Speeches & Op-Eds
TSA Train the Trainer Workshop
April 3, 2006
The Hon. Minister Hanna-Martin, Permanent Secretary Nairn, Undersecretary Armbrister, Organization of American States representative Mallet-Phillip, visiting trainers from the Transportation Security Administration and other distinguished guests.
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this workshop devoted to teaching about teaching. Transportation security is a vital issue, and equipping people to pass on their knowledge of transportation security will benefit our two nations. The United States believes strongly in the importance of training a the best means to build and strengthen local capacity. In fact, we provided roughly $3,000,000 in training in The Bahamas last year.
Randall Tobias, the newly appointed Administrator for the US Agency for International Development, spoke about building local capacity when he was in Nassau last year. “Without local capacity” said Tobias, “nations cannot own their own development. Nations lose their ability to control their own destiny.” He further observed that international assistance is not about projecting influence or simply providing aid, but is instead about creating local expertise and sustaining these capacities for the long term.
Building local capacities is also an integral part of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s approach to America's foreign policy, which she calls "transformational diplomacy." She defines transformational diplomacy as an effort “to work with our many partners around the world to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people -- and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system . . . Transformational diplomacy is rooted in partnership, not paternalism -- in doing things with other people, not for them." She continued by noting that "we seek to use America’s diplomatic power to help foreign citizens to better their own lives, and to build their own nations, and to transform their own futures.”
This week’s workshop is an example of what training should be and how we can work with The Bahamas to achieve shared goals -- in this case safe air travel for Bahamians and American alike.
We firmly believe that the best way to address security issues worldwide is to strengthen local capacities, and we also believe that the best way to do that is to empower local experts to share their knowledge and skills with their peers. Teaching people to teach others is what our military likes to call a "force multiplier." More and more Bahamians will be trained to highest levels of security, expanding and strengthening the already close working relationship between the Transport Security Administration and Bahamian aviation and security authorities.
William Butler Yeats once observed that “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” I hope that our trainers succeed in "lighting fires" this week and that each of you will leave here ready to share the expertise you have gained with others.
Enjoy your training this week and good luck in your future endeavors as trainers. Thank you.