It’s fitting and appropriate that the Port of San Ysidro, here in the San Diego Sector, was selected as the site of today’s event.

San Ysidro is one of our nation’s busiest and most important ports of entry. In fact, in terms of the processing of people and vehicles, this is the largest border crossing anywhere in the world!

I’m glad to see CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists from San Ysidro, but also from the ports of Otay Mesa, Tecate, Calexio, Andrade, and the Port of San Diego.

To all our CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists here, let me say, you’re doing a great job!

It is also fitting that this event is here on the California border with Mexico, home of San Diego and El Centro sectors. Thanks to the Border Patrol’s efforts, here in San Diego and El Centro sectors and elsewhere, we’re getting better control of our border.

We are—and will—establish control of our border through increased numbers of Border Patrol Agents; through technology and tactical infrastructure; through rapid, flexible response to intrusions; and by denying successful entry by defense in-depth strategies. Control of this border is far better now than it was ten years ago, when, as we all know, it was very much out of control.

Every day CBP Officers at our Ports of Entry, and CBP Patrol Agents, here and across the country, are catching and arresting smugglers and criminals trying to enter the United States; apprehending and denying entry to those who attempt to illegally enter; seizing illegal drugs and other contraband before they can get into the United States, as well as intercepting materials injurious to American agriculture and the environment; and important to our all-important priority mission, we are identifying and refusing entry to potential terrorists.

At CBP, we identify potential terrorists, if not every day, almost every other day. We all know what CBP officers Diana Dean and Jose Menendez Perez did to stop terrorists. We are continuing in their tradition.

Let me mention a couple of examples of some more recent, alert work by CBP personnel.

Last month, CBP Officers assigned to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, identified, intercepted, and apprehended an arriving passenger from the Middle East who was charged with making false statements about his suspected travels outside the United States and the contents of DVDs found to contain images of Iraqi Imam Maqtada Al-Sadr.

And, earlier this year, Peter Mailloux, a CBP Officer in Boston, intercepted a Saudi national who was carrying several incendiary devices in his carry-on luggage, apparently to probe airline security.

Just two weeks ago, on July 19th, as a result of alert efforts of CBP Border Patrol Agent Luis Rocha, an individual named Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed was arrested at the McAllen, Texas, airport.

Ahmed, originally from Pakistan, was traveling on a South African passport with several pages missing and was about to board an airplane to New York. She had traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa, to London to Mexico City, and apparently illegally crossed the border near McAllen, Texas.

As the guardians of our borders, you protect our nation both at and between our ports of entry.

I appreciate what you do.

CBP: One Unified Border Agency

The job you do each and every day—day and night—is extraordinarily important to the defense of our country, and today is an extraordinarily important day for our new agency.

It’s a day of great pride for me personally, as your Commissioner.

After 17 months of hard work, today we officially commemorate the unification of CBP, one agency within the Department of Homeland Security. CBP is made up of a 30,000-strong corps of CBP law enforcement officers—over 18,000 CBP Officers at our ports of entry, nearly 2,000 CBP Agriculture Specialists, and 11,000 CBP Border Patrol Agents—brought together into one agency to manage, control and secure our Nation’s borders.

At 30,000 strong, we are the largest law enforcement agency of the federal government.

And we intend to be the best.

Think of it. For the first time in our country’s history, we’ve established one frontline law enforcement agency at our Nation’s borders. One united frontline force, symbolized by one CBP uniform at our ports of entry; one overtime system for all our officers at our ports of entry; one shoulder patch, embossed with our agency’s name and with the Department of Homeland Security seal, for all CBP Officers at the ports and for all CBP Patrol Agents; and, we’re unified by our priority mission: to protect and secure America’s borders against terrorism.

No other agency of our government has a more important mission than CBP.

And now, our unification is symbolized by this one badge, a CBP badge, with the DHS seal in the center of that badge.

This morning’s badge ceremony is also taking place today in Newark and Detroit. Over the next few weeks, all CBP officers will receive this new badge, but today, we start by issuing the new CBP badges here at the Port of San Ysidro. Wear them proudly!

America Depends on You

Before I confer the new CBP badges on the officers behind me on this stage, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the importance of these events, and the importance of the mission all of you are sworn to uphold.

CBP’s priority mission is homeland security. For the border security agency of our government—for CBP—that means our priority mission is detecting and preventing terrorists and terrorists weapons from entering the United States.

This mission places you squarely at the center of America’s efforts to protect and defend our nation.

Before 9-11, protecting our borders was not viewed as a national security issue. It is now. CBP—all of you—are an important part of our national security against the threat of international terrorism. Stationed at—and between—our ports of entry—you are often our first—and our last—line of defense.

You, with your training and legal authorities, are the ones most likely to identify and stop terrorists and their weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, from entering our country.

You wear this badge at one of the most difficult times in our nation’s history. This badge is a shield. And you are the ones that must shield our country from terrorism.

We are at war. A war on terrorism. Three years ago, we were attacked on American soil by a determined enemy. Never again! Not if we can stop it from happening.

As you know from my recent messages, al Qaeda is plotting to carry out major attacks in the United States sometime in the next few months. They are going to attempt to get terrorist operatives—those who will carry out these terrorist attacks—into the United States.

For the most part, these operatives are not here. They will need to get by us, and they may attempt to bring terrorist operatives across our borders with Mexico and Canada. We know they have attempted to get into the U.S. through our international airports of entry.

That is why we must be vigilant in the days and weeks and months ahead. Al Qaeda, through its terrorist operatives, is planning ways to kill American citizens, damage our economy, and cause us to live in fear.

Under President Bush’s leadership, we have pursued the terrorist enemy across the world. We’ve captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. And, importantly, we have unified all agencies and personnel with border responsibilities into one agency—CBP—to more effectively deal with the terrorist threat.

That’s the Number One reason why we have come together. Our agency exists because of the real—and very immediate—threat that international terrorists pose to our nation and to our citizens.

Our enemy has vowed to strike America again, even harder than 9/11. But their threats of violence do not lessen our resolve to protect our homeland. They merely serve to increase our vigilance.

We need a good offense and a good defense.

Their hatred will not prevent us from relentlessly pursuing them wherever they may be. That’s the offense! Our military is doing a great job on the offense.

And, because of the men and women of CBP, because of you, who have stepped forward to shield our nation, we have a great defense. You are a big part of our defense! You are America’s frontline. You are the defenders of America.

As part of issuing CBP badges, I will also re-administer the oath of office to our CBP Officers. The oath I will administer to you to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” has always been a solemn pledge of honor and service to our country.

But, in today’s world it takes on new meaning as our nation—and our very way of life—are threatened by the real and dangerous forces of terror.

Your talents, your commitment and your training were never more needed than they are today. The American people are depending on you. The American people depend on all who wear the CBP uniform—whether it’s blue or whether it’s green—and carry the CBP badge.

A Time of Change

CBP has spent more than a year, making sure you—and this great new agency—are better prepared to meet these weighty responsibilities.

Since March 2003, you have been part of an historic undertaking—building a new agency, a new culture, and a new, unified border law enforcement workforce.

And, during that time, we have accomplished a lot:

• CBP is the largest honest-to-goodness merger of people that has taken place within the Department of Homeland Security—the bringing together of 42,000 employees—from four different agencies—representing one fourth of the personnel of the Department of Homeland Security. This is an unprecedented unification of people, policies, systems, and operations.
• We created a new position—the CBP Officer. On July 25, just two weeks ago, all former Customs Inspectors, Canine Enforcement Officers, and Immigration Inspectors became CBP Officers. With this single position, we are breaking down, even further, the border agency stovepipes that existed before there was a CBP. We have graduated, already, more than 1,500 new CBP Officers since last September.
• And, a few months ago, in March of this year, close to 1,500 AQ Inspectors were converted to the new CBP Agriculture Specialist position.
• And, we’re providing cross training and anti-terrorism training to our frontline officers, and we’ll provide even more as we move forward together.

These changes—and others—have focused our manpower and our mission on securing our borders against terrorists and terrorists weapons, as well as performing our combined traditional missions more effectively than ever before.

Building a Tradition of Excellence and Professionalism

We’ve been able to effect these changes rapidly because we were able to build on a solid foundation—the strong traditions of our legacy agencies.

But, today, I want you to remember that, as CBP Officers, you are forging new traditions—CBP traditions—a tradition of excellence and total professionalism.

As the CBP mission statement proudly proclaims: “We are the guardians of our Nation’s borders. We are America’s frontline….We serve the American public with vigilance, integrity, and professionalism.”

Our success as a federal agency—and in large part our success against terrorism—depends on you—how well you carry out your duties, how you enforce the law, and how you interact with the public.

Secretary Ridge has called what we’re doing as creating “One Face at the Border.” And we are. We’re creating one agency of the U.S. Government for—and at—our borders.

Remember, you are the face of America at our borders to all who come here. The authority you possess requires that you exhibit—at all times and under all circumstances—the utmost professionalism and courtesy to the hundreds, even thousands of people you and your colleagues encounter each day, be they visitors or returning citizens.

You are the representatives of the government of the United States of America. Every action you take on behalf of the U.S. Government, and on behalf of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, must be above reproach.

The new badge you will wear is an important symbol of your new responsibility. It is a visible, unifying symbol of the CBP frontline workforce.

It is also a historic first. The CBP badges are the first badges to be issued by an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. Today, as you receive your new badge, you become a part of law enforcement history—the first CBP Officers to wear this new badge. Only the finest, the most dedicated, have the privilege of wearing a CBP Badge.

I am deeply proud of all of you, and of the work that you—and your fellow officers—do every day—day and night—to protect our nation and serve the public.

I know that you will wear this new CBP badge with pride—and with the realization that each day, as you carry out your duties, you make our Nation safer—and America’s future more secure.