Michael Chertoff

Michael Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) was the Secretary of U.S. Homeland Security including jurisdiction over FEMA for national disaster management, appointed by President George W. Bush on January 11, 2005 to succeed Tom Ridge. Previously, he served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals as a Federal Prosecutor, and as Assistant U.S. Attorney General under the Bush Administration.

Michael Chertoff's father Rabbi Gershon Baruch Chertoff, was the former leader of the B'nai Israel Congregation in Elizabeth, NJ and his mother, Livia Chertoff, was an El Al flight attendant . His grandfather was a Talmudic scholar.

Air travel security[edit]

According to Reuters:

• On May 29, 2008 Secretary Chertoff said that he would seek to adopt novel Israeli methods, like behavior-detection technologies, to better secure America's airports.
• Ben-Gurion International Airport relies heavily on techniques that detect suspicious behavior among travelers.^[1]

Chertoff is a high-profile advocate for airport body scanners to protect the flying public from future terror attacks. In a conflict of interest, he never did not volunteer that he is a consultant to a company that makes such equipment.^[2]

References[edit]

1. ↑ INTERVIEW-Chertoff keen on Israeli airport security technology, Reuters, May 29, 2008
2. ↑ The Sources’ Stake in the News, New York Times, January 16, 2010

See also[edit]

Department of Homeland Security biography