The White House this morning released the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism. A fact sheet can be found here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060905.html
And the entire strategy document can be downloaded here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nsct/2006/index.html
The strategy taps the resources of many federal agencies, including the Department of Defense. One particular passage might be of interest to your institutions:
Foster intellectual and human capital. To better prepare ourselves for a generational struggle against terrorism and the extremist ideologies fueling it, we will create an expert community of counterterrorism professionals. We will continue to establish more systematic programs for the development and education of current professionals in counterterrorism-related fields. We will substantively expand our existing programs with curricula that includes not only training in counterterrorism policies, plans and planning, strategies, and legal authorities, but continuing education in appropriate area studies, religious philosophies, and languages. We also will ensure that personnel throughout all levels of government and in all fields related to combating terror are invited to participate.
Yet such development and education programs must not be restricted to current counterterrorism personnel. We will support multidisciplinary studies throughout our educational system to build a knowledgeable pool of counterterrorism recruits for the future. The recent National Security Language Initiative is an essential step forward. It will help to expand U.S. foreign language education beginning in early childhood and continuing throughout formal schooling and into the workforce. Our efforts to foster intellectual and human capital also will extend beyond our borders – to academic and non-governmental forums with our international partners to discuss and enhance our knowledge about the critical counterterrorism challenges we confront.
In the War on Terror, there is also a need for all elements of our Nation – from Federal, State, and local governments to the private sector to local communities and individual citizens – to help create and share responsibilities in a Culture of Preparedness. This Culture of Preparedness, which applies to all catastrophes and all hazards, natural or man-made, rests on four principles: a shared acknowledgement of the certainty of future catastrophes and that creating a prepared Nation will be a continuing challenge; the importance of initiative and accountability at all levels of society; the role of citizen and community preparedness; and finally, the roles of each level of government and the private sector in creating a prepared Nation. Built upon a foundation of partnerships, common goals, and shared responsibility, the creation of a Culture of Preparedness will be among our most profound and enduring transformations in the broader effort to protect and defend the Homeland.
We have our monthly CNSR meeting on Tuesday, September 19th at 1pm. The meeting will again be held at the American Chemical Society at 1155 16th Street NW in the Marvel Conference rooms.
The Senate is in session today starting at 11am and is expected to take up the FY07 Defense Appropriations bill, H.R. 5631. The Kennedy-Collins amendment has yet to be adopted by the bill managers, but staff is optimistic that some version of the amendment will be adopted before final passage.
Latest press reports indicate that Leadership wants the bill completed by the end of the week. Both chambers have expressed that they want the conference and final floor action to be completed by the end of September.