Governor Tom Ridge was pleased to be able to join Chris Evans and Mark Kassen for a video conversation through their organization, A Starting Point (ASP). ASP’s aims to create a bipartisan channel of communication between Americans and their elected officials.
Ridge spoke to Mr. Evans and Kassen about the biggest national security threat that he sees today: cybersecurity. Ridge worked in the Bush White House as the first advisor to the office of homeland security and ultimately first United States Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and noted that throughout his time in office, he still sees cybersecurity as a large threat. He also talked about some of the international and domestic terrorist actors, such as Iran and North Korea, and the troubling long-term threats he sees in the US. He also talked about the work that still needs to be done to ensure that the U.S. has a secure election system.
He talked about his wish that members of the Republican Party and Democratic Party will work together on comprehensive legislation, including immigration reform, and other issues. He said it is important for elected officials to focus less on reelection and referenced a phrase he often says: “You run to win. You win to govern.” He expressed hope for members to govern and work in a bipartisan fashion to get things done and to focus on all of their constituents, not just those who voted for them.
To conclude, Ridge called on young people to demand that their elected officials work with civility, something that he has advocated for throughout his career. You can watch the whole video below. Thanks to Mark and Chris for including Gov. Ridge and having this important conversation.
Governor Tom Ridge was served as Governor of Pennsylvania and our nation’s first Homeland Security Secretary. Along with his long-time chiefs of staff, he founded Ridge Policy Group, a top government affairs firm, almost 11 years ago.
