Securing the seas from smugglers. The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton offloads 26.5 tons of cocaine with an estimated worth of $715 million, seized in international waters since October 1. Cutter Hamilton returned home from its maiden voyage last week, just in time for the holidays.

While we are disappointed with the Department of Homeland Security’s overall 2016 ranking in the Partnership for Public Service’s “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government,” I am pleased that our employee engagement score increased 2.7-points.  This is in contrast to an overall 1.3-point increase government-wide, and it is the second largest single-year increase of any large agency.  This is also the first increase in the Department’s survey score since 2010.