Letter to W. Ralph Basham, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Letter

June 12, 2008

Via Electronic Transmission

W. Ralph Basham
Commissioner
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20229

Dear Commissioner Basham:

In August 2006, the Finance Committee held a hearing at which was
demonstrated commercially available technology that, if placed at primary inspection points, could allow for the rapid detection of multiple forms of false identification used by travelers seeking to enter the United States. At the hearing, the machines successfully detected the false drivers licenses used by GAO investigators to cross into the United States in a matter of seconds. The technology appeared to be faster and more accurate than a trained officer attempting to detect false identification merely through human inspection of the document.

It has been two years since we urged Customs and Border Protection to examine and consider deploying such technology at primary inspection points in order to detect and deter terrorists and criminals from simply using false identification and a claim of U.S. citizenship to walk right through America's front door. Please provide the Committee with detailed written responses to the following questions:

1. What steps have you taken in the last two years to examine and evaluate the type of technologies demonstrated at the Committee's August 2006 hearing?
2. What percentage of primary inspection points at land ports of entry have installed new technology in the last two years to assist with the detection of false identification? If any, please describe the nature of the new technology.

Please provide your response by June 27, 2008. If you have any questions about this request, please contact John Angell of Chairman Baucus's staff or Jason Foster of Senator Grassley's staff at (202) 224-4515.

Sincerely,

Max Baucus Charles E. Grassley
Chairman Ranking Member

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