Good
afternoon Chairman Chambliss and members of the Subcommittee. Thank
you for the opportunity to discuss the missions and
objectives of the new Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). Homeland
Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6), issued
on September 16, 2003, ordered the creation of the
TSC, directing its operations to begin on December
1, 2003, and we met that goal. The TSC was created
to ensure that government investigators, screeners,
federal agents, and state and local law enforcement
officers have ready access to the information and expertise
they need to respond quickly when a known or suspected
terrorist is encountered here in the United States,
at our borders and at our embassies. Today, I will
tell you about our daily operations as they relate
to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National
Targeting Center (NTC) and our role in preventing terrorists
and suspected terrorists from crossing our nation’s
borders. I will provide as much information as I can
in this open forum, however, I will be happy to provide
additional, classified details in a closed setting
at your request.
TSC
Operations
The
TSC is a multi-agency Center, including participants
from the Departments of Justice (FBI), Homeland Security,
State, and Treasury. Our goal is to consolidate the
Government's approach to terrorism screening and provide
for the appropriate and lawful use of terrorist information
in screening processes. Being a diverse Center, manned
by personnel from both law enforcement and homeland
security entities, we communicate and coordinate terrorist
screening efforts across the full spectrum of federal,
state and local government agencies, sharing information
pursuant to the applicable legal framework.
Since
December 1, 2003, TSC has been providing key resources
for screeners and law enforcement personnel.
These
include:
(1)
a single coordination point for terrorist screening
data;
(2) a consolidated 24/7 call center for encounter
identification assistance;
(3) access to a coordinated law enforcement response;
(4)
a formal process for tracking encounters;
(5)
feedback to the appropriate entities; and
(6)
a process to address misidentification issues.
There
are three fundamental types of inquiries: interior
(within the U.S.), border (at the points of entry
at our borders and ports) and exterior (outside
the border). Interior
inquiries will normally be made by local law enforcement. Border
inquiries are made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Exterior
inquiries are conducted by the State Department. Today,
I will highlight border inquiries.
The
TSC receives a high volume of calls that originate
with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspectors
stationed on the nation’s borders. In a typical
case, a person attempts to enter the U.S. at a border
crossing. A
CBP inspector queries the name electronically, and
receives a response from the Interagency Border Inspection
System (IBIS) or the National Crime Information Center
(NCIC) indicating that the person may be a suspected
terrorist or associate of terrorists. The CBP inspector
will contact the National Targeting Center (NTC),
where the record will be analyzed, then passed to
the TSC. We
examine the record to determine whether the individual
is identical to the person in the Terrorist Screening
Center Database. The TSC then appropriately passes
any derogatory information on the subject, and CBP
makes a determination on whether the individual will
be allowed into the United States. Simultaneously,
we contact our operational component at the FBI’s
Counterterrorism Division, the CT Watch. CT Watch
provides for the local Joint Terrorism Task Force
(JTTF) response.
This
collaboration between TSC and CBP has already achieved
results. One instance involves a foreign national
traveling to the U.S. He was inspected by a number
of CBP inspectors and found to have dangerous substances
in his luggage. He was arrested, and later removed
from the U.S. and returned to his country of origin. Less
than a month later, the individual applied for a
new visa and was identified by the TSC as a possible
threat
based on the previous events.
Our
cooperation with CBP has also facilitated the sharing
of information related to ongoing investigations. Information
about the circumstances of international travel and
data collected by CBP during border interviews can
be very important to other investigators. In one case,
for example, the TSC-CBP connection provided the FBI
with information about someone traveling with known
investigative subjects, and led to the initiation of
an investigation of the previously unsuspected associate.
Conclusion
TSC
is a multi-agency organization that is contributing
to nationwide efforts to keep terrorists out of the
U.S. and locate those who may already be in the country. We
work closely with CBP inspectors and the National Targeting
Center (NTC), and we look forward to working with the
Committee in its efforts to secure our nation’s borders.
For
this unclassified hearing, I have given you only
limited examples of our successes. We have screened over 2,000
calls since our inception, and assisted in positively
identifying a number of known or suspected terrorists
encountered during governmental screening processes. I
appreciate the Committee’s interest in the TSC's
activities and I will be happy to answer any questions
you may
have.
