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Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute currently serves as the second-highest official and chief operating officer in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for the day-to-day business and management of the third largest department in the Federal government of the United States. Comprising over 210,000 employees and operating with an annual budget of over $56 billion, DHS is responsible for ensuring the Nation’s security, safety, and resilience through operations designed to prevent terrorism and enhance security, safeguard and manage the Nation’s borders, administer and enforce U.S. immigration laws, ensure cybersecurity, and strengthen national resilience through disaster and all-hazard preparedness, response, and recovery. She has over thirty years of military and senior executive experience in the United States government and at the heart of efforts to prevent and resolve international crises.

Previously, Ms. Lute served as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations responsible for logistical and administrative support to UN peacekeeping operations worldwide. She oversaw all logistics, personnel, finance, communications and IT, aviation, and other support functions to UN field-based operations, including rapid-response support to a wide variety of international operations and crises. Ms. Lute also served as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding, responsible for coordinating efforts on behalf of the Secretary General to build sustainable peace in countries emerging from violent conflict.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Lute was executive vice-president and chief operating officer of the United Nations Foundation and the Better World Fund, the entities established to administer Ted Turner's $1 billion contribution to support the goals of the United Nations. She also headed the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict and was a senior public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Ms. Lute also served on the National Security Council staff under both President George H.W. Bush and President William Jefferson Clinton and had a distinguished career in the United States Army, including service in the Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. She has a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and a J.D. from Georgetown University.