DIRECTOR OF HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WILL SPEAK ABOUT PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO STRENGTHEN NATIONAL SECURITY

NEW YORK, NY— The Business Threat Awareness Council (www.btac.us) will hold a breakfast meeting with special guest speaker, Daniel Prieto on Thursday July 27, 2006 at 8:45 AM in midtown Manhattan.

Mr. Prieto will share the findings of his Council on Foreign Relations report, "Neglected Defense: Mobilizing the Private Sector to Support Homeland Security".

There is no charge for this event but limited space will require an RSVP to george.btac072706@zoemail.net

Co-authored with Stephen Flynn of the CFR, this study finds that the U.S. Government is failing to mobilize the Private Sector in Homeland Security efforts and makes recommendations that will be of particular interest to business and government professionals interested in our nation’s security.

According to Flynn and Prieto, “The private sector can and must play an indispensable role in addressing the many problems that have plagued the nation’s homeland security efforts. But the federal government must be willing and able to enlist the private sector and provide leadership for its efforts.”

Daniel B. Prieto is Director and Senior Fellow of the Homeland Security Center at the Reform Institute. Previously, he was Research Director of the Homeland Security Partnership Initiative and Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.

His commentary and analysis have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, USA Today, WashingtonPost.com, Chicago Tribune, Washington Times, The New Republic, Atlantic Monthly, MSNBC, CNN, FOX News, BBC, and NPR. Mr. Prieto serves on the Century Foundation homeland security task force, the Council on Foreign Relations working group on homeland security and the private sector, and as an associate member of Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age.

Mr. Prieto has served on the professional staff of the Select Committee on Homeland Security in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a former technology-industry executive and investment banker, serving as a strategist or advisor on $150 billion in transactions. He is a past recipient of the International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Prieto is an honors graduate of Wesleyan University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

ABOUT THE BUSINESS THREAT AWARENESS COUNCIL
The Business Threat Awareness Council is a voluntary group of professionals from the private and public sectors whose main goals are to improve threat awareness, promote best practices in threat management and business counterintelligence, and to disseminate this information to American businesses.

BTAC is a non-partisan and non-commercial organization. BTAC meetings are forums to exchange ideas, alert others to new and existing threats, and to meet like-minded professionals for the purpose of strengthening the infrastructure of America's commerce. For further information about BTAC and council events please visit: www.btac.us

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