Tuesday, 15 April, 2008 11:12 AM

Tom Ridge Explains The Net Gain of Security in a Risk-Based World

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

Tom Ridge addresses the Detroit Economic Club inside the Marriott at the Renaissance Center on Monday afternoon.

DETROIT -- The nation’s first secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge, spoke Monday to the Detroit Economic Club at the Marriott in the Renaissance Center about risks and challenges of this interdependent world and the importance of assessing risks and investing in security tactics.

Ridge said, “Those of us lucky enough to be blessed with freedom are charged with a tremendous responsibility as well. We’re charged with favoring both the security and the prosperity that generations before us had made possible in our lives.”

He explains that we are accountable for the risks we take, and the opportunities we embrace. He said our charge is to give back in a way that furthers a resilient and resolute nation, the way that the founding fathers of the nation wanted it to be.

But he said achieving the best and becoming a more resilient nation post 9/11, has been much more complicated then ever before. Ridge said even though the nation is better protected, risks still remain. The government works strategically to reduce risks and vulnerability to another attack, but the risk cannot be eliminated. It can only be managed more aggressively.

Today, businesses are more globally connected. With this notion, Ridge said it has created a more vulnerable, and complex interconnected world. He spoke about the recent recalls of toys and tires from other countries and the risks that may pose to businesses and the economy in this nation.

“Money is tight,” he said. Ridge explains that businesses may initially find that managing risk is an expense because of added security costs, but when an incident occurs, it will be viewed as an investment. He said America must take challenges head on and engage the world more aggressively, not less and to turn adversity into a national advantage.

Ridge said he accepted this as a fundamental principle: “ America ’s future security, as well as its prosperity, is today, tomorrow and forever more tied to the security and the prosperity of the rest of the world.”

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

Presiding Officer Yousif Ghafari welcomes Tom Ridge to the DEC.

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

An estimated 225 people attended this meeting of the Detroit Economic Club.

PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com

Tom Ridge said: "No matter what hat you wear, red or blue, we all see the country in red, white and blue."