats it faces and permit better direction of national finite resources to areas of highest priority. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T.pdf GAO-02-208T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-208T Testimony GAO-02-208T; Homeland Security: A Risk Management Approach Can Guide Preparedness Efforts; Defense capabilities Terrorism Strategic planning Safety regulation Emergency preparedness Postal service Diseases Pentagon World Trade Center (NY) DOD Domestic Preparedness Program Public Law 104-201