"Strengthening Links In Our Homeland Security Here And Abroad"
When it comes to our homeland security, we are truly only as strong as our weakest link.
Preventing terrorists from traveling is a key way to protect our country. As the 9-11 Commission put it: "targeting travel is at least as powerful a weapon against terrorists as targeting their money." We have seen several troubling incidents recently that have exposed security gaps at home, and a new government report highlights vulnerabilities in other countries that could permit terrorists to travel to the United States.
Recently, a young man was able to fly cross-country from New York to Los Angeles without a valid government ID and with an expired boarding pass that was not even issued in his name. At the other extreme, it troubles many Americans to see TSA screeners putting the very young and the very elderly through intrusive, and in most cases unnecessary, pat downs.
If we continue to give extra screening to individuals who pose no threat, yet others who should arouse suspicion can bypass check points without being questioned, our systems are still not properly working.
In May, two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green, Kentucky, were indicted on federal terrorism charges. According to the Justice Department, one of the men "allegedly carried out numerous improvised explosive device attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq," and the other also allegedly was an insurgent. That they were permitted come to this country on humanitarian grounds is shocking.
As Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, I asked Administration officials during a recent hearing how this could have happened when there was sufficient evidence of the terrorist attacks to indict them. And, equally important, what is being done to close this serious vulnerability?
Administration officials assert that additional background checks are now being conducted on the nearly 59,000 Iraqi nationals that were granted asylum and allowed to live in our country, but this vetting should have occurred prior to their being permitted to come here. Some did provide extraordinary service to our troops and endangered their lives, but the Kentucky case suggests that others never should have been admitted to the U.S.
We must continue to increase safeguards here at home, but our country cannot go it alone. A report from the Government Accountability Office, which I requested, shows gaps in the ability of foreign countries to help prevent terrorists from traveling to the United States.
For example, our foreign partners may lack database systems with terrorist screening information or their databases lack biometric information on criminals or terrorism suspects. Pakistan has a fingerprint database, but it is not shared across all law enforcement agencies making the database less comprehensive and more difficult for Pakistani officials to use to prevent terrorist travel.
Paraguay's system, until recently, was not in compliance with international security standards and was vulnerable to corruption. Working with USAID, Paraguay has a new identity card and passport system with verifiable identifiers such as fingerprints, photographs, and signatures. The country's documents are now more secure and less susceptible to fraud.
According to U.S. embassy officials in Kenya, travel facilitators stand outside the airport and indicate to corrupt immigration officials which individuals they should let pass without checking their passports.
To tackle some of these problems and to help our allies adopt the best way to protect travel documents and prevent terrorist travel, the U.S. has many programs that help identify suspected terrorists, address the use of fraudulent documents, and assure the security of passports.
There is, however, a troubling lack of coordination among the agencies working on these problems. For example, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department both had planned to provide training in recognizing fraudulent travel documents to Pakistani officials at the same time, each without the other agency's knowledge. One agency had students signed up but had no funding, and the other had funding but no one had signed up for the course. What a waste of time and taxpayer dollars!
There is some encouraging news. DHS reports that nearly 450 suspected terrorists have been identified on the watch list and blocked from boarding overseas flights bound for the U.S. since 2010. Customs and Border Patrol is now matching passenger manifests with the terrorist watch list, and not just the "no fly" list. It is vital to review these lists before departure, not once the plane is already in the air and on its way toward our country.
Terrorists constantly probe our defenses and innovate. For example, recent reports indicate terrorists may be considering having explosive devices surgically implanted in their bodies. We must never cease our efforts to keep terrorists from acquiring the documents and means to travel to our shores.
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Preventing terrorists from traveling is a key way to protect our country. As the 9-11 Commission put it: "targeting travel is at least as powerful a weapon against terrorists as targeting their money." We have seen several troubling incidents recently that have exposed security gaps at home, and a new government report highlights vulnerabilities in other countries that could permit terrorists to travel to the United States.
Recently, a young man was able to fly cross-country from New York to Los Angeles without a valid government ID and with an expired boarding pass that was not even issued in his name. At the other extreme, it troubles many Americans to see TSA screeners putting the very young and the very elderly through intrusive, and in most cases unnecessary, pat downs.
If we continue to give extra screening to individuals who pose no threat, yet others who should arouse suspicion can bypass check points without being questioned, our systems are still not properly working.
In May, two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green, Kentucky, were indicted on federal terrorism charges. According to the Justice Department, one of the men "allegedly carried out numerous improvised explosive device attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq," and the other also allegedly was an insurgent. That they were permitted come to this country on humanitarian grounds is shocking.
As Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, I asked Administration officials during a recent hearing how this could have happened when there was sufficient evidence of the terrorist attacks to indict them. And, equally important, what is being done to close this serious vulnerability?
Administration officials assert that additional background checks are now being conducted on the nearly 59,000 Iraqi nationals that were granted asylum and allowed to live in our country, but this vetting should have occurred prior to their being permitted to come here. Some did provide extraordinary service to our troops and endangered their lives, but the Kentucky case suggests that others never should have been admitted to the U.S.
We must continue to increase safeguards here at home, but our country cannot go it alone. A report from the Government Accountability Office, which I requested, shows gaps in the ability of foreign countries to help prevent terrorists from traveling to the United States.
For example, our foreign partners may lack database systems with terrorist screening information or their databases lack biometric information on criminals or terrorism suspects. Pakistan has a fingerprint database, but it is not shared across all law enforcement agencies making the database less comprehensive and more difficult for Pakistani officials to use to prevent terrorist travel.
Paraguay's system, until recently, was not in compliance with international security standards and was vulnerable to corruption. Working with USAID, Paraguay has a new identity card and passport system with verifiable identifiers such as fingerprints, photographs, and signatures. The country's documents are now more secure and less susceptible to fraud.
According to U.S. embassy officials in Kenya, travel facilitators stand outside the airport and indicate to corrupt immigration officials which individuals they should let pass without checking their passports.
To tackle some of these problems and to help our allies adopt the best way to protect travel documents and prevent terrorist travel, the U.S. has many programs that help identify suspected terrorists, address the use of fraudulent documents, and assure the security of passports.
There is, however, a troubling lack of coordination among the agencies working on these problems. For example, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department both had planned to provide training in recognizing fraudulent travel documents to Pakistani officials at the same time, each without the other agency's knowledge. One agency had students signed up but had no funding, and the other had funding but no one had signed up for the course. What a waste of time and taxpayer dollars!
There is some encouraging news. DHS reports that nearly 450 suspected terrorists have been identified on the watch list and blocked from boarding overseas flights bound for the U.S. since 2010. Customs and Border Patrol is now matching passenger manifests with the terrorist watch list, and not just the "no fly" list. It is vital to review these lists before departure, not once the plane is already in the air and on its way toward our country.
Terrorists constantly probe our defenses and innovate. For example, recent reports indicate terrorists may be considering having explosive devices surgically implanted in their bodies. We must never cease our efforts to keep terrorists from acquiring the documents and means to travel to our shores.
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