November 2, 2017 ‘The Honorable Mitch McConnell ‘The Honorable Charles Schumer Majority Leader Democratic Leader United States Senate United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510 ‘The Honorable Ron Johnson ‘The Honorable Claire McCaskill Chairman Ranking Member Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs United States Senate United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510 Dear Leader McConnell, Leader Schumer, Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member McCaskill: Weare pleased to write to you in support of the nomination of the Honorable Kirstjen Nielsen to be the sixth Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security. As former leaders of DHS, we understand that the Department's responsibilities span many critical domains and agree that Ms. Nielsen brings the professional and leadership skills necessary to combat the range of contemporary threats to our homeland, ‘A former official at the Transportation Security Administration and Special Assistant for Homeland Security to President George W. Bush, Ms. Nielsen has been engaged in counter-terrorism, all-hazard risk mitigation, critical infrastructure protection, and response policy from the earliest days of what we now know as homeland security. Ms. Nielsen brings operational experience as well, having managed day-to-day operations of the Department as chief of staff to then-Seeretary John Kelly. She is the first candidate for Secretary to have actually worked in the Department of Homeland Security prior to nomination for the agency's leadership. This means thet there will be no learning curve for Ms. Nielsen and she can hit the ground running at the DHS on Day One. Ms. Nielsen is a homeland security leader for our times. More than any previous Secretary, she understands the 21% Century challenges of the borderless cyber domain and has worked in both the public and private sectors to address this deeply intereonnected and consequential risk to America’s national security and economicstability. Asa Senior Fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security and as Chair for Risk and Resilience for the World Economie Forum, she has earned the respect of her peers and encouraged global collaboration on cybersecut Kirstjen Nielsen offers our nation the credentials required of the Secretary of Homeland Security in today’s environment: expertise in homeland security poliey and operations; national and international perspective, and; public and private sector experience. We respectiully urge the Senate to expeditiously consider Ms. Nielsen's nomination for Seeretary and recommend that she be confirmed for this important post. 1of2Sincerely, Tom Ridge Secretary of Homeland Security (2003-2005) At Michael Chertoff Secretary of Homeland Security (2005-2009) 20f2