Bonner says he’ll stay on — for now
Robert Bonner, head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, tried Thursday to dampen speculation about his future, saying he looks forward to working with Homeland Security-designate Michael Chertoff and seeing through signature supply chain security programs he started after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Bonner, who sources said was on President Bush’s short list of candidates to lead the Department of Homeland Security, said his future boss is a “superb choice” who is “uniquely qualified” to protect the United States from terrorism. If confirmed by the Senate, Chertoff would succeed Tom Ridge, who resigned in November after Bush was re-elected to a second term.
Speaking with reporters at the annual Customs Trade Symposium in Washington, the CBP commissioner said he plans to continue working to develop the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and other CBP programs upon which the U.S. trade security strategy was largely built after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“I have no intention of leaving,” Bonner said. “At least my present intent is to stick around for awhile and hopefully complete key pieces of the strategy to facilitate security and the flow of goods,” he said.
“I expect to stay on in some capacity, right now as CBP commissioner, and try to contribute,” Bonner added. With the top spot taken, some are wondering whether Bonner will be tapped as deputy secretary, replacing Adm. James Loy, who announced his retirement in December. In that capacity, Bonner would be in a position to crystallize his pet programs and ensure they dovetailed with department-wide goals.
The decision not to follow Secretary Ridge and Loy to private life is likely to be well received by importers and exporters, who view him as someone who takes their concerns into account before promulgating rules that effect them.
Bonner said he worked with Chertoff before when he was a U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey and an assistant attorney general.
Chertoff, a federal appeals court judge, was in charge of the criminal division at the Justice Department from 2001 to 2003 and played a key role in the government’s legal response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. President Bush named him Tuesday to head DHS.
Chertoff was a lead prosecutor in the government’s case against terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui and played a large role in crafting the U.S Patriot Act giving law enforcement more powers to investigate possible terrorist connections.
Chertoff “was a key person in the trenches changing the direction of government to a terrorism prevention ” mode after 9/11, Bonner said in his speech to some 800 representatives of the trade industry.
Bonner, like Chertoff, was a U.S. attorney and a federal judge. “But I was actually confirmed more times (four) than Mike Chertoff,” he joked, referring to his tenure as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency.