Homeland Security undersecretary to journey to RTP to announce new institute

Research Triangle Park, N.C. — Jay Cohen, under secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will be in the Triangle on Tuesday to formally announce RTP as the base for a new federally funded institute focused on homeland security.

Cohen will appear at an event in RTP proper for the announcement at 11 a.m. and then journey to Chapel Hill to dedicate a previously announced center for the study of natural disasters and coastal infrastructure. That institute will be housed at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Specific details about the “Institute for Homeland Security Solutions” will be disclosed by state, federal and local officials on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for RTI International.

Cohen’s plans to attend were confirmed to WRAL.com by another source.

The new “Solutions” institute will be housed at Duke University, WRAL.com was told.

“The Institute is a new federally funded research collaboration that will conduct applied social science research to improve detection, analysis, and understanding of homeland security threats and enhance response and recovery efforts,” RTI said in a statement.

RTI, an international think tank, is part of the organization that will operate the institute. Other participants include Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill and the North Carolina Military Foundation . The military foundation is a group focused on bringing more Department of Defense and Homeland Security spending to North Carolina.

Rep. David Price, a Democrat who represents the 4th Congressional District that includes much of the Triangle, is among the speakers scheduled to attend the announcement.

Price holds considerable sway over Homeland Security related issues through his role as chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

“Thinking about security requires us to think about America’s role in the world and about the full range of domestic needs we face after years of neglect,” Price said in a speech delivered in June. Price has been an outspoken critic of Bush Administration on numerous security issues.

“The agenda for repair, renewal, and reform is vast and urgent, and it is within that broader agenda that the program of the still-new, still-consolidating Department of Homeland Security should take a proportionate place,” he said in the speech.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who is seeking the governor’s job in November, also will be at the announcement. Perdue has been actively involved in the creation and launching of the military foundation.

A spokesperson for Perdue confirmed Perdue would be attending. The spokesperson also said Perdue’s office was not involved in particular details about the center, such as staffing.

Tuesday’s event will take place at 11 a.m. at RTP headquarters at 12 Davis Drive in RTP.

Later on Tuesday at 2 p.m., Cohen will appear at the Carolina Inn to discuss the UNC-based “Center of Excellence for the Study of Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency Management.”