Congressman blasts Bush on terrorist screening efforts

A key House lawmaker said Tuesday that homeland security efforts are being undermined because the Bush administration has failed to create a unified terrorist watch list and make the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center fully operational.

Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Democrats on the committee will "vigorously" exercise oversight and push for a hearing on why the center is not fully operational when Congress returns later this month.

The Justice Department announced last fall that the center would be operational by Dec. 1, 2003. However, the department notified Turner in December that the center was not yet fully operational and that terrorist watch lists had not been unified. Turner said the government did not indicate that technical or funding problems were responsible for the delays, and blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of the Bush administration for not showing enough leadership.

"It is unacceptable that more than two years after Sept. 11, we still don't have a comprehensive unified terrorist watch list that is a robust tool for the people on front lines protecting this country," Turner said. "The Bush administration has failed to exercise leadership on this issue."

The TSC was established to consolidate 12 existing government databases on terrorist suspects into a unified watch list that local, state and federal law enforcement authorities can access. For example, officials who screen visa applications or individuals at U.S. ports of entry would be able to receive information from the center.

Turner said other homeland security efforts, such as the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology and the Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System II, are "seriously handicapped" due to the lack of an integrated watch list.

"At its heart, the terrorist watch list is the fundamental tool that has to be utilized by all these other efforts," he said.

FBI officials did not return calls for comment Tuesday. In a Dec. 18 letter to Turner, the agency stated the TSC is in a "test phase" of consolidating databases, but is providing 24-hour call center support to law enforcement officials.

A Homeland Security Department official said the TSC is "on track" and has "strong leadership" from the FBI.

"I think it was a smart idea and absolutely necessary to be done to centralize efforts," said Frank Libutti, DHS undersecretary for information analysis and infrastructure protection. "We've given birth to the thing, and it's taking its normal course of maturing."

DHS is both a user of and contributor to information at the center. "The great value is consolidation of databases to be able to support rapid response to inquires relative to individuals," Libutti added.

Turner also cited "significant shortcomings" of the TSC's development so far. He said less than 20 percent of records from watch lists have been integrated into the TSC system, meaning that routine criminal background checks by federal, state and local law enforcement might miss individuals the government suspects of terrorist involvement.

Basic information-sharing remains unresolved between the center and other federal agencies that own the 12 watch lists, he said, and additional federal agencies are not yet working with the TSC as intended.