Pelosi Remarks at Interagency Operations Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Contact: Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616
San Francisco – Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi visited Coast Guard Sector San Francisco on Yerba Buena Island and delivered remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Interagency Operations Center (IOC), a new facility to bolster joint operations for Bay Area port partner agencies.

"'I love the ending on that note about my grandchildren. You can just imagine how exciting that is. Admiral Brown, thank you for your leadership and your hospitality today. Captain Stowe, we are so proud to have a woman heading Sector San Francisco, the first woman to do so. Thank you for your leadership.

"A little bit later, I was going to go see my USCG, the Cutter PIKE, which I had the honor of sponsoring but the weather does not permit so that crew is coming here. And I mention it specifically because it has its first woman commander, Amanda, Lt. Amanda Hood. So again, women are breaking ground here at Yerba Buena Island.

"I am very honored to be here with all of you, and what an important collection of people, when it comes to our security, our law enforcement, our commerce, our natural disaster response, you name it. We have a comprehensive group of talent here, in there, and gathered here. I particularly want to acknowledge, as a San Franciscan, Chief Hayes-White, Fire Chief Hayes-White, who was here and extend again the condolences we all share for the loss that you have suffered in your department. And that day we were also joined at the church by Chief Suhr, our Police Chief, who is here as well. Thank you. Thank you both.

"Thank all of you though. And I am so glad that the Admiral acknowledged not only our friends in the local state and national level and the public sector but our friends in the private sector, Mr. Hynes and Ms. Chung, thank you for General Dynamics role in this great accomplishment that we are here to celebrate.

"This is, I just want to speak personally for a moment. This is very exciting for me because I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, an area like this area but was built on the trade of clipper ships that provided for the protection of our country, the going and coming of troops to war or to service overseas. And so when I was growing up as a little girl, addicted to reading newspapers as I was, one of the first places I would go to, is to “Ships In Port.” Now you were all too young to remember this but in those days that was a feature of the newspapers. “Ships In Port,” who was coming, who was going, from the ships in the port. Coming here to San Francisco, a place so similar in that respect, we are so much dependent on the port. I follow with great interest what happens here. And of course, the Coast Guard is a very important part of that. In fact, we were talking earlier with the Head of Customs about—where is he? There we are—about the fact that this was the first manifestation of the U.S. government on the West Coast, was the Coast Guard, which was customs at the time, part of the Treasury Department, collecting tariffs and the rest but also protecting, rescuing, and the rest up and down the west coast. And again, part of American history from its earliest times. Again, customs being a major part of it at the time but now so many areas that you all know very well.

"What was interesting about taking the tour though, was the see the advanced technology that was being used. And so many times when I have visited facilities around the world, people would say, “We train our people to this level of technological competence,” and Admiral Brown said earlier, he said, “With all these tech-savvy kids coming in, we have to be beyond state-of-the-art,” so it is, again, a synergy all coming together.

"We, as you know, this was a source of great pride for us. Yerba Buena and Treasure Island, have long served our nation as a critical center for our military, receiving, training, and deploying members of our military. The islands historically have been a crossroads for sailors and marines, those on their way to the Pacific and those coming home. And when the bases closed here, leaders of the city and the surrounding area and all of the representatives in Congress recognized the potential for this area to remain a vital part of our region’s success and future and our security.

"Today, it becomes the home of the new Sector San Francisco Interagency Operations Center. That is what we are here to celebrate, and the linchpin in our nation’s Homeland Security. And I am happy to note that it is a LEED Silver facility in terms of the environment. The IOC will allow for a coordinated response to emergencies that impact our nation’s waterways. As the commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Robert Papp has said, “The Coast Guard protects citizens from the Sea and we protect America from threats delivered by the sea and we protect the sea itself.” The IOC will allow us to do so with the most cutting-edge innovative technology and interoperability between all of our first-responders. That is a remarkable, remarkable achievement. I remember, as part of the committee that established the Homeland Security Committee of which this department now has made this grant. But interoperability at that time, going back post-9/11, was, seemed almost impossible and now you have it here so that is a giant step. For example, the Rescue 21 technology allows the IOC to locate a mariner in distress with the press of a button. When the Admiral said that it would focus in more what I saw in there was focusing in from 100%, reduce it down 94%. Can you imagine? The difference from say approximately.. was it Admiral? A 550 square mile area to like a 26 mile area in terms of search and rescue. That is quite remarkable. What cannot happen with just technology, we need the people to do it as well. And so this exploitation of the judgment and talent of our human resources is what is very exciting here today as well.

"The IOC will be used in times of disaster and occasions such as the COSCO BUSAN oil spill we faced in 2007. In fact, in March, while the IOC was not fully up and running yet, the port’s Homeland Security Director coordinated our tsunami response from here and that was quite remarkable to see how you did that. And the IOC will be used in times for celebration. Just in time for the America’s Cup, San Francisco gets ready to host—and when I say “just in time”, you think it is a couple years off but they need answers now, right? To some of these things—and San Francisco gets ready to host this race and receive worldwide attention, the IOC is leading the planning, hosting on the water working group meetings with a variety of stakeholders, overseeing the process which allows the public to comment on the proposed race course and restrictions that will affect area residents. This is very important to the people of the Bay Area.

"I am proud to have supported legislation in Congress, the Safe Port Act, to help secure the federal investments that has made today possible. The Safe Port Act is very important legislation. As you know, the Coast Guard’s motto, as the Admiral told us as he left, reminded us, Semper Paratus, always ready. The IOC will help you be ready to plan, to respond, to keep the American people safe, always ready, Semper Paratus. We are always in your debt. Thank you to the Coast Guard. Thank you to the IOC. Congratulations to all of you on this wonderful achievement. Thank you."