[>Htech] WT: FBI up for private screens
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Sun Apr 25 12:28:49 PDT 2004
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adjust or delete erroneous or outdated domestic terrorism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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