That is, in my judgment, a very bad idea for Homeland Security because during that period ..., we cannot engage in new starts, for example, we are back in a presidential election cycle. I cannot hire new Secret Service agents until I get an appropriations bill passed by this Congress -- not another (continuing resolution) for a couple of months.

Jeh Johnson

More Quotes by Jeh Johnson
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More Quotes From Jeh Johnson

And so border security is not simply preventing people from getting in, but very often preventing somebody from leaving for the wrong reasons.

Jeh Johnson
wrongsecurityleavingpeople

How could somebody be comfortable with authorizing legally the use of lethal force? My view is if you become comfortable with it, then you should get out of the job.

Jeh Johnson
viewjobyouforce

The problem is that the American public is suspicious of executive power shrouded in secrecy. In the absence of an official picture of what our government is doing, and by what authority, many in the public fill the void by envisioning the worst.

Jeh Johnson
picturegovernmentproblempower

Under well-settled legal principles, lethal force against a valid military objective, in an armed conflict, is consistent with the law of war and does not, by definition, constitute an 'assassination.'

Jeh Johnson
legalconflictlawwar

History will record not only the transformational changes President Obama brought about, but also that in 2008, he was elected president with 69 million votes - the largest popular vote for any one person in the history of this country, based on a campaign of hope and inspiration.

Jeh Johnson
votehopecountryhistory

Yes, it is frustrating to listen to those who foment fear, suspicion and intolerance, who don't know the mistakes of history, and are in the midst of repeating them. Have faith that the character of the American people as a whole is such that, in the end, we will choose not to drink this brand of soiled milk.

Jeh Johnson
faithfearcharacterhistory

Overly simplistic suggestions that we ban people from entering this country, based on religion, or ban people from an entire region of the world is counterproductive. It will not work. We need to build bridges to communities, to American-Muslim communities right now, to encourage them to help us in our homeland security efforts.

Jeh Johnson
workpeopleworldreligion

It is almost always the case that when someone self-radicalizes, someone close to them sees the sign, which is why we continue to encourage public awareness, public vigilance.

Jeh Johnson
whysomeonealwaysawareness

War violates the natural order of things, in which children bury their parents; in war parents bury their children.

Jeh Johnson
parentsthingswarchildren

What got me motivated was my dad's idea that I go to Morehouse College in Atlanta. It's an all-black, all-male school. Martin Luther King went there. The most famous person in my class was Spike Lee. And I really caught fire. I was so inspired by the people around me that I went from C's and D's to straight A's by the time I left.

Jeh Johnson
kingmefiretime

There are many examples in our history of overheated rhetoric leading to fear and prejudice and government overreach. My own grandfather, a sociologist, was dragged in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee. He said he wasn't a Communist and explained that American Negroes were patriots like everyone else.

Jeh Johnson
my-owngovernmentfearhistory

It's better for candidates to suggest ideas that are responsible, not ones that are incapable of being executed. People are influenced by what their leaders tell them. And bringing the level of rhetoric down brings the temperature down.

Jeh Johnson
downbetterpeopleideas

Most victims of ISIL are, in fact, Muslims. So it seems to me that to refer to ISIL as occupying any part of the Islamic theology is playing on a - a battlefield that they would like us to be on. I think that to call them - to call them some form of Islam gives the group more dignity than it deserves, frankly.

Jeh Johnson
thinkgroupmeislam

ISIL, AQ, now have the ability to literally reach into our homeland through social media, through the Internet, to recruit and inspire. It makes for a more complicated homeland security environment. And so it requires a whole of government approach, not just military and law enforcement, homeland security, aviation security, and the like.

Jeh Johnson
social-mediainternetgovernmentlaw

We continually evaluate the world situation, and we not infrequently make changes to aviation security. We either step it up or we feel sometimes we're in a position to dial it back, and so this is something that happens periodically, and people should not overreact to it or over-speculate about what's going on.

Jeh Johnson
stepfeelpeopleworld

There is a terrorist threat to this country that remains, and I believe that counter-terrorism needs to be the cornerstone of our mission, our vast mission... and aviation security is something that we still have a fair amount of concerns about.

Jeh Johnson
missionsecuritybelievecountry