Lawmakers say technology needed to secure border

Members of the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday outlined major challenges for securing U.S. borders, noting that the government must enlist private industry in developing technology to overcome shortfalls.

"The homeland security mission is a federal responsibility, but there's no doubt that to be successful we must rely on a partnership with state and local governments and the private sector," Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., told industry officials at a border security tech fair on Capitol Hill.

Souder, the top Republican on the Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee, said he has made numerous visits to border regions and ports of entry to view operations by the Homeland Security Department.

The department and private sector "need to be more active in pursuing inspection equipment, deploying new ideas and enhancing the capability to check people and cargo at an increasingly faster pace," he said. "Another issue that has come up in almost every trip along the border is the problem of allowing law enforcement to securely communicate with each other and headquarters, especially around tough terrain areas."

Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar, chairman of the Emergency Communications, Preparedness and Response Subcommittee, offered assurances that the committee will advocate for tech solutions from private industry to be incorporated into border security programs.

"The border security technologies you develop directly affect the security of not only the people on the border but of all Americans [because] the border is the gateway to the rest of the United States," he said. "We have to make sure that you're part of our solution and make sure that we are managing and implementing technology effectively."

He added that border technology also needs to be deployed abroad, such as at foreign ports to scan cargo before it is shipped to the United States. "The old days of saying we're going to do everything within the United States are gone," he said.

Souder called on industry to help develop technology for document security and identity verification. "During my recent trip to the border, one of the issues that came up was an inability of the Border Patrol to verify the identity of individuals apprehended in the field or at mobile checkpoints," he said.

He said one of the biggest looming challenges is developing technology to verify the identity of foreigners who are legally able to work in the United States, as well as verifying when foreigners leave the country.

"We are a long way in ... trying to figure out how to do work permits," he said. "Quite frankly, neither the Senate nor the House has really asked the tough questions on how we would implement a work permit program."

In a reference to the Homeland Security Department's foreigner-tracking system, he added that "we don't even have the beginnings of an exit strategy through US-VISIT for visa overstays. We have huge challenges and technology has to advance."

Souder said industry and government also need to rapidly move new technology from expensive prototypes to systems that are affordable and practical.