Federal, state and local agencies on a quest to secure America's borders

As the military wages a new kind of war abroad in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, members of Congress and Bush administration officials are developing high-tech strategies for defending the nation's borders and transportation systems.

But equipping a multitude of federal, state and local agencies to meet those homeland security needs--while enabling them to share critical, real-time information about terrorist threats and response capabilities--has proven to be a complicated task.

"We are a mobile, open society of more than 286 million souls living within 7,000 miles of open land borders and 4,000 miles of unguarded coastline," Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., chairman of the House Government Reform National Security Subcommittee, said during a recent hearing. "Critical transportation information systems are susceptible to disruption. Intelligence sharing is stilted. Military capabilities have not yet been transformed to meet asymmetrical threats. Where to begin?"

Modernizing antiquated information systems has emerged as a key starting point for many agencies. "We will seek to tear down the information stovepipes that stand in the way of information sharing and cooperation within the government," White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said recently, noting that many federal, state and local databases contained information about a number of the 19 hijackers long before they were involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. The administration has called for a technologically advanced "smart border" to monitor the arrival and departure of the more than 300 million non-citizens each year. And several lawmakers have introduced legislation that would use information technology to tighten border security. For example, two bills, H.R. 3229 in the House and S. 1627 in the Senate, would establish a single "lookout database" designed to enable all immigration, customs, law enforcement and intelligence agencies to identify inadmissible or deportable aliens.

Another bill, S. 1733, also aims to improve border security. It would require the State Department, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Treasury Department and the CIA to develop a unified electronic data system to provide law enforcement and intelligence officials with real-time information on non-citizens' eligibility to enter the United States.

Federal agencies also are taking steps under last year's anti-terrorism law to improve border security. That law requires the FBI to share non-citizens' criminal records with the INS and the State Department for the purposes of adjudicating visa applications.

The Customs Service is playing a key role in homeland defense by monitoring the millions of cargo containers shipped into the United States each year. President Bush has proposed a $2.3 billion inspection budget for Customs in fiscal 2003, which would be a $619 million--or 27 percent--increase over fiscal 2002 spending. The new funds would be used to hire hundreds of inspectors and purchase high-tech equipment to improve and expedite cargo inspections.

Customs officials are considering the use of electronic seals to prevent tampering of shipping containers, as well as radiation detectors and other sensors to prevent weapons of mass destruction from being smuggled into U.S. ports.

The Transportation Department recently created an interagency Container Working Group, which is investigating ways to improve and expedite security inspections of 6 million marine cargo containers, and the 11 million trucks and rail containers, each year.

"Looking for a terrorist weapon in a container may appear to be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., said during a recent House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing. "However, we must find that needle. To do this, we will need the cooperation of our trading partners and those in the transportation industry."

Coast Guard officials also need better detection technology to inspect sealed containers packed within foreign vessels, according to Capt. Anthony Regalbuto, the Coast Guard's chief of port security. "Just imagine a bunch of Legos and trying to get to the inner part of the Lego block," Regalbuto told lawmakers during a March hearing. "It really creates some problems."

But an even greater problem involves the potential failure to detect a terrorist weapon inside a container before it is loaded onto a truck or a train, according to John Magaw, undersecretary of Transportation for security. "Seaport containers that arrive today ... can be anywhere in the United States tomorrow," Magaw recently told the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. "Security measures must be fully integrated in all modes of transportation."

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who chairs the subcommittee, also cautioned against focusing security efforts too heavily on air travel, the immediate emphasis just after the Sept. 11 hijackings.

"Our security system is only as strong as its weakest link," she said. "As we work to make aviation more secure, I want to make sure we're not leaving other vulnerabilities open to those who would threaten us."