Details of the Appropriations Committee Report On the House-Passed FY 2006 DHS Appropriations Bill
On May 17, 2005, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2360, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), etc. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/19/05 news, 05051905, for BP summary.)
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Committee Report Contains Additional Information and Recommendations
Prior to the passage of H.R. 2360 by the House, the House Appropriations Committee (Committee) issued a report (H. Rept. 109-79) that contains, among other things, certain additional information and recommendations from the Committee.1
This is Part II of a two-part series of summaries on the Committee's report and focuses on the Committee's recommendations, etc. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/20/05 news, 05052010, for Part I.)
"Highlights" of the Committee's report are summarized below (partial list):
Air Cargo
The Committee states that it continues to be concerned that TSA is not focusing enough staff or resources on the security issues surrounding air cargo. The Committee also states that it is deeply disturbed that TSA has yet to fully implement section 513 of the 2005 DHS Appropriations Act (Public Law (P.L.) 108-334) which required DHS to immediately amend security directives to triple the screening of air cargo on passenger aircraft.
The Committee also notes that although the Intelligence Reform Act required TSA to issue a final notice of proposed rulemaking that would strengthen the air cargo security program, this has been slow to occur. According to the Committee, at this time, TSA plans to finalize a rule to strengthen this program on August 19, 2005.
The Committee also expressed extreme disappointment that the FY 2006 budget request did not include any funding to support these additional security enhancements and, as a result, the Committee (1) included $10 million to hire 100 new air cargo inspectors, which would increase the number of air cargo inspectors to 300; (2) increased travel funds for air cargo inspectors by $3 million; (3) increased funding by $5 million to enhance the automated indirect air carrier maintenance system and known shipper database; and (4) included $2 million to conduct security threat assessments of regulated parties and fast track certain provisions in the pending air cargo notice of proposed rulemaking.
Air Cargo Pilots
The Committee states that it provided $30 million to conduct three cargo screening pilot programs - one at an all cargo airport and two at top ten passenger cargo airports. These pilots will test different concepts of operation that TSA designs in coordination with DHS' Science and Technology Directorate.
The report states that testing shall consist of the following: (1) physically screening a significant percentage (e.g., six times more than today) of cargo at a passenger airport using TSA screeners during slack passenger and checked baggage screening periods; (2) physically screening a significant percentage (e.g., six times more than today) of cargo at a passenger airport using TSA or private screeners solely dedicated to cargo screening; and (3) using canine teams, supplemented as needed by technology, screening a similar percentage of cargo at an all cargo airport, specifically to detect explosives and hidden passengers.
Based on the results of each pilot, the report states that TSA will provide cost estimates of these different operational concepts if deployed to the top five air cargo only airports and top 10 passenger airports. The Committee states that it expects each of these pilots to be no shorter than nine months in duration, all pilots to be completed by January 31, 2007, and both comprehensive and interim progress reports to be submitted.
Hazardous Materials Truck Tracking Program
The Committee states that it continues to be supportive of the hazardous materials truck tracking program that has been ongoing for the past several years. The program is a public/private partnership that addresses the terrorist threat posed by the 800,000 truck shipments of hazardous materials each day. This program notifies the appropriate national, state, or local authorities of spills or terrorist incidents and provides them with critical information regarding the exact incident location, load content on the vehicle, volume of material involved, and handing instructions. The Committee states that a total of $4 million has been appropriated to fund security requirements of the program, complete the system's open architecture, and to connect with other related systems and services.
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
The Committee states that it continues to be deeply disappointed with the direction and scope of the transportation worker identification credential (TWIC), which TSA is currently prototyping for use at various locations in the U.S.
Given the complexity and importance of the initiative, the Committee expresses extreme frustration with the lack of progress, noting that missed deadlines, high turnover, lack of budget justification, and subversion of Congressional direction, have plagued this program from the beginning.
The Committee states that it is again directing DHS to develop a personalization system that is centralized, and that uses an existing government card production facility for these purposes. The Committee states that TSA may not continue the program until these fundamental requirements are implemented. In addition, TSA may not move into the next phase of production until the Committee has been fully briefed on the results of the prototype phase and agrees that the program should move forward.
Port Security
The Committee expresses concern about the effectiveness of the port security grant program. A recent DHS Inspector General report criticized DHS for providing funding to low priority ports and for low priority projects. As a result, the Committee directs DHS to work to determine the threat environment at individual ports and to evaluate each port's vulnerability. The Committee directs that funds be directed at those ports with the highest risk and largest vulnerabilities.
1According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), such reports do not have statutory force and departments and agencies are not legally bound by their declarations. However, reports do explain congressional intent, and executive branch agencies take them seriously because they must justify their budget requests annually to the Appropriations Committees.
H. Rept. 109-79 available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_reports&docid=f:hr079.109.pdf.