>From today's GovExec.com:
Homeland Security kills secure border tech program
By Aliya Sternstein 01/14/2011
The Homeland Security Department has killed its beleaguered $1.1 billion
program to control U.S. land borders with a virtual fence made up of
surveillance tools, Secretary Janet Napolitano announced on Friday, after
briefing Congress on her review of the Secure Border Initiative network program.
DHS officials had encountered major cost, schedule and operational problems
with the system ever since entering a development pact with Boeing Co. in 2006.
The department has decided it will cease construction of SBInet as originally
conceived and recompete contracts to embark on a new technology plan.
The strategy will build off currently deployed tools tailored to the terrain
and population density of each border region. Apparatus will include mobile
surveillance units, unmanned aircraft, thermal imaging devices and remote video
surveillance systems mounted on towers.
"There is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution to meet our border technology needs,
and this new strategy is tailored to the unique needs of each border region,
providing faster deployment of technology, better coverage and a more effective
balance between cost and capability," Napolitano said. "Where appropriate, this
plan will also incorporate already existing elements of the former SBInet
program that have proven successful, such as stationary radar and infrared and
optical sensor towers."
A year ago, Napolitano stopped funding SBInet pending a review of the program,
which had been envisioned as a way to stem drug smuggling, illegal immigration
and terrorist-related activity across U.S. land borders. DHS had been renewing
Boeing's contract month-to-month since the fall, when the department chose not
to reassign a one-year extension it had awarded the vendor in fall 2009.
The original project concept included monitoring devices, intelligence
databases and communication links that would allow DHS headquarters and field
offices a full view of border activity.
Democrats and Republicans had been pressing DHS to issue a verdict on the
program's fate, which they expected to be canceled. But they had reservations
about losing investments in research and development that the department has
made during the past several years, as well as expertise Boeing and the
government have gained.
The new strategy will tap funding previously allocated for SBInet, Napolitano
said. DHS "intends to acquire all the technologies in the new plan, including
the integrated fixed towers, through full and open competition," she added.
"Independent, quantitative, science-based assessments will continue along each
sector of the Southwest border in 2011 to determine the optimal combination of
technology for each region."
Government officials initially picked Arizona as a starting point for
installation because they consider that region to be most vulnerable to
security threats. But the technology covered only 53 miles as of last year,
according to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House
Homeland Security Committee, who had criticized the program when he commanded
oversight of DHS last year.
On Friday, Thompson applauded the move to scrap the network. "The SBInet
program has been a grave and expensive disappointment since its inception," he
said in a statement.
"I am glad that DHS and [Customs and Border Patrol] are finally listening to
what we have been saying for years -- that the sheer size and variations of our
borders show us a one-stop solution has never been best," Thompson added. "I
applaud them for taking this critical step toward using a more tailored
technologically based approach to securing our nation's borders."
But Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., the new chairman of the committee, is not
satisfied with the revised, lengthy timetable for rollout.
"While I understand the Department of Homeland Security decision to end the
SBInet program, I continue to have very serious concerns about the Obama
administration's lack of urgency to secure the border," he said. "It has taken
DHS a full year to make the final decision to cancel the program. Now today, we
learn that DHS will spend all of 2011, and maybe longer, deciding what to do
next."
King called for federal officials to present a comprehensive plan to secure the
country's borders, incorporating fencing, sufficient staffing and technology.
"I expect the administration, in its upcoming 2012 budget proposal, to put
forward such a plan, including timelines and metrics," he added.
Senate Democrats also praised the strategy to outfit each region with
customized reinforcements.
"The secretary's decision to terminate SBInet ends a long-troubled program that
spent far too much of the taxpayers' money for the results it delivered," said
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee. "The department's decision to use technology based on the
particular security needs of each segment of the border is a far wiser
approach, and I hope it will be more cost effective."
