6TH ANNUAL BORDER SECURITY CONFERENCE

>6TH ANNUAL BORDER SECURITY CONFERENCE
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Assistant to the President John Brennan, Assistant Secretary Alan Bersin, Assistant Secretary John Morton, Assistant Secretary David Johnson, U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar to join Chairman Silvestre Reyes in August at the University of Texas at El Paso

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will participate in the 6th Annual Border Security Conference: Fostering a 21st Century Relationship of Cooperation and Shared Responsibility taking place August 10 - 11, 2009 at the University of Texas at El Paso. The Honorable John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Alan Bersin, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs, John Morton, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Kenneth Melson, Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, David Aguilar, Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, and Roger Garner, USAID Mission Director for Mexico will also participate in this year's conference. The event is free and open to the public.

"I am pleased that Secretary Napolitano and other high-ranking officials have accepted my invitation to come to El Paso," Congressman Reyes said. "As the largest border community in the world, the El Paso/Juarez region is the ideal location to bring together top leaders from the U.S. and Mexico to address the many border security issues that continue to challenge communities such as ours. As policymakers wrestle with issues such as Mexico's drug-related violence, comprehensive immigration reform, and bi-national trade in the current recession, this year's Border Security Conference is coming at a critical time and promises to be very informative."

"El Paso, the largest bi-national metroplex in the world, is where the many challenges and opportunities of the U.S.-Mexico border are most salient," UTEP President Diana Natalicio said. The University of Texas at El Paso, with its border location, student demographics, academic programs, research infrastructure and productive relationships with educational institutions in Mexico, offers an ideal context to share perspectives and promote cross-border conversations on the many issues surrounding security in this border region. UTEP is pleased to continue contributing to this critically important dialogue."

Now in its sixth year, the widely-attended Annual Border Security Conference in El Paso has featured top national security officials such as former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, former Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and many others. Congressman Silvestre Reyes helped establish the annual conference to bring together leaders from both the U.S. and Mexico to address the complex security challenges confronting border communities.

Interested media should send RSVP to Vincent Perez in the Office of Congressman Silvestre Reyes at vincent.perez@mail.house.gov or by phone at 202-225-4831.


6th Annual Border Security Conference: Fostering a 21st Century Relationship of Cooperation and Shared Responsibility
Undergraduate Learning Center, University of Texas at El Paso

(**Tentative Agenda, subject to change**)

August 10, 2009

Undergraduate Learning Center, Room 106, UTEP

12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Exhibit Hall Open (Lobby)

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Registration (Lobby)

1:30 p.m. - Welcome and Opening Remarks

Master of Ceremonies
Ricardo Blazquez
Executive Director, Center for Inter-American and Border Studies
The University of Texas at El Paso

Diana Natalicio Ph.D.
President
The University of Texas at El Paso

The Honorable Silvestre Reyes
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
U.S. House of Representatives

1:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Remarks

The Honorable Janet Napolitano (confirmed)
Secretary
Department of Homeland Security

2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. - Panel 1 - The Merida Initiative: A Shared Responsibility To Confront Illicit Narcotics Trafficking

The Honorable Ciro D. Rodriguez (confirmed)
Member
U.S. House of Representatives

Alan Bersin (confirmed)
Assistant Secretary of International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs
Department of Homeland Security

John Morton (confirmed)
Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Department of Homeland Security

David Johnson (confirmed)
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Department of State

Howard Campbell Ph.D. (confirmed)
Professor, Sociology & Anthropology
The University of Texas at El Paso

Sigrid Arzt (confirmed)
Professor
Woodrow Wilson Center


3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - Panel 2 - Integrating Technology and Connecting Communities

*Private industry panelists provided by sponsoring organizations

Bernd "Bear" McConnell (confirmed)
Director, Interagency Coordination
NORAD and USNORTHERN COMMAND

Alan Bloodgood (confirmed)
Director, Homeland Security Solutions
Lockheed Martin

Mike Monteilh (confirmed)
Engineering Manager, National Communications and Homeland Security
General Dynamics

Ann Gates Ph.D. (confirmed)
Associate Vice President, Office of Research and Sponsored Projects
The University of Texas at El Paso

Tim Peters (confirmed)
Vice President, Global Security Systems
The Boeing Company

Curt Powell (confirmed)
Director, Border Security
Raytheon Company

John Thomas (confirmed)
General Manager, Operations Intelligence and Security Business Unit
SAIC

Phlemon (P.T.) Wright, Jr. (confirmed)
Operations Director
CSC

5:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. - Introductions

Diana Natalicio Ph.D.
President
The University of Texas at El Paso

The Honorable Silvestre Reyes
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
U.S. House of Representatives

5:15 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Remarks

Ambassador Benito Andion (confirmed)
Coordinator of International Cooperation and Security
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Reception

August 11, 2009
Undergraduate Learning Center, Room 106, UTEP

7:30 a.m. - Breakfast (Lobby)

7:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - Exhibit Hall Open (Lobby)

8:15 a.m. - Welcome and Opening Remarks

Master of Ceremonies
Ricardo Blazquez
Executive Director, Center for Inter-American and Border Studies
The University of Texas at El Paso

Diana Natalicio Ph.D.
President
The University of Texas at El Paso

The Honorable Silvestre Reyes
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
U.S. House of Representatives

8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. - Remarks

R. Gil Kerlikowske (confirmed)
Director
Office of National Drug Control Policy

9:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. - Panel 3 - Forming A Comprehensive Homeland Security Operation

The Honorable Harry Teague (confirmed)
Memeber of Congress - New Mexico 2nd District
United States House of Representatives

David Aguilar (confirmed)
Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Tom Padden (confirmed)
Deputy Director, Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force
Department of Justice

Joseph M. Arabit (confirmed)
Special Agent in Charge, El Paso Division
Drug Enforcement Agency

Ronnie Carter (confirmed)
Special Agent in Charge, Dallas Division
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Douglas Watts Ph.D. (confirmed)
Executive Director, Institutional Biosafety and Veterinary Services
The University of Texas at El Paso

Miguel Escobedo, M.D., MPH (confirmed)
Quarantine Medical Officer
El Paso Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Quarantine

10:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Panel 4 - The Importance of Strengthening Civic Society, Commerce, and Academia

The Honorable Bob Filner (confirmed)
Chairman, U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee - California 51st District
United States House of Representatives

Rodger Garner (confirmed)
Mission Director for Mexico
U.S. Agency for International Development
Department of State

Jose Reyes Ferriz
Mayor
Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Angelo Amador (confirmed)
Director of Immigration Policy
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Kathleen Staudt Ph.D. (confirmed)
Professor, Political Science
The University of Texas at El Paso

Raul Benitez-Manaut Ph.D. (confirmed)
Researcher
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México


12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Luncheon Speaker and Closing Remarks
(Tomás Rivera Conference Center, Union Building-East, 3rd fl., UTEP)

The Honorable Silvestre Reyes
Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable John Brennan (confirmed)
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
Office of the President