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Senator Malone Welcomes Leaders of International Summit on National Security and Foreign Affairs; Homeland Security Issues Top Agenda of Visit
March 7, 2003 – Today, Senator Shawn-Michael Malone, a member of the 25th Legislature's Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety, Justice and the Judiciary, and other Virgin Islands officials welcomed a contingent of leaders of the International Summit on National Security and Foreign Affairs who at the West Indian Company Dock.
Among the Virgin Islands representatives in attendance were Virgin Islands Army Secretary, General Samuel Ebbessen, Chairman of the 25th Legislature's Committee on Homeland Security, Senator Lorraine Berry, Members of the Virgin Islands Homeland Security Council – Mr. Ian William, Fire Service Director and Mr. Harold Baker of VITEMA, West Indian Company Limited Vice President, Andrea Smith, and representatives from Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen's office and the Virgin Islands office of Tourism.
"What we want to achieve with this association is to raise the awareness of policy makers in Washington about another American border that has not received much attention in the on-going Homeland Security discussions," Malone said. "From the beginning, Congress and the White House have been more concerned about the Mexican and Canadian borders as the most vulnerable to securing America’s homeland. However, the U.S. Virgin Islands, with one hundred seventy-five miles of unprotected borders, is the southeastern gateway to the United States and thus remains the most vulnerable entry point in terms of protecting our homeland. It is imperative that the U.S. Virgin Islands be an integral part of Homeland Security," Malone further stated.
"This association, along with the efforts of Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen as a member of the newly House Committee on Homeland Security, promises to be the foundation of what we all hope would be the U.S. Virgin Islands as a key player in protecting America’s homeland," Malone concluded.
