More Than 600 People Prevented from Entering U.S. in Effort to Protect the Nation from Potential Security Threats, Ridge Says to Drexel Community

Business Wire, May 24, 2004

Business Editors

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2004

On the day The New York Times published a story about a proposed computer-based system that will track visitors to the United States long before they arrive, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said that more than 400 tourists and 200 international students have been prevented from entering the country since 9/11 utilizing the current tracking system. He made the announcement today during his visit to Drexel University.

Ridge noted that a key factor in the nation's security is the "integration of a country" and the transmittal of vital information from the Department of Homeland Security to individual state governments and the smallest towns in America.

During his campus visit, the former Pennsylvania governor was awarded the Drexel University President's Medal from Drexel president Constantine Papadakis in recognition of his leadership and commitment to protecting the nation. Ridge joins other Drexel President's Medal recipients that include President Bill Clinton, President Jiang Zemin, Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias and inventor Dean Kamen.

While in Philadelphia, the birthplace of U.S. liberty, Ridge urged all Americans to each be protectors not only beneficiaries, of freedom. He emphasized the role of communications and technology in helping make the nation a better and safer place. "In laboratories and factories, classrooms and board rooms, experts are bringing the future of research and technology to bear on the homeland security challenges we face today," said Ridge.

These challenges range from the simplest standardization of equipment to the most complex, according to Ridge. From making sure all firefighters can plug their hoses into a fire hydrant to developing a sophisticated computerized international tracking system, such as the one announced in The New York Times.

Drexel is Philadelphia's technological university. It is designated as a National Bioterrorism Civilian Medical Response Center. Drexel is also a key participant in the Applied Communications and Networking Project, a partnership that trains defense personnel in new communications and networking technologies, and develops ways to integrate those technologies into critical defense programs. The Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency has also designated Drexel as a National Center of Academic excellence in Information Education.