U.S. Terrorist Screening Center to be Operational by December 1

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
> Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 22:00:36 -0400 (EDT)
> From: AMBOLLC () aol com
> Subject: Fwd: U.S. Terrorist Screening Center to be Operational by December 1
> To: dave () farber net
>
> From: US Dept of State Mailing List Mgr <Listmgr () PD STATE GOV>
> Subject: U.S. Terrorist Screening Center to be Operational by December 1
> To: WF-EUROPE () LISTS STATE GOV
>
>
> U.S. Terrorist Screening Center to be Operational by December 1
>
> (Multi-agency facility will consolidate terrorist watchlists) (2420)
>
>
>
>
>
> The U.S. government is consolidating numerous terrorist screening
> mechanisms into a single, comprehensive, anti-terror watchlist that will
> be operational by December 1, 2003.
>
> In a press release dated September 16, Attorney General John Ashcroft,
> Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Secretary of State Colin Powell,
> FBI Director Robert Mueller and Director of Central Intelligence George
> Tenet announced the establishment of the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC)
> to consolidate terrorist watchlists and provide 24-hour-a-day,
> seven-day-a-week operational support for thousands of federal screeners
> across the country and around the world.
>
> The new center will ensure that government investigators, screeners and
> agents are working from the same comprehensive information -- and that
> they have access simultaneously to information and expertise that will
> allow them to act quickly when a suspected terrorist is screened or
> stopped.
>
> "The Terrorist Screening Center will provide 'one-stop shopping' so that
> every federal anti-terrorist screener is working off the same page --
> whether it's an airport screener, an embassy official issuing visas
> overseas, or an FBI agent on the street," Ashcroft said.
>
> The Department of State and the CIA are collaborating to ensure that the
> identities of thousands of known and suspected terrorists are integrated
> into the State Department's TIPOFF system and accessible to consular
> officers and Department of Homeland Security border inspectors worldwide.
> The TIPOFF program will form the basis for the TSC database.
>
> In praise of the initiative, Secretary Powell said "We look forward to a
> successful partnership with our fellow agencies in the war on terrorism."
>
> The creation of the TSC does not provide any new law enforcement or
> collection powers to any government official; it simply consolidates
> information that law enforcement, the Intelligence Community, the State
> Department, and others already possess.
>
> The TSC was established by a presidential directive to the heads of all
> departments and agencies.
>
> The texts of the press release and fact sheet follow:
>
> (begin press release)
>
> U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
> Office of the Press Secretary
> September 16, 2003
>
> NEW TERRORIST SCREENING CENTER ESTABLISHED
>
> FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONSOLIDATES TERRORIST SCREENING INTO SINGLE
> COMPREHENSIVE ANTI-TERRORIST WATCHLIST
>
> WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Homeland
> Security Tom Ridge, Secretary of State Colin Powell, FBI Director Robert
> Mueller and Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet today announced
> the establishment of the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) to consolidate
> terrorist watchlists and provide 24/7 operational support for thousands of
> federal screeners across the country and around the world.  The Center
> will ensure that government investigators, screeners and agents are
> working off the same unified, comprehensive set of anti-terrorist
> information -- and that they have access to information and expertise that
> will allow them to act quickly when a suspected terrorist is screened or
> stopped.
>
> Today's action marks another significant step forward in President George
> W. Bush's strategy to protect America's communities and families by
> detecting, disrupting and disabling terrorist threats.
>
> "The creation of the TSC is one of several new critical initiatives taken
> by this administration to increase the sharing of information at all
> levels of government.  The department's new Information Analysis and
> Infrastructure Protection (IA/IP) unit allows DHS to analyze information
> and take specific action to protect critical infrastructure.  Another
> important development, the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), was
> created to ensure that all members of the federal government's
> intelligence community have access to the same information," said
> Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge.  "The job of the new Terrorist
> Screening Center is to make sure we get this information out to our agents
> on the borders and all those who can put it to use on the front lines --
> and to get it there fast."
>
> The TSC builds on numerous steps taken by this administration since the
> attacks of September 11, 2001, to improve our ability to identify and stop
> terrorists before they act against us.  For example, the TTIC and the
> IA/IP Directorate were designed to enhance intelligence fusion -- to bring
> together all terrorist information in one place, enabling America's best
> intelligence analysts and investigators from multiple departments to work
> as a team to put together the pieces of the puzzle.
>
> "President Bush's Number One priority is protecting the lives and
> liberties of the American people by defeating terrorism," said Attorney
> General Ashcroft.  "Right now, there are several major watchlists and
> related systems.  But with each separate watchlist comes the potential for
> another seam.  The Terrorist Screening Center will provide 'one-stop
> shopping' so that every federal anti-terrorist screener is working off the
> same page -- whether it's an airport screener, an embassy official issuing
> visas overseas, or an FBI agent on the street.  The creation of the new
> Center means that all government agents will be able to run name checks
> against the same comprehensive list with the most accurate, up-to-date
> information about potential terrorists.  That's how we can stop terrorists
> before they launch an attack."
>
> "The Department of State is proud to be part of the Terrorist Screening
> Center," Secretary of State Powell said.  "This cooperative effort will
> help the United States fight terrorism by identifying visa applicants and
> others who are known to be threats to our security, before they can do us
> harm.  Combining the knowledge of the FBI, Department of Justice,
> Intelligence Community, Department of Homeland Security and the Department
> of State's TIPOFF program is a long-desired goal that is now reality.  We
> are gratified that the State Department's TIPOFF program, which contains
> over 100,000 names of potential terrorists, will form the basis for both
> the TTIC and TSC databases.  Real-time access by our consular officers to
> the information provided by the other agencies will make visa issuance
> more secure and better protect America's borders.  We look forward to a
> successful partnership with our fellow agencies in the war on terrorism."
>
> "The TSC will increase the chances of detaining or arresting terrorists
> before they strike," said Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet.
>
> "What's different about the TSC is the ability to make that information
> available in real time, constantly updated, 24 hours a day and across the
> board," said FBI Director Robert Mueller.  "By providing this
> around-the-clock service to anti-terrorist screeners throughout the
> federal government, the new Center will ensure not only that those who
> need it will have access to the best, most current information, but they
> will also have access to on-call experts who can support them in taking
> immediate and appropriate action to stop terrorists and prevent attacks at
> any hour of the day or night."
>
> In addition to establishing the IA/IP Directorate of the Department of
> Homeland Security, the TTIC, and the new TSC, the administration since
> 2001 has undertaken a series of concerted steps to ensure the effective
> use of watchlist information to disrupt and apprehend terrorists.  The
> Department of State and the CIA are collaborating to ensure that the
> identities of thousands of known and suspected terrorists are integrated
> into the State Department's TIPOFF system and accessible to consular
> officers and Department of Homeland Security border inspectors worldwide.
> The FBI has made information on subjects of their terrorism investigations
> accessible through the National Crime Information Center system to 650,000
> state and local law enforcement officers nationwide and has established a
> 24/7 watchlist unit to respond to calls from the field.  The Department of
> Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration has established
> a "no fly" list, which has led to the successful apprehension of several
> dangerous terrorist suspects.
>
> The TSC is the government's latest step in an ongoing effort to integrate
> counterterrorism efforts by all components of the federal government.  The
> consolidation of terrorist information and screening through the TSC is
> vital to protecting the American people from terrorist threats.  The 9/11
> Congressional Joint Inquiry recommended the creation of such a center to
> coordinate and integrate all terrorist-related watchlist systems.
>
> The new TSC is a multi-agency center, anchored by the Departments of
> Justice, Homeland Security, and State, and the intelligence community, and
> administered by the FBI.  The mission to develop the technical capability
> for watchlist integration has been underway at the FBI's Foreign Terrorist
> Tracking Task Force (FTTTF), where TSC operations will be phased in during
> the coming weeks and operational by December 1, 2003.  The TSC was
> established today by a presidential directive to the heads of all
> departments and agencies (Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6, or
> "HSPD 6").  The Attorney General, the Secretaries of Homeland Security and
> State, and the Director of Central Intelligence are implementing the
> directive through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), an unclassified
> version of which was made available today.
>
> (end press release)
>
> (begin fact sheet)
>
> U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
> Office of the Press Secretary
> September 16, 2003
>
> FACT SHEET: THE TERRORIST SCREENING CENTER
>
> Today, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom
> Ridge, Secretary of State Colin Powell, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and
> Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet announced the creation of
> the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) to consolidate terrorist watchlists
> and provide 24/7 operational support for thousands of Federal screeners
> across the country and around the world.  The TSC will ensure that
> America's government screeners are working from the same unified set of
> anti-terrorist information HBC comprehensive anti-terrorist list when a
> suspected terrorist is screened or stopped anywhere in the federal system.
>
> -- Better Informed:  The TSC will allow federal, state, and local
> officials to make better-informed decisions to protect the United States
> from terrorist attacks.  For example, better access to information will
> make it easier for a consular officer posted in another country to
> determine whether to grant a visa, or an immigration official at a U.S.
> airport to decide whether a person is eligible to enter the United States.
>
> -- Building Capabilities: Creation of the TSC marks another significant
> step forward in the president's strategy to protect America's communities
> and families by detecting, disrupting, and disabling terrorist threats.
> The TSC builds on improvements to U.S. watchlist capabilities that began
> in 2001, immediately following the September 11 attacks, including, most
> recently, the president's creation of the Terrorist Threat Integration
> Center (TTIC).
>
> -- Consolidating Information:  The TSC will receive the vast majority of
> its information about known or suspected terrorists from the TTIC after
> TTIC has assembled and analyzed that information from a wide range of
> sources.  In addition, the FBI will provide the TSC with information about
> purely domestic terrorism, i.e., having no connection to international
> terrorist activities.  The TSC will consolidate this information into an
> unclassified terrorist screening database and make the database accessible
> to queries for federal, state, and local agencies for a variety of
> screening purposes.
>
> -- The TSC, through the participation of the Department of Homeland
> Security, Department of Justice, Department of State, and Intelligence
> Community representatives, will determine which information in the
> database will be available for which types of screening.
>
> -- For example, The Attorney General's and the Secretary of Homeland
> Security's representatives to the TSC will decide which persons to include
> in those records that may be queried directly by law enforcement officials
> through the NCIC database.  Similarly, the State Department
> representative, consulting with the Department of Justice, Department of
> Homeland Security, and Intelligence Community representatives, will
> determine which information may be screened by foreign governments.
>
> -- Safeguarding Information:  The TSC will not independently collect any
> information on U.S. citizens.  In fact, the TSC does not collect
> information at all -- it only receives information provided by the TTIC
> and the FBI.  The TTIC will provide to the TSC all appropriate and
> necessary information connected to international terrorism about any
> individuals -- U.S. citizens or not -- that TTIC partner agencies hold
> pursuant to their own authorities and the FBI will provide to the TSC
> appropriate and necessary information concerning domestic terrorism,
> regardless of whether it involves U.S. citizens.  If the TSC receives
> information on U.S. citizens connected with terrorism, its use of that
> information is subject to the same legal limitations to which it would be
> subject if the information were not included in the database.  Purely
> domestic terrorism information will not go through TTIC, but will be
> placed directly into the TSC database by the FBI.  The Attorney General
> has been directed to implement procedures and safeguards with respect to
> information about U.S. persons, in coordination with the Secretary of
> State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of Central
> Intelligence.
>
> -- The creation of the TSC does not provide any new law enforcement or
> collection powers to any government official; it simply consolidates
> information that law enforcement, the intelligence community, the State
> Department, and others already possess and makes it accessible for query
> to those who need it -- federal security screeners, state and local law
> enforcement officers, and others.  The TSC will have no independent
> authority to conduct intelligence collection or other operations.
>
> -- All information the TSC maintains will have been collected in
> accordance with existing law, and TSC officials will continue to be bound
> by any applicable laws and constitutional requirements that restrict the
> use of that information and that protect privacy interests and other
> liberties.
>
> -- Information technology and information handling procedures will be
> designed to comply with constitutional and other legal requirements, and
> participants will continue to be answerable both to internal agency
> oversight and congressional oversight.
>
> -- Supporting the Mission:  The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will
> administer the TSC.  The Department of Homeland Security, the Department
> of State, and others will coordinate with and assign operational and staff
> support to the TSC.
>
> -- The FBI is the appropriate administrator of the TSC's start-up
> operations because of the Bureau's technical experience in watchlist
> integration.  Although the FBI will administer the TSC, the TSC will be an
> interagency effort.  As noted, the Departments of Homeland Security and
> State and others will coordinate with and assign operational and staff
> support to the TSC.  The principal deputy director of the TSC will be a
> Department of Homeland Security official.  In addition to the Department
> of Justice, the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland
> Security, the intelligence community and other federal agencies will
> assign representatives to the TSC.  Each of these agencies will be
> responsible for specific aspects of the TSC's work.
>
> The TSC is being phased in via a coordinated interagency effort
> administered by the FBI and will be operational by December 1, 2003.
>
> (end fact sheet)
>
>
>
> (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
> Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
> NNNN
>
>
>
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