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Good morning Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member King, and members
of the Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss
the Terrorist Watchlist, or Terrorist Screening Database,
and the watchlisting process at large.
Since
it began operations on December 1, 2003, the Terrorist Screening
Center (TSC) has assumed a critical role in securing our borders
and the safety of the American people by providing to the
nation's entire screening and law enforcement communities
the identities of known and suspected terrorists. As directed
by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (Integration
and Use of Screening Information), the TSC has combined the
12 previously existing terrorist watchlists and created the
United States government's single consolidated Terrorist Screening
Data Base (TSDB). Every day, the TSC provides an updated list
of known and suspected terrorists to screeners and law enforcement
personnel. The TSC also provides:
- A
single coordination point for terrorist screening data;
- A
24/7 call center to provide identification assistance to
screening agencies;
- Access
to a coordinated law enforcement response for any encounter
with a watchlisted person;
- A
formal process for tracking all positive encounters;
- Feedback
to the appropriate entities;
- A
redress process for any individual who believes they have
been improperly delayed or otherwise inconvenienced because
of the watchlist; and
- A
process for removing names from the watchlist when it has
been determined they do not have a nexus to terrorism.
The TSC
has significantly enhanced interagency cooperation in the
post-9/11 culture where information sharing is a must. In
fact, as the GAO report released on October 24, 2007 states,
"The TSC plays a central role in the real-time sharing
of information, creating a bridge among screening agencies."
The TSC has not only assisted in eliminating historical cultural
boundaries between and among the intelligence and law enforcement
communities, but also has provided a physical mechanism to
ensure information sharing is done in an efficient manner.
As the
GAO report correctly notes, while great strides have been
made there is still room for improvement in the terrorist
screening process. I must echo what my colleagues have said
many times: In order to be successful in the war on terrorism,
we must constantly improve, determining our weaknesses from
within and correcting them. The TSC's unique position as the
U.S. government's hub for all terrorist identification information
allows the TSC to play a critical role regarding the GAO executive
recommendations, especially with respect to identifying further
screening opportunities while serving in a leadership role
for the screening community.
TSC
Initiatives
In fact,
the TSC has already moved forward in a number of areas, which
will result in a more complete and efficient screening process.
- TSC
is working hand-in-hand with the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) regarding its "Secure Flight"
initiative.
- TSC
participates in an interagency working group to identify
how to better use biometric data to enhance the screening
process.
- While
maintaining all privacy rules and policies, TSC is undertaking
information technology improvements on several fronts, including
ways to increase the ease with which our screening and law
enforcement customers are able to access the TSDB.
- In
late 2005, TSC initiated, and continues to chair, the Federal
Identity Matching Working Group, which includes participation
by numerous agencies across the U.S. Government. This group
establishes guidelines for the standardized measurement
of identity matching and provides common test data and tools
to enable agencies to effectively evaluate their systems.
Additionally, TSC sponsors on-going independent evaluations
of commercial and government search engines, separately
and in combination with each other. This will result in
improved name matching, a key factor in enhancing TSC's
screening system, and facilitate creation of a search service
that provides direct TSDB access to other screening and
law enforcement agencies.
TSC
Achievements
One of
the TSC's most recent accomplishments is the September 19,
2007 execution of a multi-agency agreement on the terrorist
watchlist redress process. The TSC terrorist watchlist redress
process, established in January 2005, provides a full and
fair review of any watchlist record that is the cause of an
individual's complaint. The redress process seeks to identify
any data errors and correct them, including errors in the
watchlist itself. The TSC worked with the Privacy and Civil
Liberties Oversight Board and obtained cabinet-level commitments
from the heads of participating agencies, to include the Attorney
General; secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense and Homeland
Security; the Director of National Intelligence; and the directors
of the National Counterterrorism Center, Central Intelligence
Agency, and Federal Bureau of Investigation, to support the
redress process with appropriate resources and oversight from
senior agency officials. Furthermore, this agreement ensures
uniformity in the handling of watchlist related complaints
and demonstrates the United States government's commitment
to protecting national security consistent with privacy and
civil liberties.
The TSC
has also become a premier entity on the forefront of the global
war on terrorism by establishing formal information sharing
partnerships with our allies. The TSC has thus far signed
agreements with six nations. These agreements provide our
allies with access to the world's most comprehensive tool
to identify terrorists, and we are the beneficiaries of their
terrorist identity information. We continue to work with our
allies to share information more efficiently, and those information
gaps are shrinking rapidly. As a result, it is becoming much
more difficult for terrorists and their supporters to hide.
By teaming up with our foreign counterparts, we have effectively
broadened the net with which known and suspected terrorists
are identified and caught.
GAO
Report
The
recent GAO review of Terrorist Watchlist Screening provided
some critical feedback to all agencies involved in the watchlisting
process. The TSC is working with our partners in DHS and the
FBI to:
- Identify
a systemic approach to capitalize on all watchlisting opportunities,
including in the private sector and with current and potential
international partners;
- Continually
review and update terrorist screening strategies; and
- Identify
clear lines of responsibility and authority for terrorist
screening.
GAO
Report - Private Sector Screening
Terrorist
screening is currently conducted by an array of agencies protecting
our nation's borders and our people from another terrorist
attack. HSPD-6, HSPD-11 (Comprehensive Terror Related Screening
Procedures), and their resulting initiatives, including the
creation of the TSC, have greatly enhanced security at our
borders. But simply enhancing border screening is not enough
to identify those who may have already successfully assimilated
into our culture, become established within our society, and
placed themselves in positions of trust in the private sector.
Such persons would have the ability to carry out attacks on
our critical infrastructure that could harm large numbers
of persons or cause immense economic damage.
Private
sector screening is therefore critical to ensuring we identify
watchlisted persons working as, or who have access to, critical
infrastructure facilities that could be used to harm the American
public. HSPD-6 mandates that the terrorist watchlist be made
available to support private sector screening processes that
have a substantial bearing on homeland security. The TSC is
working closely with DHS to finalize guidelines to support
private sector screening and to fulfill the mandate of HSPD-6.
GAO
Report - Use of the Watchlist
As the
GAO report states, TSC customers receive TSDB data that suits
their individual agency needs. Which TSDB records are exported
to a particular customer depends on that customer's mission,
legal authority, resources, and other considerations. For
example, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) receives
over 98 percent of the records in the TSDB to screen against
threats at our borders. CBP has by far the broadest criteria
concerning TSDB data and therefore receives the greatest number
of TSDB records.
Other
TSC customers, such as the Department of State (which screens
applicants for visas and passports), have different criteria
tailored to their mission and screening needs and therefore
receive slightly less data. The State Department's visa screening
process, for example, does not check against TSDB records
on American citizens or legal permanent residents because
they are not required to have a visa to enter the U.S.
The TSC
also exports nearly two-thirds of the TSDB to the National
Crime Information Center, where it is made available to federal,
state, county, tribal, and municipal law enforcement officers.
The TSC also sends a portion of the TSDB to the Transportation
Security Administration as the "selectee" and "no
fly" lists for use in air passenger screening.
In FY
2006, as indicated in the GAO Report, 269 foreign persons
were denied entry to our nation because they were determined
to present an unacceptable risk of committing a terrorist
act. Thousands of other individuals listed in the TSDB were
encountered at our borders, or within the United States, and
their whereabouts were made known to the FBI and other law
enforcement agencies. These encounters often yield valuable
information not only about the subject's whereabouts, but
also his or her associates, interests, and intentions.
These,
and all matches to the watchlist, significantly enhance the
FBI's ability to accurately assess current threats, to identify
intelligence gaps and opportunities, and to further existing
investigations. In sum, they help to "connect the dots"
and make safer those whom we are sworn to protect. Through
data quality assurance methods, an extensive nominations process,
and the redress process, the TSC continues to work to ensure
that its data remains accurate, current, and comprehensive,
thus efficiently meeting our customers' screening needs.
OIG
Report 07-41
In addition
to the feedback received from the GAO, the Department of Justice
Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently completed an
audit. This audit focused on the data quality of the TSDB,
including its nominations and redress processes. The report
concluded that the TSC redress process was functioning well
by providing appropriate resolutions to individuals' complaints
and that the TSC had made significant improvements in its
nominations and quality assurance processes since the previous
audit in 2005. The report did find areas where the TSC needed
to improve and made 18 recommendations to the TSC and the
FBI. The FBI and TSC's concurrent response, with the plan
to address each recommendation, is included in Appendix V
of the OIG report. The TSC agrees with each of the report's
recommendations, and I am pleased to report the TSC has initiated
corrective actions on each of these recommendations.
Conclusion
In the
four short years since its inception, the TSC has significantly
enhanced the safety of the nation and has become a critical
player in the war on terrorism. We are committed to achieving
new heights and continuing to make America a safer place through
balancing terrorist screening and the rights of our fellow
citizens. This can only be accomplished through a continuous
process of internal and external review and eternal vigilance.
Chairman
Thompson, Ranking Member King, and members of the Committee,
thank you again for the opportunity to address this esteemed
body, and I look forward to answering your questions.
Congressional
Testimony
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