Va.'s anti-terror efforts must strike balance, Warner says

TimesDispatch.com | Va.'s anti-terror efforts must strike balance, Warner says: "Va.'s anti-terror efforts must strike balance, Warner says

BY MICHAEL MARTZ
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Oct 29, 2003

LEXINGTON - Gov. Mark R. Warner paused yesterday to honor a Virginia serviceman slain in Iraq before declaring the state's new doctrine for homeland security.

More than 250 people joined the governor in a moment of silence at Virginia Military Institute for Capt. J.R. Teal, a Hanover County soldier and VMI graduate who was killed Thursday in Iraq.

Warner dedicated the three-day conference he is sponsoring here on homeland security to Teal and other Americans who have died in the war against terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Then the governor laid out his standards for waging that war in Virginia in ways that maintain the state's economic security, protect people's civil liberties and bolster public confidence in the public institutions that are supposed to serve them.

'Striking the appropriate balance is critical not only to our homeland security but our country's long-term vitality,' he told an audience of military officers, politicians and public officials, academic experts and captains of industry assembled in VMI's Jackson Memorial Hall.

The state of Virginia's economy is the centerpiece of the conference, co-sponsored by a dozen major corporations, including Philip Morris USA, Ethyl Corp., Dominion Resources and some of the nation's leading defense contractors and high-technology companies.

The governor urged the conference to ponder the economic consequences of terrorism."

COMMENT:
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As an Industry partner of the Virginia Institute for Defense and Homeland Security See IDHS we have just returned from the two day Governor's Homeland Security Conference See VMI.

We walked away with new knowledge, a renewed commitment to preventing terrorism and a new sense of purpose. Surrounded by a collegial mix of academic, military and business leadership for two days focused on the topics of the utmost priority for our nation was more than inspiring for us.

This experience has generated a patriotic "fire" in us to pursue our dreams of serving vital industry sectors of our global economy. Now more than ever we feel that our solutions and our R & D will produce the answers many of our clients are searching for. More than anything, we realize how interconnected the fabric of our society is to the goals of deterring, preventing and defeating significant loss events.

Next week we will embark on a stepped up mission to engage our communities and business neighbors in development and implementation of a localized readiness plan. This will be based upon the structure and standards being developed under the National Response Plan and the efforts of the Virginia Commonwealth Preparedness plans. See Response Plan Fact Sheet