Janet Napolitano Quotes

Powerful Janet Napolitano for Daily Growth

About Janet Napolitano

Janet Napolitano is a renowned American politician, educator, and attorney who has served in various high-profile positions, demonstrating her versatility and commitment to public service. Born on November 29, 1957, in New York City to an Italian-American family, Napolitano spent her formative years in Phoenix, Arizona, where she developed a deep connection with the Southwest region. Napolitano's academic journey led her to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Santa Clara University and subsequently a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. After practicing law in San Francisco, she returned to her alma mater, Santa Clara University, where she served as its first female president from 1985 to 1988. In 1993, Napolitano was appointed as the Arizona Attorney General, becoming the first woman to hold this position in the state. Her tenure was marked by her work on environmental issues, consumer protection, and fighting domestic violence. In 1998, she was elected as the Governor of Arizona, serving two terms until 2009. Napolitano's political career reached new heights when she was appointed as the Secretary of Homeland Security by President Barack Obama in 2009. She served in this role until 2013, overseeing the department during significant events such as the H1N1 pandemic and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Post-government service, Napolitano returned to academia, becoming the 16th President of the University of California in 2013, a position she held until 2020. Throughout her career, Napolitano has been recognized for her leadership, integrity, and dedication to public service. She continues to be a influential voice on issues such as border security, climate change, and higher education. Throughout her life, Napolitano's personal experiences, academic pursuits, and political positions have shaped her into a respected and admired figure in American politics. Her contributions continue to inspire and impact generations of leaders and students alike.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We will always stand guard for the American people."

This quote by Janet Napolitano indicates a commitment to protecting the citizens of the United States, symbolizing a strong sense of duty and allegiance to the nation's people. The phrase "stand guard" suggests vigilance and readiness to defend against potential threats or challenges that may arise. Overall, this statement conveys a promise to prioritize the safety and well-being of American citizens as an unwavering responsibility.


"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

The quote "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem" suggests that apathy or inaction regarding issues is equivalent to contributing negatively to those problems. It emphasizes the importance of individual responsibility and proactivity in finding solutions for societal challenges. In essence, if one doesn't contribute positively towards resolving issues, they unwittingly support their continuation or growth.


"Trust but verify." (Adapted from Ronald Reagan)

This quote by Janet Napolitano, adapted from Ronald Reagan, emphasizes the importance of maintaining trust while also ensuring verification or fact-checking. It suggests that one should not blindly trust without verifying the validity or authenticity of information or actions. This balance between trust and verification encourages a sense of reliability and accountability in relationships, decision-making, and overall interactions with others.


"Security is a shared responsibility."

This quote by Janet Napolitano emphasizes that maintaining security is not solely the duty of one entity, but rather it's a collective task shared among individuals, communities, and governments. It underscores the idea that each person or group plays an important role in ensuring safety and well-being, both at personal and societal levels. The quote suggests that cooperation, collaboration, and mutual accountability are key to achieving a secure environment for all.


"We need to focus on preventing terrorists and other criminals from entering the border in the first place."

This quote emphasizes the importance of implementing robust security measures at borders to prevent potential threats, such as terrorists and criminals, from entering a country illegally. The underlying idea is that it's more effective to stop dangerous individuals from entering a nation in the first place rather than dealing with the consequences of their actions once they have already infiltrated the border. This approach aims to maintain national security by ensuring that only law-abiding individuals enter the country, thereby reducing the risk of criminal activities or acts of terrorism on its soil.


Smart businesses do not look at labor costs alone anymore. They do look at market access, transportation, telecommunications infrastructure and the education and skill level of the workforce, the development of capital and the regulatory market.

- Janet Napolitano

Development, Costs, Capital, Market Access

If American schooling is inadequate now, just imagine how much more obsolete it will be when today's kindergarten students graduate from high school in just 12 years.

- Janet Napolitano

Education, Inadequate, Obsolete

It would be unwise to say the least, irresponsible of us at the TSA, at the Homeland Security Department not to evolve our technology to match the changing threat environment that we inhabit.

- Janet Napolitano

TSA, Homeland Security, Irresponsible

And we ask the American people to play an important part of our layered defense. We ask for cooperation, patience and a commitment to vigilance in the face of a determined enemy.

- Janet Napolitano

Commitment, Play, Part, Vigilance

Today in America, we are trying to prepare students for a high tech world of constant change, but we are doing so by putting them through a school system designed in the early 20th Century that has not seen substantial change in 30 years.

- Janet Napolitano

Doing, Prepare, Through, Early

What we're doing is making sure that we have a safe and secure border region from San Diego all the way to Brownsville. And that means manpower, it means technology, it means infrastructure, it means interior enforcement. All, you know, kind of layered in appropriate ways, and making sure, like I said before, the border is safe and secure.

- Janet Napolitano

Doing, Before, Appropriate, Diego

We are on the lookout for criminal and terrorist activity but we do not - nor will we ever - monitor ideology or political beliefs. We take seriously our responsibility to protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people, including subjecting our activities to rigorous oversight from numerous internal and external sources.

- Janet Napolitano

Activity, Internal, Sources, External

I have long been a proponent of a guest-worker program between the United States and Mexico, and in particular I have proposed that Arizona would be an ideal location for a pilot project.

- Janet Napolitano

Been, United States, Ideal, Proponent

The great thing about this town hall format is that it allows us to hear what's on the minds of Americans. Tonight, it was clear - voters have quite a few questions about the direction in which the current administration is headed.

- Janet Napolitano

Tonight, Voters, About, Town Hall

All images generated by imaging technology are viewed in a walled-off location not visible to the public. The officer assisting the passenger never sees the image, and the officer viewing the image never interacts with the passenger. The imaging technology that we use cannot store, export, print or transmit images.

- Janet Napolitano

Use, Officer, Viewing, Export

But my view is that you need a system at the border. You need some fencing but you need technology. You need boots on the ground. And then you need to have interior enforcement of our nation's immigration laws inside the country. And that means dealing with the employers who still consistently hire illegal labor.

- Janet Napolitano

Country, Some, Hire, Boots

The last thing the Department of Homeland Security is about is infringing on anybody's constitutionally protected rights.

- Janet Napolitano

Security, Last, Protected, Department

As part of our layered approach, we have expedited the deployment of new Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) units to help detect concealed metallic and non-metallic threats on passengers. These machines are now in use at airports nationwide, and the vast majority of travelers say they prefer this technology to alternative screening measures.

- Janet Napolitano

Screening, Prefer, Advanced, Concealed

Well, you know, the violence is mostly in Mexico itself, at least the violence that people are worried about. And so we want to make sure that violence does not spill over into our communities that are along the border.

- Janet Napolitano

Over, Border, Mostly, Communities

We have at least 125 communities in Arizona at risk from wildfire, not because of review processes or litigation delays but because of a lack of federal funding on the ground to actually begin the projects.

- Janet Napolitano

Processes, Funding, Projects, Communities

I've appointed a task force to take a fresh look at the color-code system and whether we should retain it, change it or scrap it.

- Janet Napolitano

Change, Look, Retain, Fresh

Let me be very clear: We monitor the risks of violent extremism taking root here in the United States. We don't have the luxury of focusing our efforts on one group; we must protect the country from terrorism whether foreign or homegrown, and regardless of the ideology that motivates its violence.

- Janet Napolitano

Here, Violent, Very, Monitor

Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to make something of themselves in adulthood.

- Janet Napolitano

Access, Could, Educational, Designed

So not only do we need to deal with threats as they emerge, we have to be thinking in anticipation of future threats, and the things we do have to be things that enable the system to continue to work.

- Janet Napolitano

Work, Need, Deal, Anticipation

Now, a lot of what we are doing right now, quite frankly, is because of what happened on Christmas. Many of the things were kind of in the works. We were already planning, for example, the purchase and deployment of advanced imaging technology. You call them body scanners. We call them AITs (Advanced Imaging Technologies).

- Janet Napolitano

Doing, Works, Advanced, Imaging

You can't imagine a world, quite frankly, without a safe and secure aviation system. And so our job is to really focus on that, and what we need to do to keep it safe and secure.

- Janet Napolitano

Focus, Need, Imagine, Quite Frankly

We've probably gotten 500 calls from people saying what the heck is going on with gas, and I gotta say I agree with you. What the heck is going on with gas?

- Janet Napolitano

Going, Gotta, Gotten, Gas

I'm angry that the private sector, which is supposed to be in charge of running gasoline into the Valley, doesn't have its act together to deal with a critical situation, so now the public sector has to step in.

- Janet Napolitano

Deal, Public Sector, Which, Valley

Each and every one of the security measures we implement serves an important goal: providing safe and efficient air travel for the millions of people who rely on our aviation system every day.

- Janet Napolitano

Every Day, Air, Providing, Millions

The United States and Arizona are both losing jobs to offshore locations.

- Janet Napolitano

United, United States, Jobs, Locations

Nonetheless, to the extent that terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border. There are real issues there.

- Janet Napolitano

Country, Border, Extent, Entered

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