Lawmaker questions demise of government technology task force
The task force was disbanded in January despite having a lengthy research agenda, dedicated staff and budget to carry its work through 2004.
A senior Democratic lawmaker on Friday questioned why the Homeland Security Department shut down an independent task force before it finished examining several government technology programs, including the nation's biometric border security system.
Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, sent DHS Secretary Tom Ridge a letter this week expressing concerns about the cancellation of the Data Management Improvement Act Task Force, which was created by Congress in 2000 and authorized to operate until 2008.
The task force was disbanded in January despite having a lengthy research agenda, dedicated staff and budget to carry its work through 2004, according to Turner. On Friday, a DHS spokeswoman explained that the task force was disbanded because it met its statutory mandates to advise the Attorney General on border management issues. According to the spokeswoman, it was determined that the group needed more flexibility with input from the private sector and state and local entities so the task force was replaced by port specific plans being carried out by other employees.
Turner, however, said he was concerned about the department's "abrupt and premature cancellation of oversight work" being performed by the task force on the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, a biometric entry-exit system for the nation's borders that was initiated in January.
Among other things, the task force recommended that US-VISIT be evaluated by an independent body after operating for six months, which would have been in June. The report also called for developing a governmentwide master plan for information technology that emphasized compatible databases.
The task force planned to research a variety of issues through 2004, including biometrics and development of an integrated and interoperable exit-entry border security system.
"Based on our review of this subject, it is difficult to agree with the conclusion that the task force's work had been completed," Turner wrote. "Clearly, the design and deployment of US-VISIT was just beginning, and efforts to create a truly interoperable border security system remain in their infancy. In light of that, the department's decision to shut down this professional and highly productive task force four years early is highly questionable."
Turner asked Ridge why the task force was disbanded and whether DHS took action on the recommendation to conduct an independent assessment of US-VISIT after six months. He requested a response by Aug. 31.