The event featured a roundtable discussion featuring all CBP commissioners since the agency was established in 2003, Commissioner Alan D. Bersin and former commissioners Robert C. Bonner and W. Ralph Basham. The roundtable, facilitated by Professor Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University, examined how the federal government consolidated border security into one CBP and how threats to the nation’s homeland have evolved over the last decade.

click for hi-res CBP Commissioner Alan D. Bersin and former commissioners Robert C. Bonner and W. Ralph Basham participate in a roundtable discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

CBP’s first commissioner discussed the merit of establishing the new agency.

“We brought four different agencies together so we could have a more comprehensive effort against the challenges we now faced,” Bonner said. “CBP is probably the best idea that came out of the homeland security reorganization. It’s made us more effective in the priority counterterrorism mission. It has made us safer and it’s made our border more secure.”

Each commissioner talked about the gaps in security that the U.S. faced when each came into his role in CBP leadership.

“One thing we figured out right away was that you can’t get this job done alone,” said Basham. “We built upon the incredible efforts going on around [DHS] as well as with our partners in government and overseas.”

Providing security for Americans while striving to keep the nation’s economy in motion has been critical to CBP policy since its inception, Commissioner Bersin said.

“Trade and security are not mutually exclusive,” said Bersin. “We believe they are the same process. We learned that we must expedite the 99.9 percent of trade and travel that is legitimate in order to focus our energies on the real threats to our security.”

This event was preceded by a DHS-wide commemoration featuring Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and leaders of many DHS agencies.