FBI PRESS RELEASE
Seattle Field Office
FBI | 1110 3rd Avenue | Seattle, WA 98101
For Immediate Release
August 6, 2008
Contact: Robbie Burroughs
(206) 262-2509
FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Laura Laughlin and Major General Timothy Lowenberg, The Adjutant General, Washington Military Department, released a joint statement today in response to the Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) characterization of Senator Murray's $4.5 M earmark for a 2010 Olympics Security Coordination Center as “outrageous pork.” General Lowenberg and SAC Laughlin are co-chairs of the 2010 Olympic Security Planning Committee.
“The 2010 Olympic Security Coordination Center will organize and direct the security efforts of over 40 federal, state and local agencies. Developed over the last four years by the 2010 Olympics Security Committee, which includes U.S. federal, state, local and Canadian security, intelligence, emergency management, defense, and public health agencies, this center was recommended by a Department of Homeland Security study in 2007. The Vancouver Olympic venues are located in close proximity to the border and adjacent to major U.S. shipping ports and other critical infrastructure.
Lessons learned from numerous high-profile events show that to successfully combine the efforts of large numbers of agencies, operations should be conducted from a single location with a unified command in accordance with the principals of the National Incident Management System. The U.S. - Canadian border region adjacent to the Olympic venues is largely rural and made up of small communities that do not have facilities capable of supporting large-scale northern border security efforts. A facility in Bellingham will provide a strategic response platform to facilitate critical response efforts during the Olympic Games and beyond.”
Please contact Robbie Burroughs, FBI Seattle, 206 262-2509, or Nancy Bickford, Washington Military Department, 253 512-7712.