Homeland Conference Circuit Hits Hawaii

Dec. 17, 2004 — -- At the same time agents of the budget-strapped Department of Homeland Security worried about being able to afford gas for government cars, top department officials, including outgoing DHS Secretary Tom Ridge, could be found basking in the warm Hawaiian sun for a meeting they said was essential government business.

While officials reported a continuing freeze on hiring new agents and a halt to non-essential spending in chilly Washington, D.C., buffet lines, lavish luaus and a short walk to the beach awaited top officials at a sumptuous resort and spa on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu.

It was the setting for the second annual Asia-Pacific Homeland Security Summit and Exposition, with most of the cost paid for by corporations seeking government contracts. The rest of the travel expenses for the officials were picked up by the American taxpayers.

On the first day of the conference, ABC News cameras caught Ridge, along with several aides, relaxing by one of the five pools at the Honolulu resort. It was listed as "office time" on his official schedule.

Chuck Lewis, executive director of Center for Public Integrity, a government watchdog group, said homeland security has turned into a vast, wasteful pork barrel.

"Look at the opportunities lost. What else could the officials have been doing during that conference and during those days wasted?" he asked. "We have terrorists crashing embassy gates and these guys are sitting by the pool."

During the day, there were speeches seminars, mostly well attended, although the headline speakers offered very little that was new.

The cost of the summit itself was estimated at $250,000, which major corporations helped pay for by becoming official sponsors.

"We're a platinum sponsor," a Ch2m Hill employee at the conference said. "And we'll definitely be a platinum sponsor next year. This is a great opportunity for us."

Many of the companies attending the conference were seeking a piece of the $11 billion the United States is now spending each year in the war on terror.