Progress in Addressing Management Challenges at the Department of Homeland Security - Hearing of the Select Committee on Homeland Security

May 6, 2004 Thursday

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
SUBJECT: PROGRESS IN ADDRESSING MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
CHAIRED BY: REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTOPHER COX (R-CA)
WITNESS JAMES M. LOY, DEPUTY SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
LOCATION: 2318 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

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REP. COX: The gentleman's point is well taken. The gentleman from Texas, Mr. Sessions, is recognized for eight minutes.

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): I thank the chairman. Admiral Loy, welcome --

MR. LOY: Good morning, sir.

REP. SESSIONS: -- to this committee. We, as you've heard, place great value upon your competency and your capacity to serve this great nation in homeland security. I would first like to start by saying that I had an opportunity several weeks ago to be with your air and marine interdiction and operations unit in San Angelo, Texas and Corpus Christi, under the direction of Colonel Charles Stalworth (ph), who is doing a fabulous job. The men and women whom I came into contact with are very proud-not only of the department and the achievements that have been made, but also of their job and the ability that they have to perform that duty. And I think that speaks well of many of the things which the department is doing well, and hopefully will continue to do.

I also, sir, had an opportunity over the last couple of weeks to talk to Judge Bonner and Mike Garcia, who worked for one of our former colleagues, Asa Hutchinson, who I think is doing a fabulous job also.

The nature of the questions that I would like to have you address are specifically two: One, about the Aerostats, which are these balloons, tethered balloons which are along our Southwest border. They were transferred to the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense over the last few years has had a change of focus for them, taking from the-necessarily those functions that they were doing to a war. And I believe that there has not been a proper focus put on the proper manning, funding and utilization of those Aerostats.

Secondly, the question I have deals with essentially legal immigration into this country with a visa. And it is my hope that there would be some discussion-and I'm interested in hearing from you today about those avenues which where people come in-there are about 130,000 of them that stay. I've had direct conversations, as I alluded to, with Judge Bonner and Mike Garcia, about a willingness of this nation to understand about everybody who comes here, everybody who does not leave, a process-once again, we're dealing with legal people. But they've come to this country and said they would come here under the provisions that we said, and they should leave under the provisions that we've laid out. And I believe it is in the best interests for us to have a legal framework-that it's very difficult for us if we do not follow our laws, and to insist that our laws be well understood. And so I'm interested in a discussion about Aerostats. And if you tell me you don't know a lot about it, I can understand that. I'd like to ask that you follow up. And, secondly, about the discussions that are taking place over the some 130,000 people that violate our laws and the things that I believe need to be done could realistically be done in that endeavor. And I appreciate the gentleman's response.

MR. LOY: Yes, sir, thank you. With respect to Aerostats, I go back a long way with Aerostats. In the counter-drug efforts of my time in the Coast Guard and working diligently with the Border Patrol, with the then Legacy Customs Service, and INS as well as DEA and all the other players that were involved in that process, and recognize the value of what the Aerostat offers in terms of border value, sensor value-eyes in the sky, if you will, at the other end of the day.

I think there probably was a waning of interest in terms of what was actually associated with the Aerostats along the Southwest border of the United States-which I assume, sir, that's the ones you're talking about, because we've got them elsewhere as well-and their contribution, which was largely hinged in the tail end of 10 years ago to the drug trade and what we were trying to do in the counternarcotics effort. That probably did wane in terms of focus and interest. Certainly in terms of the DOD responsibilities that are so widespread around the world at this point would continue I think to have them less focused on the maintenance and the manning and the staffing and the support to them at this particular point in time.

But what I can tell you is that since 9/11 there has been a dramatic resurgence of interest in border control at large, whether it's up to 1,000 Border Patrol agents on the Canadian border, where we used to have fewer than 400; whether it's the R&D to go back to Ms. Dunn's question about focusing on UAVs as a different way of dealing with sensors over our borders, maritime or land borders with Mexico, or Canada. So the notion of whether or not Aerostats play dramatically into our concern level about border issues is I would think on the rise and rising. And so we would be remiss, I would think, to set aside the use of the Aerostats for the moment, until there is a better mousetrap in place so to speak to take the place of what they are providing us in the way of sensoring capability. So I'm an old fan of them, and a current fan of them until we get something better in place that would serve the purpose that they serve for us as a piece of the bigger picture of border control.

REP. SESSIONS: It would be my hope with respect to this, if I could, admiral, to pass along that I will in a letter to you about perhaps the information which I had received about those activities related to the utilization of that. And I'll be pleased, and would appreciate a response back-and you can give it to me. It doesn't have to be to the committee.

MR. LOY: Honored to do so.

REP. SESSIONS: So that I could deal with it on an issue basis where I receive factual information, and perhaps just not hearsay.

MR. LOY: You bring up the issue with respect to migrants, and I would say there are three things that are very important for us to hold onto, because that is a very complex question.

First of all, visa policy for the United States of America. We inherited the responsibility for visa policy from other executive branch agencies as it came in our direction. The secretary has asked Secretary Hutchinson, Undersecretary Hutchinson, to take on the challenge in very quick fashion of examining the visa policy of the United States of America, together with the State Department and all the other players, and get back to him in very short order. I believe there is a scheduled briefing for the secretary next week as to the overview, if you will, of visa policy in our country.

The second point is about portal control, if you will. And we as a department are now responsible for that. I can suggest, as many of you know, that legacy INS was unable over the course of the last 20 years to develop an adequate entry-exit system for the United States of America. In the course of seven months, we stood up US-VISIT, where millions of people have now come and gone through that particular system, and affected, if you will, a control of the borders at the portals of entry to our country. We have-and now in 114 airports, 15 different seaports, we will have US-VISIT at the 50 busiest land border crossings of our country by the end of this year, and at all of them by the end of next year. All of that is associated with the ongoing work with our international colleagues in terms of standard-setting about passports, and all the affiliated things that are connected to that.

So border and portal control, a function now the responsibility of our department, we have made, we believe, dramatic steeps forward in establishing the end game with respect to that.

And then, lastly, with respect to the naturalization process itself, many of those folks you're describing may very well be coming to our country with every intention of becoming honorable Americans at the other end of the day. Today a system we inherited by the way is a broken system, with eight- or nine-year waits for that process to run its course. The president has very clearly said make that no longer than 18 months, and we are in the business of establishing clear pilot programs that will prove to us the means by which we will get that backload reduced to where it should be in a reasonable system, as the president has directed us to do.

So it's a complex question, sir, that you ask. I believe we have-our intentions are honorable and in the right direction here with respect to those three aspects of it, and I hope in there somewhere was the answer to what you were concerned about.

REP. SESSIONS: I thank the gentleman. In fact, I believe there should be some very specific things that this administration would come into contact with that, and I-my point would be is that we live in a legal framework of this country, and if we do not enforce the laws of this country we allow other people to come and take advantage of that, and they become criminals. It would be my hope that there would be an immediate response that we would know who was nearing the end of their term, that they would be expected to leave, and that we would not allow anything other than, and would take them on an expedited basis, perhaps (illegal ?). I will follow up with a letter to you, and would expect a response accordingly. And I thank the gentleman, and thank the chairman.

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