Hearing of House Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity: Fiscal Year 2006 Budget
HEARING OF HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC SECURITY, INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION, AND CYBERSECURITY: FISCAL YEAR 2006 BUDGET
March 2, 2005
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Ms. Lofgren. Just quickly because Congressman Dicks actually covered the issues that I wanted to raise, but it does segue into another issue, which is the goal of SCO to integrate the various databases and that is really part of this question. And given that the databases in some cases are Legacy systems that are a mess in flow and in some cases need to be replaced, my question goes to the budget.
Is your budget going to allow for the legacy systems to be upgraded so that the kind of query that has just been discussed could be done promptly instead of clumsily as might currently be the case?
Mr. Williams. I am not sure we know the answer to that yet. The Department, as Deputy Commissioner Spero just recently said, was just created about 2 years ago yesterday, and programs were built upon legacy systems to meet specific business needs. And we have to look at the SCO not only from a database standpoint but meeting a business need standpoint.
I always believe you have to look at integration starting with the mission.
How much we have to then change the underlying infrastructure in order to meet the now harmonized business need, I don't think we know yet.
Ms. Lofgren. Well, could I ask this, because some of it is your department and some of it isn't, but until we upgrade the legacy systems we are not going to be in a position to do the kind of search that I think we would all want to do.
And one other point I would like to make, and I won't use the full 5 minutes because we are after our time, I know, but I really think the biometrics serves two functions. One is is the person standing before you who he or she says she is, I mean, an identifier? And then, two, the ability to search what we know about various people with that same biometric to see is this the person who pops up.
And there is nothing that prevents us--I mean, this is something I have been talking about for the last 3 years--there is nothing that prevents us from having more than one biometric to do that. And I, for the life of me, don't understand why we don't have a biometric with a very small data load in a very high reliability component for the ID function. And in addition to, not instead of, a biometric that also can serve as a template for searching other databases.
When INS went to this two-finger system, I don't know if you recall, I complained about it because it was not compatible with the FBI database, which was also a mess anyhow. And so what I would like to get from you in writing is the budget question: What would it take for your agency to upgrade the legacy systems that you are dealing with now so that databases could be searchable with the proper privacy protections built in in a timeframe that is suitable for business purposes?
Number two, what biometric indicator could be used as an addition, not instead of, that would have a small data load and a high reliability? I have been told that might be an iris scan, but I am not pushing that technology. Whatever it is that would do the ID function as compared to the search function that could get things moving rather quickly.
And, finally, if you don't know the answer I wouldn't expect you to, if you could at least estimate the FBI's function--I am going to ask the same thing over in the Judiciary Committee--on what kind of budget would be required for the Department. They just had their whole system crash and burn. What kind of budget are we looking at for them to upgrade their Legacy systems.
And then the third question is if you could identify those databases that either you maintain or you interface with that are currently incompatible so that we have an idea of the scope of what we are talking about, that would be very, very helpful to me and I am sure the entire committee. Can you do that?
Mr. Williams. We would be glad to do that.
Ms. Lofgren. Thank you very much.
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