At a “pen and pad” session held Thursday June 25 with local DHS beat press reporters in Washington, DC, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Janet Napolitano outlined her agenda and priorities for her trip this week to Europe and the Middle East.

The focal point of the trip, Napolitano explained, will be to extend collaborative relationships with a variety of nations on counter-terror initiatives.

Napolitano stressed a need to “keep focus on the counter-terrorism aspect” of the Department.

Napolitano said that while in Ireland she plans to evaluate aviation preclearance operations. Shortly afterward in the UK she plans to meet with the new home secretary Allen Johnson and the new transportation secretary Lord Andrew Adonis on a number of issues, including cyber security, violent extremism and civil aviation security.

In Portugal Napolitano plans to discuss new approaches to information sharing involving threats to both countries and also to discuss ways the US and Portugal can mutually address immigration challenges.

Enhanced collaboration, Napolitano said, would also top the agenda in here talks this week with Spanish authorities.

“In Spain I will sign an agreement enhancing the security of air travel, and also discuss implementation of two other agreements we are working on with Spain involving criminal information sharing and science and technology cooperation,” Napolitano said.

Of particular importance in discussions with Spain, Napolitano emphasized, would be the nation’s close links to America’s southern neighbor Mexico.

“ Spain, of course, is among Mexico's most important bilateral partners,” Napolitano said. “ We obviously have some important common issues there. For example, how what we are doing vis-à-vis the land with Mexico is affecting the transportation of narcotics by sea and into Europe via Spain.”

Napolitano also cited Spain’s current status as the incoming head of the EU, explaining that she plans to discuss the possibility of some agreements that with respect to data sharing between the US and the entire European Union.

Napolitano’s final stop on this week’s tour will be Kuwait, where, she said, she plans to evaluate the current status and future prospects of US Coast Guard operations in the Gulf. “In each country,” she said, “in addition to the bilateral issues, we will discuss matters of common interest to the United States and the European Union including the protection of privacy of information, while at the same time improving law enforcement and security cooperation. We will also be looking at the security enhancements under the 2007 implementing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act.”

When she returns during the week of July 6th Napolitano’s major focus, she said, would be to ramp-up her lobbying efforts on behalf of the PASS ID legislation that has been proposed in the Senate, which DHS strongly supports.

“PASS ID is a national security measure,” Napolitano said. “It fulfills one of the key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, which was that the Federal Government set a national standard for identification. While the Federal Government sets the standard, it is up to the states to implement that standard and PASS ID is the bill that provides that implementation mechanism. It's a common sense bill that's been worked on with the nation's governors in a bipartisan fashion.”