$3B border security amendment dropped

The Defense Appropriations bill that passed Congress on Nov. 8 did not include a popular amendment to provide $3 billion for border security that included funds for fencing, unmanned aerial vehicles and ground sensors. The border security amendment, sponsored by Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) was approved by the Senate in a 95-1 vote on Oct. 3. When House and Senate leaders negotiated the final terms of the bill in recent weeks, they removed the border security provision and its funding. Under Graham’s amendment, there would have been funding for 700 miles of fencing, unmanned aerial vehicles, ground sensors, vehicle barriers and other technology with the goal of reaching operational control of the borders. In addition, there would be money for enforcement and detention of illegal aliens.
(Washington Technology story)

Homeland Security’s high-tech gamble

Imagine that instead of anthrax-laced letters targeted at members of Congress the next bioterrorist attack to hit Washington is a wide-scale release of a toxin in the transit system. But rather than trusting a haphazard series of stationary air sensors installed at likely release points on platforms and waiting areas, first responders minimize the assault using thousands of mobile biodetectors embedded in a standard tool in every commuter’s arsenal: the cell phone. According to such a plan, a portion of the phone-toting population would voluntarily use devices that included minuscule bio, radiation or chemical sensors that could detect dangers in real time. If terrorists released a toxin, cell-phone sensors would detect the substances and signal the threat to District of Columbia police via the Global Positioning System network.
(Federal Computer Week story)

DHS tries to coordinate anti-bomb efforts

Sometimes when he hears the telephone, Charlie Payne has a scary thought. "Every time my phone rings at an odd time, I wonder if it's started," he says. Payne, chief of the Office for Bombing Prevention at the Homeland Security Department, is referring to terrorist bombings in the United States. For all the attention on potential dirty bombs, biological agents and chemical weapons, the tactic government leaders most expect terrorists to use in this country is the conventional explosive. "The attack weapon of choice still is the IED," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said at a Sept. 10 hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
(Government Executive story)

Chertoff in Iraq for Veterans Day

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff spent Nov. 11 in Iraq, where he participated in a ceremony for 178 foreign-born service members to become U.S. citizens. "I can't think of people who are more deserving of citizenship than those who are fighting to defend the country even before they are citizens," Chertoff said. "They understand that freedoms don't come free and they are willing to make sacrifices even before they reap the benefits of citizenship."
The ceremony took place at Camp Anaconda, some 50 miles north of Baghdad.
(Michael Chertoff bio)

Technology, integration fuel secure border opps

Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff launched the Secure Border Initiative and its technology component, SBInet, two years ago with the goal of gaining operational control of the country’s southern and northern land borders by November 2010. The initiative has cost more than $2 billion to date and included the hiring of thousands of border patrol agents. It has also sparked a boom in information technology tools that facilitate surveillance and information sharing. The prospect of monitoring 6,000 miles of land borders and 6,000 miles of coastline in the continental United States is daunting and, some say, unrealistic.
(Washington Technology cover story)

New technology for IDs?

As governments go digital, the demand for contactless chips for use in electronic documents is expected to grow in the next five years to as much as $1 billion annually, and Texas Instruments (TI) wants a piece of that market. The Dallas company said last month that it is developing a new smart, integrated-circuit design that features a memory technology optimized for radio frequency readers. The State Department began issuing e-passports with embedded contactless chips in August 2006 and switched completely to the new format in May. The passports contain not only traditional printed information but also electronic data than can be accessed with RF readers. TI is eyeing the next generation of passports for its chips.
(Government Computer News story)

New York DMV, DHS tout Real ID

State officials show us how they will make driver's licenses more secure, but opponents say it does nothing to change their minds about the controversial plan to give licenses to illegal immigrants. DMV commissioner David Swarts and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Balboni were on hand for a demonstration of photo comparison and document scanning technology. They say that technology will make sure that the right people get access to a license -- and only one license.
(WXXA Albany report; DHS Real ID proposed guidelines)

DHS shows success in senior-level hiring

The Homeland Security Department hired above and beyond its projected targets for fiscal 2007 and increased its leadership capacity by 17 percent, the agency's top personnel official said Nov. 2. Marta Brito Perez, chief human capital officer for DHS, said in an interview with Government Executive that the department added more than 70 senior executive positions in fiscal 2007, bringing its total number of authorized high-level positions to 722. Of those, all but 73 are filled, and those are under active recruitment, she said.
(Government Executive story)

ID card industry pushes for DHS work

Executives at identification card companies are intensifying their push for alternative technologies for the Homeland Security Department’s upcoming requirements for border crossing cards and drivers’ licenses. Representatives of the laser card and “smart card” industries told lawmakers on Oct. 18 that their products offer unique benefits and avoid shortcomings of the formats proposed by DHS for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative border-crossing card and the Real ID Act of 2005 driver’s license standard. For the WHTI border crossing card, also known as the Pass card, DHS officials have said they intend to use long-distance radio frequency identification tags that can be read at 20 feet. A similar RFID tag is to be used in the hybrid WHTI-Real ID act identification card to be issued in three border states.
(Washington Technology story)

Chertoff's steps to discourage attacks

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Oct. 19 warned the United States faces a "heightened threat of terrorist attack for the foreseeable future" but said his department was doing more than ever to counter it. As one new anti-terrorism initiative, he cited a plan to screen and inspect small boats for bombs. "Are there going to be some squawks? Absolutely," Chertoff said at a conference held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the potential for improvised explosive device attacks in this country. As evidence of the increased terrorist threat, he pointed to the summer's National Intelligence Estimate finding that al-Qaida had reconstituted its training camps in the rugged tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan after being chased out of Afghanistan by U.S. forces in the fall 2001. He said al-Qaida knew how to "pick itself up" after a defeat, but that the "good news is that we are doing the same thing."
(Government Executive story)

Schneider fill-in DHS deputy secretary

President Bush on Oct. 18 tapped the Homeland Security Department's management chief to act as deputy secretary after Michael Jackson vacates the job next week. Paul Schneider, a former acquisition executive at the National Security Agency, has been Homeland Security's undersecretary for management since January. He will assume the acting position when Jackson departs Oct. 26. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a statement saying he was "enormously pleased" by the selection of Schneider. "Paul has exhibited tremendous leadership and dedication as the undersecretary for management," Chertoff said. "He has the respect and admiration of staff and my full support."
(Government Executive story; DHS press release with Chertoff's statement)

USDA approves two animal ID systems

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Oct. 11 announced the approval of two new animal identification devices: a visual tag with radio frequency identification (RFID) from Leader Products and the first approved injectable transponder from Digital Angel. The devices carry an official animal identification number (AIN), which is used to identify individual animals as part of USDA’s National Animal Identification System (NAIS). USDA is technology neutral and supports a range of NAIS-compliant identification methods. All NAIS-compliant RFID devices are ISO-compliant and therefore, an ISO-compliant reader would read any of them.
(USDA press release; USDA NAIS homepage)

Chertoff to speak at IdentEvent

Secretary of the DHS Michael Chertoff will give a special keynote speech at IdentEvent 2007 on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. IdentEvent is a one-day conference to bring together industry executives, policy and security experts, government officials, analysts, the media and more in a highly-focused, higly-effective airing of identity management issues and viewpoints. Event topics include: Credentialing & Access Management; Enhanced Driver's Licenses; Federal Identity Credentialing Strategies; The Future of ID Management; Real ID: Will it Happen?; Congressional Outlook; Overview of Government ID Management Market.
(ITAA Web site with registration information)

DHS sets consolidation course

The Homeland Security Department is emphasizing consolidation in its information technology infrastructure with contracts to merge an array of data centers into one $800 million location and select a lead software service provider for the Transportation Security Administration at a cost of about $400 million to $500 million. EDS is set to build the new data center, likely in Clarksville, Va., during the next eight years. IBM Global Business Services is leading a team of partners, most prominently Deloitte, in a five-year project to provide a consolidated source of IT services to the TSA. Those two infrastructure contracts had the effect of consolidating dozens of the sprawling department’s IT projects.
(Government Computer News report: DHS Consolidation; DHS seeks brainiacs; DHS quiet on data center location)

TSA approves four screening products

Three years after being directed to establish a “qualified products list” for airport screening programs, the Transportation Security Administration has named the first products to qualify. Of seven products that vendors submitted for testing, four were approved for the list. Two of them — Bioscrypt’s V-Station and Cogent Systems’ ID-Gate — combine keypads, fingerprint scanners and smart-card scanners. Two fingerprint sensors from Lumidigm also won approval. Rick Lazarick, chief scientist at Computer Sciences Corp.’s Identity Labs and a consultant to TSA, said the testing was run directly by TSA, although it was performed by International Biometric Group, a private company based in New York and London.
(Government Computer News story)

Senators praise ICE head Myers

At a Sept. 12 hearing on the nomination of Julie Myers to continue has head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the senators who opposed her in 2005 on the grounds she lacked experience said they were impressed by her track record since President Bush gave her a recess appointment at the beginning of 2006. "You've done a terrific job," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, one of Myers' harshest critics two years ago, at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing. "I'm grateful for it, and I'm grateful that you want to stick around. A lot of people are out circulating their resumes, and you want to stick with this thing." In particular, Voinovich praised Myers' financial management of ICE, and said he hoped her efforts could provide a model for other agencies. Myers moved quickly after her recess appointment to tap ICE's first permanent chief financial officer and to centralize contracting practices.
(Government Executive story; ICE Web site bio on Julie Myers)

GAO releases report on US VISIT

The U.S. Government Accountability Office released an Aug. 31 report that looks at the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program. The report cited issues with the program's strategic plan and program management, but also found that program has met cost and scheduling expectations. In response to the report, DHS officials framed past work on the exit component as pilot efforts intended to be valuable learning experiences rather than fully operational systems. Officials said the testing showed that the exit systems worked but the procedures did not, because, unlike with entry systems, there is no existing, exit infrastructure to which a biometric-based system can be added. DHS plans to incorporate the exit component of US VISIT into the airline check-in process, program director Robert Mocny said in a June 28 hearing before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism. Mocny said DHS plans to publish a notice of proposed rule-making by the end of the year, and a final rule by June 2008.
(Government Executive story; GAO report in .pdf format)

Maritime Radiation Detection Project Announced

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) announced Sept. 5 that the West Coast Maritime pilot program that will provide maritime radiation detection capabilities for State and local authorities in Washington’s Puget Sound and California’s San Diego areas. The three-year pilot program involves the development of a radiation detection architecture that reduces the risk of radiological and nuclear threats that could be illegally transported on recreational or small commercial vessels. The pilot will be conducted in close coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection. DNDO anticipates investing roughly $10 million in the pilot program. The Puget Sound region and San Diego, with DNDO assistance, will leverage existing federal grant funding to support small vessel radiation detection programs and the procurement of recommended equipment.
(DHS press release; DHS DNDO homepage)

Thousands a part of National Preparedness Month

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Aug. 31 that more than 1,700 national, regional, state, and local organizations will support the department by participating in National Preparedness Month 2007. This campaign occurs annually in September, and encourages Americans to prepare for all types of emergencies in their homes, businesses, schools, and communities. DHS promotes individual emergency preparedness through the Ready Campaign and the department’s Citizen Corps Program throughout the year. “Too many individuals remain in a state of denial when it comes to personal preparedness,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “Able-bodied Americans need to be prepared to take care of themselves and their families after an emergency, so that first responders can focus on those who need assistance most. With the help of our coalition members, we encourage Americans to get an emergency supply kit, make a family communications plan, and be informed about the different types of emergencies that may affect them.”
(DHS Web site)

Travel Accommodation nearing end

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reminding air carriers and the traveling public that the temporary Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) accommodation allowing U.S. citizens to travel by air within the Western Hemisphere using a Department of State (DOS) official proof of passport application receipt will end as scheduled at midnight on Sept. 30, 2007. U.S. citizens who departed the country under this travel accommodation prior to Oct. 1 with a Department of State official proof of passport application receipt and government-issued identification will be readmitted with these same documents if returning to the United States after Sept. 30.
(DHS Web site; U.S. State Department travel Web site)