Senator COLLINS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Nearly 10 years ago, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security brought together 22 different agencies into a single De- partment to focus like a laser on protecting our country and its citi-
zens. Yesterday, as the Chairman indicated, we explored the emerging security threats our Nation is likely to confront. In my judgment, the largest threat in that category is a cyber attack. Today we will examine whether DHS is well positioned to address these emerging threats as well as other longer-standing threats.
The changing threat landscape at home and abroad requires the Department to be nimble and imaginative, effective and efficient— qualities not often associated with large bureaucracies. Yet the men and women of DHS can take pride in the absence of a success- ful large-scale attack on our country during the past decade and in the Department’s contributions to thwarting numerous terrorist plots.
There have been successes and failures over the past 10 years. Information sharing has improved, but remains very much a work in progress. Ten years ago, we envisioned that DHS would be a clearinghouse for intelligence. Although incidents like the failed Christmas Day underwear bomber made clear that information sharing is still imperfect, numerous public and classified counter- terrorism successes since 9/11 demonstrate that information shar- ing has indeed improved.
This is also true with respect to information sharing between DHS and the private sector, an essential partner in the protection of our country since 85 percent of our critical infrastructure is pri- vately owned. The growing network of State and local fusion cen- ters also presents opportunities not only for the improved dissemi- nation of information but also for the collection and analysis of in- telligence at the local level.
As we discussed yesterday, however, these centers have yet to achieve their full value. They have yet to truly become successful aggregators and analyze local threat information in too many cases.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency within DHS that is most familiar to the public, has strengthened airline passenger risk analysis, but it still troubles many Ameri- cans to see screeners putting the very young and the very elderly through intrusive and in most cases unnecessary patdowns. TSA is making progress toward implementing more intelligence-focused, risk-based screening through such efforts as Pre-Check, but many challenges remain for TSA.
DHS has also bolstered the security of our borders and identifica- tion documents, yet two Iraqi refugees associated with al-Qaeda in Iraq were arrested in Kentucky last year. When a bomb maker whose fingerprints we have had for some time is able to enter our country on humanitarian grounds, it is an understatement to say that ‘‘work remains,’’ as DHS’s self-assessment states.
In order to meet and overcome current and future threats, DHS must support its component agencies with stronger management. Since 2003, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has des- ignated the Department as high risk. It has done so because of the management and integration challenges inherent in any large un- dertaking. But what people often do not realize is the high-risk designation refers not to just being at risk for waste, fraud, and abuse; it is at risk for program failure and, thus, the consequences of being on the high-risk list are serious indeed. DHS must imple-
ment changes that will hasten the day when the Department is no longer included on GAO’s high-risk list.
The roles of the Department’s components have evolved over time. As a positive example, I would note the adaptability and can- do attitude of the Coast Guard. I do not believe that there is an- other agency within DHS that has done a better job of adapting to the new challenges and its expanding mission in the post–9/11 world. This was never more clear than after Hurricane Katrina.
As this Committee noted in its report on Hurricane Katrina, the Coast Guard demonstrated strength, flexibility, and dedication to the mission it was asked to perform, and saved more than half of the 60,000 survivors stranded by this terrible storm.
Many experts have predicted a disaster in the cyber realm that would compare to Hurricane Katrina. Compared to 10 years ago, the cyber threat has grown exponentially. Clearly, this requires an evolution in the Department’s mission to secure critical systems controlling critical infrastructure, such as our transportation sys- tem, our nuclear power plants, the electric grid, our financial sys- tems—a goal that we hope to accomplish through the enactment of legislation that Chairman Lieberman and I have championed.
Despite the fact that DHS has made considerable strides over the past decade, it still has a long way to go by any assessment. To understand what challenges the Department is facing, what changes are needed, and to prioritize our limited resources, we must learn from the Department’s past mistakes and be able to better measure what has worked and what has not. To do so re- quires metrics and accountability, an area where the Department has been challenged.
I very much appreciate that we have such outstanding experts here with us today to help us in evaluating the Department’s progress and its future direction.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman LIEBERMAN. Thanks very much, Senator Collins.
Our first witness, I am delighted to say, is Congresswoman Jane Harman. With Senator Collins, Congresswoman Harman, and my- self here, we have three of what we used to call ‘‘the Gang of Four.’’
Ms. HARMAN. ‘‘The Big Four.’’
Chairman LIEBERMAN. ‘‘The Big Four.’’ Much better. We could
say ‘‘The Final Four.’’ No. [Laughter.]
What I am referring to in this inside conversation is that we were privileged to constitute bipartisan and bicameral leadership on the processing and ultimate adoption of the 9/11 legislation, which actually followed the creation of the Department of Home- land Security. And I had known Ms. Harman, of course, before but really got to know her well, greatly admire her, and even like her. Ms. Harman comes to us today as the President of the Woodrow Wilson Center. Her tenure in the House included service as Chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment, and as Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. So I am really delighted that you could make it, and we welcome your testimony now.
1The prepared statement of Ms. Harman appears in the Appendix on page 154.