[>Htech] WT: FBI up for private screens

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WT: FBI up for private screens

   By Guy Taylor
   THE WASHINGTON TIMES
   Published March 26, 2004
     _________________________________________________________________

   The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are developing a
   database that will allow private companies to submit lists of
   individuals to be screened for a connection to terrorism, the FBI
   Terrorist Screening Center Director Donna A. Bucella told legislators
   yesterday.
       The database "will eventually allow private-sector entities, such
   as operators of critical infrastructure facilities or organizers of
   large events, to submit a list of persons associated with those events
   to the U.S. government to be screened for any nexus to terrorism,"
   Miss Bucella said at a joint hearing of the House Judiciary and
   Homeland Security subcommittees.
       The screening center oversees the master database of known and
   suspected terrorists, which became operational in December. That
   database, created by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security,
   was developed to ensure investigators, screeners and agents work off a
   unified set of antiterrorist information.
       In his opening statement for the hearing, Rep. Christopher Cox,
   California Republican and chairman of the House Select Committee on
   Homeland Security, said the screening center's support is
   "particularly important to our nation's first responders, our border
   protection officials, and the consular officers who adjudicate
   hundreds of visa applications every day."
       However, Mr. Cox also raised concerns about the need for the watch
   list not to violate the privacy of Americans. "To be the right
   solution, the TSC must not come at the price of the civil rights or
   First Amendment freedoms of American citizens," he said.
       Civil liberties groups say federal law-enforcement and
   intelligence officials are keeping the terror watch lists so secret by
   that mistakes are inevitable.
       Mrs. Bucella said a process to address "misidentification issues"
   is in place.
       "We recognize that with all of these capabilities also comes the
   responsibility to ensure that we continue to protect our civil
   liberties," she said. "Procedures are in place to review and promptly
   adjust or delete erroneous or outdated domestic terrorism
   information."
       After the deadly hijackings of September 11, 2001, the Bush
   administration attempted to stem confusion caused by the existence of
   multiple terrorist watch lists by establishing a joint FBI-CIA
   Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), consolidating more than a
   dozen previous lists, including the State Department's TIPOFF database
   of more than 110,000 known and suspected terrorists.
       In September, a few days after the two-year anniversary of the
   hijackings that killed about 3,000 people, officials announced the
   creation of the TSC to consolidate watch lists and provide
   round-the-clock operation support for federal screeners across the
   country and around the world.
       Mrs. Bucella outlined several successes since the TSC became
   operational in September, including the establishment of a
   consolidated 24-hour call center that law-enforcement authorities can
   call to determine whether an individual in question is a suspected
   terrorist.
       After a positive or negative match, "we help coordinate operation
   support as to how the person should be handled," Mrs. Bucella said.
   The system has fielded 2,000 calls since its inception.



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