CQ Behind the Lines

From CQ Homeland Security

Behind the Lines for Wednesday, July 27, 2011 — 3 P.M. By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly Financial security: If the debt ceiling isn't raised in time, "a U.S. default on its obligations will have a profound effect on homeland security" . . . Terror in Tiny Town: Alert CBP airport officers bar entry to Khapra beetles, "tiny, hairy and on the most-wanted list of the world's most destructive pests" . . . Not close enough for government work: LAX screener who stole watches from passengers busted after posting loot on eBay. These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- "The debate over raising the national debt ceiling may not seem to have much connection to homeland security at first blush — but a U.S. default on its obligations will have a profound effect on homeland security," David Silverberg leads in Homeland Security Today. Demarking a "flashpoint in relations between industry and government over aviation policy," U.S. airlines are fighting the prospect of sharply higher passenger security fees that could be part of any deficit-reduction plan, Reuters' John Crawley recounts. Borderline personalities: CBP is proposing a new salary structure for Border Patrollers "that could cost them an average of $7,000 a year in lost pay and spark what some say would be an exodus of veteran agents to higher-paying agencies," The Washington Times' Jerry Seper reports. "There's never a typical day in CBP. [O]fficers don't know what they will encounter in their eight-hour shift working at the nation's ports of entry," The Brownsville (Texas) Herald's Laura B. Martinez profiles. Huge increases in deportations of people arrested for breaking traffic or immigration laws helped the Obama administration set a record in 2010 for the number of criminal immigrants repatriated, The Associated Press' Suzanne Gamboa learns from ICE docs. Feds: Al Qaeda is on the defensive but remains a "significant and present danger," AP's Kimberly Dozier hears the putative new National Counterterrorism Center chief saying at his confirmation hearing yesterday — while FOX News' Catherine Herridge highlights the hurdles he must leap. Federal prosecutors and ICE and Labor investigators plan to take a more active role in targeting human trafficking in six cities across the nation, The Topeka Capital-Journal's Tim Carpenter recounts. A man accused of stealing guns and gun parts from an Indianapolis gun shop is a Defense Department employee with a background in security, the Star's Carrie Ritchie reports. The ATF's ill-fated "Fast and Furious" sting op eventually allowed 2,000 weapons to hit the streets, The Washington Post's Sari Horwitz reconstructs. State and local: Two Minnesotans will testify today at the third in a series of controversial House homeland hearings on Muslim radicalization in America, MinnPost.com leads. Funded mostly by DHS, the Brown County (Wis.) Sheriff's Department now boasts an Ice Rescue Airboat "it says will improve response times and remove a lot of stress and danger for rescuers," The Green Bay Press Gazette reports. A Cleveland Plain Dealer examination finds that, "for the most part, the people who oversaw the spending [of $72 million in DHS grants since 9/11] "did a good job of keeping shopping lists practical." Security upgrades at two buildings used by North Carolina state legislators could include metal detectors, visitor ID badges and more police officers, Raleigh's NBC 17 News relays. Bio-terrible: Indianapolis airport CBP officers earlier this month intercepted in a bag of barley from India an infestation of Khapra beetles, "tiny, hairy and on the most-wanted list of the world's most destructive pests," the Star says. Budget hits to the Lubbock (Texas) Health Department include cuts as deep as 31 percent to three city bioterrorism preparedness programs, KCBD 11 News notes. Scientists from Singapore's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology "have discovered the secret recipe for 'antidotes' for a potential bioterrorism toxin," the deadly castor-bean extract ricin, AsiaOne informs. Across Australia, a plague of bats carry the Hendra virus, a potential bioterror agent "deadly not just for livestock, but for humans," The Melbourne Herald Sun spotlights — while The Honolulu Star-Advertiser casts the destruction of ten acres of genetically modified papayas as "ecoterrorism." Follow the money: President Obama issued an executive order Monday authorizing the freezing of assets held by "international thugs, drug traffickers and other criminals whose activities are increasingly seen as a threat to national security," the Post reports — and see The Blog @ DHS on the homies' piece of this pie. "Has money begun playing a bigger role than ideology? And are the motivations and anger of fringe groups being translated into action executed by criminals, sometimes so lowly that they are conveniently anonymous?" TNN ponders, in re: outsourced terrorism. Last week's Asia-Pacific Group meeting on money laundering framed recommendations to member nations for deterring money laundering and terror financing," The Express News Service updates. Iranian-backed, Lebanon-based Hezbollah is linked to a fraud and extortion racket in southern Ontario, The National Post reports. Following a warning by the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, the ruling Justice and Development Party has sped up work on a draft law on the prevention of terror financing, Hurriyet Daily News notes. Close air support: A TSA officer charged with stealing watches from luggage at LAX was allegedly tripped up when one of the timepieces was posted for sale on eBay, the Los Angeles Times tells. During the Aspen Security Forum starting today, the most evident effect from increased security will be at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport where DHS mandates zero tolerance for unattended vehicles in front of the terminal through Aug. 2, The Aspen (Colo.) Times tells. Canada's airport security agency worries it won't receive enough funding to reduce wait times at checkpoints, Postmedia News mentions. After repeated entries of U.S nationals without No Objection Certificates, Pakistan has set up a checkpoint at Peshawar airport to snag foreign nationals lacking "complete documents," The Nation notes. Off track: By failing to shut down Oslo's T-Bane subway system immediately after Friday's bombing, authorities allowed the perpetrator "to ride half an hour to the ferry that would take him to the scene of his planned massacre," The Epoch Times tells. In securing next year's London Olympics "it appears the Underground subway network and public places will be a major challenge," GamesBids.com briefs. Among the security features of Toronto's shiny new subway cars are four surveillance cameras per car, The National Post, again, takes note. Terror tech: Navy researchers "have devised a new tool to guard ships against bad guys in the water: a 10-foot remote-controlled jet ski that can see underwater and cruise across the waves at 40 mph," Discovery News leads — The Washington Times spots China's military developing EMP weapons for use against U.S. aircraft carriers. "In the months following the 9/11 attacks the newly minted DHS [sic] used donated billboard space to get their message out to shaken citizens," OhMyGov! recalls, noting emergecrats' rising use of digital billboards. "Since 9/11, researchers have been racing to replace the polygraph. Now they're getting close — and it's scary," Salon spotlights. DHS spends more money each year on administration and oversight of research and development programs than it does on actual research and development, National Defense Magazine learns. Cyberia: "Cyberattacks should be construed as acts of war. Are we prepared to respond accordingly?" Jed Babbin broaches in The American Spectator — as The Hill hears an expert panel testifying yesterday that cyberattacks against the nation's computer networks are ever more frequent and sophisticated. "The cyberwar threat is being hyped because of a fear of unknown dangers. The biggest threat of all may come from our own overreaction," National Journal explores. Even as the Pentagon defines its Internet warfare strategy, combating cyberattacks "is getting more local," AP reports, noting that "states began taking cybersecurity seriously while also fortifying physical targets after the Sept. 11 attacks." The chief of DHS's Computer Emergency Readiness Team abruptly resigned after a spate of attacks on government networks, Federal News Radio relates. Courts and rights: A federal judge yesterday denied bail for a Florida imam facing terrorism charges, saying he poses a flight risk, The Orlando Sentinel says. A.G. Eric Holder is asking a federal judge not to release certain evidence against a terror-accused Massachusetts man, saying the disclosure of "top secret" materials could harm nationalsecurity, CBS Boston relays — while AP sees administration bigs responding to a GOP senator's complaints about the civilian trial ordered for a Somali terror suspect. A wealthy fool who deployed a cruise ship anchor as a drunken prank should not be facing federal anti-terrorism charges carrying a maximum possible term of 20 years, The Tampa Tribune hears his lawyer arguing. ("Cruise Ship Drunken Antic, Act Of Terror Or Publicity Stunt?" Cruise Bruise pondered last fall.) Over there: In a "Worldwide Caution," State yesterday reiterated its warning that the Osama bin Laden's killing could increase the terror threat to Americans overseas, ABC News notes. In Australia, a federal police officer brushed aside airport security to usher Governor-General Quentin Bryce, the Queen's representative Down Under, through a checkpoint, The Melbourne Herald-Sun mentions. "Indonesia is bringing the army into the fight against terrorism, authorizing military officers to do everything from investigating suspected terrorists to telling radical preachers to tone down sermons," The Straits Times leads. Between 1970 and 2010, there were 2,678 certified acts of terrorism recorded in the United States, compared to 15 in Norway, an expert tells Scripps Media. DHS Health Plan: "What's better than receiving a free groping by the TSA? How about getting your breasts checked for cancer at the same time?" Natural News' Mike Adams spoofs. "That's the new offering from the TSA, which says that squeezing and twisting your breasts during security pat-downs is now a 'medical procedure' and that it's all being done 'to protect the health of Americans.' Men, meanwhile, will now receive a free prostate exam as part of their screening routine. Before administering the new procedure, TSA agents will be required to attend a weekend seminar on manual breast cancer detection techniques. While some observers complained that a single weekend was not enough training to qualify TSA agents to conduct sensitive medical procedures on passengers, TSA head John Pistole responded by explaining, 'That's true, but TSA agents aren't really trained on security, either, and we have them playing that role just fine, too.'" Source: CQ Homeland Security --------------------------------- Other CQ Roll Call Products CQ Floor Video CQ.com CQ Weekly CQ Today CQ Amendment Text CQ BillTrack CQ Budget Tracker CQ Energy & Climate CQ HealthBeat CQ Homeland Security CQ Hot Docs CQ House Action Reports CQ LawTrack CQ MoneyLine CQ StateTrack CQ Politics Roll Call See all CQ Roll Call products Rob Margetta, CQ Homeland Security Editor Arwen Bicknell, Behind the Lines Editor Published by CQ Roll Call To sign up for CQ Roll Call's free newsletters, click here. Source: CQ Homeland Security Copyright © 2011 CQ Roll Call. All rights reserved.