Homeland Security Oversight Hearing: McCaul to Examine What's Wrong with DHS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Nearly ten years after the Department of Homeland Security was stood up as a cabinet-level organization, Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) will chair a hearing of theHomeland Security Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee to examine the strategy that DHS employs and its ability to counter emerging threats. The hearing is the first in a series examining “What’s wrong with DHS?”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the third largest department in the Federal government with more than 200,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $40 billion. Its transformation, according to the Government Accountability Office, is critical to achieving its homeland security mission. However, DHS has been criticized for excessive bureaucracy, waste, ineffectiveness and lack of transparency thathave hindered its operations and wasted taxpayer dollars – including the $1 billion spent on the Secure Border Initiative virtual fence (SBInet).
Areas of concern cited by multiple federal investigations include:
- Performance problems and mission delaysattributable to acquisitions, information technology, finance, human capital and integration functions that are at high risk.
- Multiple documents dictating differing strategiesfor protecting the homeland create confusion and uncertainty among subordinate agencies such as TSA, CBP and ICE.
- Uncertainty as to how DHS will implement its strategy.
- May take yearsto achieve emergency preparedness.
- Confusion and uncertainty hinders efforts to become a cohesive, effective and efficient organization.
TODAY, Friday, February 3, 2012
HEARING: Is DHS Effectively Implementing a Strategy to Counter Emerging Threats?
TIME: 10:00AM EDT
LOCATION: 311 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.
Witnesses:
The Honorable Paul Schneider, Principal, The Chertoff Group
Dr. Sharon Caudle, The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University
Mr. David Maurer, Government Accountability Office
Mr. Alan Cohn, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Department of Homeland Security
Mr. Shawn Reese, Congressional Research Service
Chairman McCaul on the hearing:
“Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said, ‘I see One DHS as a strong, efficient and focused Department—one where all the talents and skills that we possess as individuals and as components come together… in new and exciting ways to serve our missions.’ This is a necessary goal, however the agency continues to be criticized for excessive bureaucracy, waste, ineffectiveness and lack of transparency that have hindered its operations and wasted taxpayer dollars. Unless we fix these types of problems we will continue to see failures in DHS programs such as SBInet, where in the end taxpayers received little if any return on a $1 billion investment. Today we begin a series of hearings asking the basic question, ‘What is wrong with DHS?’ The first hearing examines the DHS strategy and its implementation to counter emerging threats.”
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