House Homeland Security Hearing on SBInet Shows Committee Members Skeptical and Dissatisfied
While many lawmakers, including the two leading Democratic presidential candidates, have touted the idea of using technology to secure the nation’s southern border, as opposed to relying solely on building physical barriers, problems have plagued the development of the first virtual fence which is supposed to use mobile towers with radars and cameras, ground-based sensors, and computer software to identify and classify illegal activity along the border.
Boeing acknowledged at the House hearing February 27 that Border Patrol agents had a minimal role in developing the virtual fence and the lack of agent involvement was defined by Boeing as a “deficiency. Boeing indicated it is now working “shoulder to shoulder” with the Border Patrol.
Meanwhile the GAO’s testimony noted that the virtual fence does not work as expected, and its comments cast doubt on the success of other border security projects that are already under contract and costing taxpayers about $1.2 billion. The GAO did note that, while not optimal, Project 28 gives Border Patrol agents more capabilities than they previously had and will be upgraded in the future.
The GAO noted that Secretary Chertoff indicated that Project 28 will not be duplicated in other border areas, but some elements of it, such as technology components, will likely be used. Department of Homeland Security officials noted that they are taking an incremental approach with SBI, awarding task orders as needed.
House HS Chairman Thompson’s statement noted that he has “already penciled in the next one of these hearings for about 6 months from now.” He also reiterated that “we need to secure our borders, and to do this we need technology to assist our hard-working Border Patrol agents. Congressman Carney, chair of the HS Subcommittee on Management, Investigations & Oversight, noted that P28 and SBInet achieved a “dubious distinction as a trifecta of bad government contracting: 1) poor contract management, 2) poor contractor performance, and 3) a poor final product.”
All testimony can be found at: http://homeland.house.gov/Hearings/index.asp?ID=117
Recent Federal Register Postings
- The Small Business Administration has extended the comment period for an additional thirty days posting to set aside contracts for women-owned small businesses in four industries where these businesses are underrepresented in the federal procurement process. Under the proposed rule, women-owned small businesses in the national security and international affairs (NAICS Code 9281); coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities (NAICS Code 3328); household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing (NAICS Code 3371); and certain motor vehicle dealers industries (NAICS Code 4412) would be eligible for set-aside agency contracts of less than $3 million or $5 million for manufacturing contracts. The industries were selected based on a RAND Corporation study to determine the industries in which women-owned small businesses were underrepresented in federal contracting. This was first described in the Business Council Government Affairs mailing on January 4.
The rule is open for public comment with all comments due by March 31 , 2008; the text of the rule can be viewed here, and comments can be submitted electronically via: www.regulations.gov/search/index.jsp
- The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) posted an invention jointly owned by the Department of Commerce and Cree Inc. available for licensing to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development. The invention available for licensing is NIST Docket Number 06-008, Power Switching Semiconductor Devices Including Rectifying Junction-Shunts. The description of the technology and FR Posting can be found here. I regret my physics days were not among my shining moments, so I am at a loss to more aptly describe this invention, and those of you ‘in the know’ would see through my description in short order!
Inside the Beltway - Washington Post: Radiation Detector Tests Inconclusive
The Washington Post reported last week that Department of Homeland Security tests last year on new radiation detectors were inconclusive on whether they performed well enough to be used at ports and borders to protect against dirty bombs or nuclear attacks. The article can be found here.
Mark your Calendars!
Planning is underway for the Homeland Security Congressional Exchange in Washington, DC. Please plan on joining us in DC June 18-19. With a change in administration and all members of the House of Representatives up for re-election, it is more important than ever to ensure our NY Delegation are aware of the needs and interests of the Homeland Security Council. We will be honoring Congressman Peter King (Long Island) for his Homeland Security efforts and a presentation on “homeland defense” is in the planning stages. More details will follow!
Doing business with NYS? Want an opportunity to better understand the contracting procedures (hassles?)? The Office of State Comptroller will be presenting on the NYS VendRep system, its online centralized contracting process, March 19th starting at 1pm. This meeting is open to all Business Council members and is being hosted by the Contract Procurement Committee of the Business Council. The Agenda and Registration details can be found at: http://www.bcnys.org/inside/contpro/meetingnotice.htm.
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