July 31, 2014      11:53 AM
DHS grilled about border security technology
Homeland Security has no idea how much it spent on research and development, how its money should be spent and what was most effective.
WASHINGTON DC – A trio of US House committees held
a rapid-fire Capitol Hill hearing Thursday morning on technology use along
the border as lawmakers rushed to beat the deadline for the impending August
recess.
The use of technology on the border is a classic case of
multiple overlapping departments handling similar issues with no clear
long-term plan to embed technology into existing border security efforts. A
recent GAO report called research and development efforts of the Department
of Homeland Security “fragmented and overlapping,” said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who chairs
the Science,
Space and Technology committee and has strong interests in immigration
policy.
“Frankly, no one knows who’s in charge of research and
development or what the goal is,” said Smith in his opening
statement. “The GAO reports that the Science and Technology Directorate
lost touch with its end-users about what technologies and R&D should be a
priority.”
The idea that technology could make securing the border
easier and cheaper is alluring for policymakers. Witnesses agreed the progress
to create an integrated border security strategy has been woefully neglected,
even as the Department of Homeland Security has been launched and funded.
They also graded the use of technology along the border as “incomplete” for a
variety of reasons.
By Kimberly Reeves
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