State Emergency Management Director heads to Washington, D.C.

Iowa’s homeland security advisor is leaving for Washington D.C. this morning where she’ll be one of the featured speakers at a two-day national homeland security summit. Ellen Gordon, who also serves as chief of Iowa’s Emergency Management Division, says she’ll address some of the successes and difficulties she’s experienced in recent years. Gordon says Iowa’s been involved with nine other states in the Midwest to address the potential for agricultural terrorism, trying to address common issues, goals and objectives to work together to prevent agri-terrorism and preparing to respond to it if it ever occurs. Iowa’s seen many changes since the Nine-Eleven attacks but Gordon says the security elements that are in place still aren’t complete or perfect. Since September 11th, 2001, the states have come together “very well to identify the critical issues to prevent terrorist attacks from occurring.” Gordon says we haven’t been able to implement everything yet but that’s part of her long-range goal-planning. She says there are several key difficulties in accomplishing that security goal.Gordon says a lack of resources is one of the biggest obstacles and challenges — resources which include people, funding and time.