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Where The Security Money Is Headed
by Chris Strohm
As lawmakers debated homeland security legislation last week, they grappled not only with establishing the right policy and funding for technology-related programs but also whether Congress is impatiently pushing the U.S. government to do too much, too soon in some areas.
During intense debate, including a late-night marathon session Thursday, the Senate adopted about a dozen amendments to the fiscal 2008 Homeland Security Department spending bill. The language would set policies for bolstering border security, procuring technology, helping states buy communications equipment, and improving electronic employment-verification systems.
Congress also cleared legislation that would implement unfulfilled recommendations of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The bill includes new technology-related policies.
But lawmakers were divided over setting new requirements and providing funding for a handful of programs, such as requiring ship cargo to be scanned at foreign ports and requiring that states begin issuing new identification documents.
Tools For The Border And Beyond
In the largest spending boost, senators added $3 billion for border security to the Homeland Security appropriations bill. Within that, funding would be provided to procure 105 ground-based radars and surveillance towers with cameras, as well as four unmanned aerial vehicles. All of the equipment would be used along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"This funding allows the government to take control of 100 percent of the border quickly and effectively through more manpower and technology," said Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.
The bill also would require the Bush administration to study whether border fencing can be constructed for less than an average of $3.2 million per mile. Homeland Security officials recently told Congress that using technology along the border, rather than fencing, costs about $1 million per mile.
Senators approved $100 million for a grant program to help states and local emergency-response agencies buy radios that can work across jurisdictions. The 9/11 bill would authorize the program.
"This legislation would provide additional, and much-needed, resources to help the nation's first responders achieve what I believe to be our shared goal of comprehensive, interoperable communications at the federal, state and local levels," said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.
The spending bill, however, still has to make it through conference with the House and faces a veto threat from President Bush. And lawmakers were bitterly divided over a handful of technology-related programs.
Scanning Cargo And Checking IDs
Perhaps the most controversial provision in the 9/11 bill is a new requirement that Homeland Security ensure, within five years, that all U.S.-bound ship cargo is scanned at foreign ports before being sent to the United States. The department could give ports deadline extensions if they need them.
GOP lawmakers in the Senate and House argued that the requirement is exceeding government capabilities. They said technology has not yet been shown to be effective to get the job done in a timely manner without disrupting commerce.
Republicans have the backing of the shipping and retail industry, which is vowing to try to kill the provision in future legislation. "If this passes, we'll look to revisit this issue very quickly in another legislative vehicle," said Jason Conley, senior manager for homeland security at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "This is an election bumper sticker masquerading as public policy, and we find it irresponsible to conduct port security in this way."
Contentious debate in the Senate also erupted over whether to give states funding to help them comply with the so-called REAL ID Act, which requires them to begin issuing secure and standardized identification documents next May.
The National Governors Association estimates that states will need about $11 billion over five years to comply. To date, Congress has appropriated $40 million. Bush did not request any funding for the effort in his fiscal 2008 budget.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., made an unsuccessful attempt to include $300 million in the spending measure to help states meet the law. The funding would have been offset in an across-the-board cut to other Homeland Security programs.
Alexander noted problems that Americans are having getting new passports to comply with another congressional mandate known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. He argued that Congress has greatly underestimated the funding and technology burdens it sometimes creates through policy. "If you think the passport backlog is a big problem, wait until the driver's license backlog comes if we don't properly fund REAL ID or repeal it," Alexander said.
In the end, however, a majority of senators voted against his proposed funding, saying they could not support cutting money for other programs.
The Rest Of The Tech-Related Funding
Senators also held last-minute negotiations late Thursday on several other technology-related amendments before finally approving them.
They agreed, for example, to provide $60 million to help state and local employment-verification programs access the federal government's employment-eligibility system. The funding is expected to help register employers into the system and ensure that it responds to requests by employers accurately and timely.
The funding also is to be used to "develop policies and procedures to ensure protection of the privacy and security of personally identifiable information and identifiers contained in the [system], including appropriate privacy and security training for state employees."
Senators further agreed to increase funding to $40 million for a program that will install a network of stationary and mobile radiation-detection devices around New York City.
"Since al Qaeda has been allowed to regroup along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, there should be no let-up in the effort to secure the New York City area," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. "Every resource, every piece of technology and every measure of security that is available to protect our region from weapons of mass destruction should be put to use."
Senators adopted another provision that will require Homeland Security to establish, within two years, a program that incorporates available technologies, such as biometrics and e-passports, to expedite the screening and processing of international travelers. The program would be voluntary, and the department could charge fees to those who participate in order to cover the costs.
One last tech-related amendment would require Homeland Security to "carry out a technology demonstration program to test and evaluate new port-of-entry technologies, refine port-of-entry technologies and operational concepts, and train personnel under realistic conditions." The department is expected to test technologies related to inspections, communications, and identification of people and cargo, among other things.
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